I want to change the tone of the blog for a moment. I know it’s already rough in these streets. However, I want everyone to be safe out there, especially now since it’s the holiday season. There are some things that every person needs to buy for their car to be safe this winter.
ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE
First, I want to keep you safe while you’re out in the streets in your car. Roadside assistance is a must. You can even get this for free with your car insurance. Well, I know I do with Allstate. Roadside assistance can bring you gas when you’ve run out, put on your spare if you have a flat, tow your car home if you don’t have one, or even give your car a jump if your battery has gone dead. Sounds great for the free, right? Yep! See if you can add roadside assistance to your car insurance for free. They usually come within 30 minutes and with Allstate, there is a map showing how far the mechanic is from your location. Having this helps me stay calm because I know this is also helping me be safe this winter. No one wants to be on the side of the road with a flat tire in the dark. So get that roadside assistance!
NO FLAT TIRES
But what if you don’t have roadside assistance or don’t want to pay for it? Well, there are options for that too. You can always keep a spare tire in your trunk and learn how to change your tire (or keep someone on standby for that). What if you have a slow leak in your car or your tire pressure light just came on? You can can purchase a portable air compressor and keep it handy. Not only do these little devices put air in your tires, they also will tell you your tire pressure and can be set to stop at the desired pressure for your tire. Check the inside of your door for your car’s tire pressure requirement. The tire compressor can be powered by the car’s cigarette lighter port or by charging with a USB-C. I prefer the ones that you plug into the cigarette port because you don’t have to worry about it being charged when you need to use it.
DEAD BATTERY? NO PROBLEM!
For a dead battery, you can always keep jumper cables and wait for a knight in shining armor to help you. Or you can buy a portable jump starter. My jump starter has helped me out of several jams, especially with me working from home lately. I’ll want to leave after being at home for days to find my battery dead. At this point, all I have to do is turn on the jump starter. Connect the clamps, and then crank up the car. BOOM! That’s it. The only issue I have with these is that you have to make sure that you keep it charged every couple of months. They charge with a USB-C as well. Some even come with a flashlight, a power bank for charging other devices, and other features depending on the price point.
CAN’T SEE?!
There are some other items that you may want to keep in your car. In these colder months, there may be a buildup of ice on the windshield, causing lower visibility. This is not just hazardous for driving on the road. It’s also hazardous when waiting on the windows to defrost, especially in these winter months when it gets darker earlier.
To shorten your defrost wait time, you can always change your windshield washer fluid to one that has de-icer included. You can make a cheap solution of de-icer on your own if you like a backup. Just fill a spray bottle of water a third of the way with water and fill the rest with rubbing alcohol. You can then spray this solution on your windshield and move the ice off by using an ice scraper-something else that you need.
I thought it was very important to share how I plan on staying safe in my car, especially when it’s getting dark so early. I hope me sharing how you can be safe this winter is helpful to anyone out there. As always, talk to you later, ladybugs.
