Last year there were a record number of breakdowns in the US. Even if your car is regularly serviced and even if it is a new vehicle, you are still at risk of breaking down any time that you drive your vehicle. Modern technology doesn’t always mean that you are not going to break down, so you should never leave the house unprepared.
From keeping a winter survival kit in your car, to keeping a set of weather appropriate clothing in your boot, there are a number of things you can do to minimize the inconvenience and discomfort you could face.
Things You Should Think about Keeping in Your Car
Here are some items you should think about keeping in your car:
A blanket – Leave a warm blanket in your boot, it doesn’t take up much space when you fold it flat and could keep you from falling ill if you get stuck in the car in hypothermic temperatures.
Waterproofs – If you need to leave the car, either for safety or to walk to a petrol station, you will really appreciate a set of waterproofs to protect you from heavy rain.
Water – Whether you break down when it is hot or freezing, you could be stuck waiting for help for some time, so you should always take a good supply of water to keep hydrated.
Warm clothes – Whilst your car is running okay and you have a warm car because the engine is running, you won’t realize how cold it can get without the luxury of a working engine. If you break down at night or on a cold day, the temperatures can get fairly low and you will really suffer. Keep a warm jumper, hat, scarf, gloves and even warm jogging pants in the car to keep you from getting really cold.
Phone – Try to make sure that your phone is always charged, especially before going on long journeys. If you need to call someone then you will need your phone and makes sure that you save the telephone number of the breakdown company in your phone.
The other thing you can use your phone for is for locating the nearest petrol station. This could be your best hope of preventing a breakdown when you are running low on fuel and don’t know where the nearest petrol station is. There are various apps that will help you to locate the closest petrol station and sometimes you can find yourself on a stretch of journey where there isn’t going to be a petrol station for many miles unless you take a detour. Using an app could be the difference between just making it to a petrol station to fill up and sitting at the side of a quite road for two hours. Even worse, you could be sat outside in the cold and the rain waiting for the recovery company.
The one time when you realize that you should have kept a torchlight in your car’s glove compartment is when you are on a long road trip, and your car suddenly breaks down. These are the most important things you should keep in your car. Thanks for listing out all these in this article. I’m definitely going to make sure have all these on my next road trip.