The roads today are the safest in the history of roads but accidents still occur. The Majority of them are not too bad but some are and cause the loss of life. Some of these accidents are down to human error but a growing number are down to vehicle faults, down to bad everyday maintenance. You might think that the essential components of the vehicle that are being poorly maintained are the brakes, steering or the suspension, and that these are what is causing these accidents, but you would be wrong. These components are maintained every twelve months on cars that are three years old as part of the MOT, and because these components are created to be hard wearing they rarely fail between the yearly checks. The majority of these accidents can be associated with three areas , the car front window, the lights and the tyres, all of which should be checked often to make sure they are in superb working condition.

How should these three areas of the vehicle be serviced to avoid accidents? Let us start by discussing the front window; possessing a clear field of vision is vital for driving any vehicle safely. Initially you should really inspect the front window for any chips and cracks and if you see any they must be repaired straight away as these can take away your concentration on the road and impair your vision on the motorway. Also your wiper blades must be in working condition; this means that they have no damage in the wiper blades and clear rain from the front window without leaving streaks and smudges. If your wiper blades have any of these faults then you must buy some replacement wiper blades and fit them straight away. When picking your replacement wiper blades remember they are not all identical. If you live somewhere where the winters are bad it might be worth seeking out flat wiper blades made from silicone as these flat wiper blades will

operate in the coldest conditions. Although the flat wiper blades built from silicone are expensive they come with a one-year guarantee and they are superb value for money.

It is now time to look at what checkes the lights on the vehicle need .The lights on a tuck should all be working and to ensure this they should be checked often. This can be done easily in a couple minutes with two people; one person switches the lights on and the other person observes if they are working. If any of the lights are not functioning then replacement bulbs should be fitted straight away. If you don’t feel confident doing this yourself almost all garages will fit them for a small fee. You should also think about updating your headlights to neon bulbs, as for most dark winter nights any additional light will always increase safety.

Finally, let us look at what checks should be frequently carried out on the tyres of a tuck to maintain its safe operation. The first thing to do is to inspect the depth of the tread which can be done using a depth gauge. For a tyre to be legal it must have more than 1.6 mm of tread over two thirds of its surface but the manufacturers recommend more than 3 mm of tread over two thirds of the tyre. The next thing to do is check is the air pressure in the tyre, this should be the same as the manufacturer’s specification which is normally on a sticker in the driver’s door arch. You inspect the pressure by attaching the pressure gauge to the tyre valve, then read off the value on the pressure gauge. If the pressure is lower than required level then you have to straight away pump up the tyre. You should inspect it again in a day or so and if the pressure has descreased then it is best to take the tyre to an expert and have it observed as it is likely to have a puncture. Tyres will slowly deflate all the time so small pressure changes are expected over a period of a month or so.

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