Tips for safe summer road trips
29th Jul 2020
Are you packing up the car and planning to set off on a summer staycation? Now that the school holidays are officially here and holidays are possible, many of us will be thinking about day tips and road trips around the country. To keep you safe on the roads, there are few simple steps to ensure your vehicle is fully prepared for the journey. Below are a few tips and tools to help you get ready to set off.
Check your tyre pressure
Under inflated tyres can be a serious safety hazard, negatively affecting your vehicle’s stopping distances. And if you’re adding extra weight to the car with suitcases and the whole family onboard, you may need to add some air to your tyres. Check your vehicle’s tyre pressure values and make sure you’ve inflated to the higher PSI figure. Be careful not over inflate though as this can increase the risk of high-speed blow-outs – definitely not something you want to deal with on a holiday! There are a number of handy tools to help you check your tyre pressure available from Draper Tools. The Digital Tyre Pressure Gauge is easy-to-use and read with an LCD display and auto shut off feature. See the full range of tyre pressure gauges here.
Check your tread depth
While you're looking at you're tyre pressure, it’s also a good idea to check the tread depth before setting off on a long journey. Worn tyres are another serious safety hazard, so it’s a check that’s well worth doing to help prevent accidents. While the legal limit for tyre tread depth is 1.6mm, many experts actually recommend a minimum tread depth of 3mm to be safe. Tyres with a tread depth of less than 3mm have been shown to significantly increase you stopping distances – and this is only made worse in wet conditions. For an accurate reading you can put your trust in the award-winning Draper Expert Digital Tyre Tread Depth Gauge.
For a handy all round kit for the car, there is also the Draper Tools 3 Piece Tyre Service Kit comprising of Tyre Tread Depth Gauge, Tyre Pressure Gauge and Tyre Valve Repair Tool.
Be aware of batteries issues
Traditionally winter is known as a bad time for car battery issues but according to the RAC, batteries are the number one cause on the list for summer breakdowns. Extreme temperatures, whether hot or cold can be bad for your car and its battery. If you’re unlucky enough to experience a flat battery it can really ruin your holiday plans. To help out in these emergency situations, Draper Tools offers a versatile, portable 12V/24V Jump Starter - which comes fitted with LED battery charge indicators, a 230V DC to AC inverter, two 230V output sockets, two 12V output sockets plus an LED work light, USB output socket and polarity inversion warning. Also available in the Draper range is a 6/12V Intelligent Battery Charger that's suitable for most standard car and motorcycle batteries, delivering an efficient charge rate specific for 6 & 12v batteries.
Be prepared
Make sure you've got up-to-date breakdown cover and keep a record of your membership details in the car with you - you don't want to be left searching for these in an emergency. It's also important to keep a warning triangle in the car too. Should the worst happen and you breakdown or crash, the highway code advises you to place a warning triangle on the road at least 45 metres behind your vehicle on the same side of the road (but never on the motorway).
There’s plenty more advice for safe summer driving available online from organisations such as the RAC and TyreSafe. You can also browse more vehicle safety essentials and automotive tools on the Draper website.
