Here's some useful tips from JSF Driving School
CAR MAINTENANCE - LOOKING AFTER YOUR VEHICLE
It makes sense to regularly give your car a check over, especially with holiday weekend breaks and long journeys ahead! In fact, there are quite a few rules and regulations that place a legal duty on vehicle owners , as indicated in bold type below.
Your brakes, lights, steering, exhaust system , seat belts, wipers, demisters and washers should all work, whilst the lights, reflectors, indicators, number plates, windows and windscreen MUST be kept clear and clean.
Car lights MUST be adjusted so that they do not dazzle other road users, something worth bearing in mind when you load up for a journey. It is also wise to secure items of luggage to avoid them becoming a ‘missile’ in an accident!
It is good to get into the habit of checking that your seat, seat belt, head restraints and mirrors are correctly adjusted before you set off, and bear in mind that there are set levels for exhaust emissions to which you MUST adhered.
Modern cars tend to have quite extensive warning displays on their instrument panel, which will inform you when a fault is, or has, developed, if you can understand the symbols! It is well worth while familiarising yourself with these symbols, and ignore them at your peril! It makes sense to investigate any problems to avoid a serious fault.
In the news recently, you MUST NOT use a vehicle with an excessively dark tinted windscreen or front window to either side of the driver, even if you are a football star! There are no Visual Light Transmittance limits set for other windows or the rear windscreen. Cars manufactured with tinting applied tend to be within accepted standards, so watch out for custom jobs.
Some vehicle defects can earn penalty points, and this applies to tyres. Tyres should be free from cuts and defects, and inflated to the vehicle manufacturer’s specification for the load being carried, as indicated in the vehicles handbook.
There are set rules that MUST be applied to tyre treads. Cars, light vans and light trailers MUST have a tread depth of at least 1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the breadth of the tread and around the entire circumference. Motorcycles, large vehicles and passenger-carrying vehicles MUST have a tread depth of at least 1m across three-quarters of the breadth of the tread and in a continuous band around the entire circumference. Mopeds should have visible tread.
From a safety point of view, if you notice that you have a flat tyre, stop as soon as it is safe to do so. If you need to change your tyre , only do so in a position where you are not putting yourself or others at risk – call a breakdown service if in doubt! If you suffer a burst tyre whilst you are driving, try to keep control of the vehicle by firmly gripping the steering wheel, and allowing the vehicle to roll to a stop at the side of the road.
Learning to drive? Need a recommended driving school?....Then call JSF now on 0800 3777 138
