Winter Weather Precautions

Make sure you are prepared when you set off in your car this winter. You never know how long you might be spending in it.

It was on a starry night, when the hills were bright. A man left work and got in his car to go home on a cold December evening. Along the way home he had engine trouble and had to pull over on the hard shoulder.

As he was covered by a vehicle recovery service (who will remain nameless) he gave them a call to come and help him. They were there within the hour to help repair his vehicle but decided it was not possible by the side of the road.

Two and a half hours past until a tow truck came to pick his car up and return him home on this cold Friday evening. Meanwhile he had been suffering in his car in freezing temperatures wearing only what he wore to work.

In this temperatures we have been experiencing recently this could have potentially been much more serious.

We spoke to motor safety expert Amar Chohan who gave us some sound advice.

“This is a very serious matter and one that people really need to take warning from. We recommend that people always keep some form of warm clothing or blanket I their car in case this happens. In the worst cases, like we’ve experienced up north recently, it may be useful to have something to deal with snow.”

“With the weather as cold as it is currently a situation like this could be very serious.”

Mr Chohan’s top tips:

Keep a blanket to stay warm

Have a snow shovel (or makeshift device)

Have some sensible footwear like wellingtons in case you need to dig out the snow.

Mr Chohan also recommends you consider well insulated cars. We're unsure of his reasons but he suggests the Kia Carens as a good example.

Ed Dooley

10/12/2008