Checking All Your Tires
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There are countless people who take their tires for granted. They feel that they either don’t have to check them or that if there was something wrong, they would see it. However, wouldn’t it be better to know ahead of time that you need to replace or repair your tires rather than wait for something unexpected to happen?
Tires play a major role in keeping drivers safe on the roads. For example, if you over inflate your tires, it makes it more difficult to stop, and it can also be dangerous when it rains outside or if there is snow on the ground as the amount of traction you will experience will be greatly reduced. Similarly, it is also incredibly dangerous to be driving around on under inflated tires because doing so may cause your car to flip over when you make a somewhat sharp turn. It can also cause your tire to blow out if you are on the highway and are traveling at a great speed.
In the morning, or anytime before you get into your car to go somewhere, you should perform a quick check of all your tires. This simply requires walking around the car and just stealing a quick glance at them. On occasion (perhaps a few times a week), you should inspect your tires. Take a look at the tread. If the tread looks worn down or if you cannot see it anymore, it is time to get a new set of tires. The worst thing that you can do is drive around on tires that are almost bald. When your tires are ‘bald,’ it means that there is little to no tread left on them. Remember that the tread on your tires is what allows you to come to a complete stop. It is what stops you from skidding anytime you depress the break in your vehicle. In wintry or rainy weather, it prevents you from hydroplaning off the road or into another vehicle.
Before I was even allowed to test drive my parents’ cars, my father showed me how to change a tire and actually made me do it myself just to make sure that I was listening. There I was one summer, crouched in my driveway at home with both of my parents and my younger brother, watching me change a tire in the boiling heat. While I may have thought it was silly at the time, only a few years later, I was incredibly grateful. There were at least two occasions I can remember where I was at college during my freshman year in the early morning during the winter time, changing my tires and trying not to freeze.
It still surprises me that there are actually people out there who haven’t the first clue about how to change a tire themselves. Changing a tire is one of the most fundamental things a person can learn how to do in order to help themselves in the event that they realize that they have a flat tire. It can save you a lot of time too.