How to stay safe on the roads this winter

13th Oct 2023

With weather warnings in place, freezing temperatures and even snow a possibility for some areas - are you prepared? We've got the tools you need to stay safe on the roads during the colder months, including Snow Shovels, Tyre Pressure Gauges, Tyre Tread Depth Gauges, Warning Triangles, Battery Chargers and much more. At this time of year, it’s always best to be prepared and keep a few essentials in your car. Here’s our round-up of winter motoring tools as well as some top tips to keep you safe.

Defrosting tips:

• Never pour hot or boiling liquid onto your windscreen, this could cause the glass to crack
• Only ever use an ice scraper to remove ice - using something else could leave you with a scratched windscreen.
• Spray some WD40 into your locks the night before to ensure they don’t freeze over

Don’t get snowed in

Snowstorms don’t just happen overnight, you could find yourself snowed in after a long day at work or even find your route home blocked by snow. In the colder months it’s always a good idea to keep a shovel handy in the car. This Draper Tools Folding Steel Shovel is ideal for the boot of the car. Made with a carbon steel serrated blade and a tubular steel handle, it’s powder coated to prevent corrosion and folds away into a handy compact pouch.

Snow safety tips:

• Make sure your exhaust pipe isn’t obscured by snow when you start the car
• Try to get as much snow as possible off the roof so that it doesn’t end up on the windscreen when you start driving and obscure your vision
• If you’re struggling to pull away even after digging out the snow around your tyres, try putting a piece of cardboard under your wheels to help them grip

Be prepared for battery issues

When battery issues prevent your car from starting it can be a real pain, especially in winter. Whether you end up getting cold waiting for your breakdown provider to arrive, or you end up being late for work or a Christmas get together, it almost always ruins your plans. Thankfully, there is an easy way to boost your battery and get the car going again. Helping to prevent battery problems and bring low batteries back to life is the Draper 6/12V Intelligent Battery Charger. It’s ideal for standard car and motorcycle batteries. It features high- tech microprocessor-controlled charging and offers an efficient charge rate specific for 6 and 12v batteries. Other useful features include polarity inversion protection and thermal overload protection

• Double check that everything electrical is off when you park up, especially if you plan to leave the car for a few days over the holidays. It's not just external lights you need to check, radios and internal lights can run the battery down in the cold too.

Be ready for all situations

• In the winter you never know when a road accident or obstruction could leave  you waiting in your car for a long time in the cold. So plan ahead and put a warm blanket, coat, gloves, hat and scarf in your car the night before and pack a flask of hot drink in the morning before you set off.

Keep tyres in top condition

Pay extra attention to your tyres at this time of year and make sure they’re at the correct pressure to keep you safe on the roads. This hand-held dual reading  Tyre Pressure Gauge from Draper Tools comes in a range of colours and is ideal to keep in the car. Should your tyres need some extra inflation there are plenty of options to help you do this. The  Draper 12V Analogue Tyre Inflator  can both check tyre pressure and inflate your tyres. It’s powered by your vehicle’s cigarette lighter socket, making it a handy bit of kit to keep in the car year round. The  Draper 12V Cordless Air Compressor  is also a great tool for keeping tyres in tip top condition. It features a digital display, which provides psi, kPa and BAR settings, allowing you to fix your desired air pressure. Once this pressure is reached the compressor automatically stops, giving you complete peace of mind that your tyre pressure is correct. Don’t forget to check your tread depth either; with the Draper Tools Tyre Tread Depth Gauge it’s quick and easy to get an accurate measurement.

Top tyre tips

• Check your tyres every couple of weeks in winter as tyre pressure can fall in cold outdoor temperatures
• Remember at least 3mm tread depth on your tyres is recommended for winter motoring and sometimes more if you're driving abroad

Don’t be in the dark

With the darker months upon us it’s essential to have a torch in the car. Here at Draper Tools we have a wide range of torches to help you out in an emergency. The  Expert CREE 1W LED Waterproof Torch is great torch to keep handy, it delivers a 60 lumen strong white 50M beam of light. Its robust ABS plastic, IP66 case provides waterproof and shock-proofing capabilities too, making it an incredibly durable torch for any situation.

• LED torches can last up to 50 times longer than a regular torch, so for winter motoring an LED torch is a must. If you get stranded at night in the winter, you don’t want to be worrying about your torch batteries running out.

Be seen

Breaking down is serious at any time of year but in the dark can be very dangerous, especially if you’re on a bend or out in a rural area without street lights. The Draper Tools Warning Triangle, does exactly as the name suggests and will alert unsuspecting traffic to your presence, warning them to slow down. In a breakdown situation it’s often safest to wait outside your car but you still need to make sure you’re seen the dark, so keep a High Visibility Waistjacket in your car for emergencies.

Top tip

Have your breakdown cover provider’s number already stored in your mobile phone. You won’t want to waste time looking for this in an emergency.

You'll find Draper Tools winter motoring essentials available to buy from stores around the country and online, see more on our website.