Car Safety Tips For Summer Time Driving
Driving during the summer months in Australia can be dangerous. Hot weather can stress your car’s systems, cause breakdowns, and put you at risk of heatstroke and dehydration if you break down without proper planning. So in this guide from LTrent Driving School, we’ll discuss a few top summer driving safety tips.
1. Check Your Fluids Before The Summer Heat
Summertime driving stresses your car’s cooling system, which can cause mechanical issues. To stay safe and avoid breakdowns, you should check on all of your car’s fluid levels, including:
- Oil level
- Power steering fluid level
- Brake fluid
- Coolant
You should also check your air conditioning system to make sure it’s working properly. Having your car serviced professionally before the hot weather is a great idea.
2. Make Sure Your Battery Is In Good Shape
Car batteries can fail during the hot summer temperatures, so make sure that your battery is charged and in good shape. You should also make sure you have a set of jumper cables or a battery-powered jump starter to recharge your battery in an emergency situation.
3. Ensure Your Tyres Are Properly Inflated
High temperatures cause air to expand, which means your tyre pressure may be higher than recommended if you don’t adjust it in the summer. This, combined with high temperatures, can lead to blowouts, particularly in older tyres. Make sure you check your tyres in the summer and inflate them to the recommended level.
4. Never Leave Children In The Car, Even For A Minute
The highest number of fatalities from children left in the car happens the in summer, which is to be expected given the higher temperatures compared to the other times of year.
The summer heat can quickly cause lethal temperatures in your car. It only takes an hour for temperatures to reach potentially fatal levels. Never leave a child in an unattended vehicle for any reason.
5. Keep An Emergency Kit In The Car
In your car, you should keep an emergency kit with non-perishable food, plenty of extra water, basic hand tools, road flares, a flashlight, and a first aid kit. This is particularly important if you’re going on a long road trip and may be far away from service stations. If you do have a breakdown, you’ll have what you need while you wait for assistance.
6. Beware Of Construction Zones
Make sure to follow safe driving best practices in construction zones. Summer is a time when lots of road maintenance and construction jobs are scheduled, so make sure to keep workers safe and avoid hefty penalties – follow posted speed limits and safety requirements when driving in construction zones.
Follow These Tips To Stay Safe This Summer!
Summer driving can be a blast, but you need to prepare for the dangers involved in driving during the hot weather. If you’re a learner driver and are interested in more tips for safe summer driving, as well as building your defensive driving skills, LTrent Driving School is here for you. Ltrent Driving School provides lessons for drivers of all levels. For NSW learner drivers, take advantage of the safer drivers course, which not only accounts for 20 of your logbook hours but will also teach you invaluable driving practices that will keep you safe for life.