‘See and be seen’ should be the motto of every safety-conscious motorist. So many drivers tend to overlook the necessity of using headlights during daytime driving in bad weather conditions.
Inspect your lights
The first priority of every motorist should be to ensure all the car’s lights are operating at their most efficient. This means clean lenses. It means clean, uncorroded reflectors. It also means changing bulbs as they become dimmed, since at the stage they do not produce the best of light and they are about to ‘go’ anyway.
Inspect your lights, at least once a week, more often if you motor daily. Get a friend to help you check rear, brake, reversing and indicator lights. These are extremely important because they warn other drivers of your moves.
Clean your lenses
Light lenses should be cleaned rather more often than the car itself is cleaned. They can so quickly become obscured or dimmed by road dirt. In winter, frost and snow can reduce headlight beams to almost nil. Some cars however do have lamp wipers. And make sure your lights are correctly directed. It is of no use whatsoever, dipping the beam, if the dipped lights are still directed to dazzle, or if the lights are directed beyond the kerbside.
Windscreen and wipers
Lights will help you see ahead but it is also important to ensure you can see through the windscreen in the first place. Keep you screen wash topped up, and not with just plain water. Always use a screen wash, it not only cleans better but acts as an anti-freeze in winter.
Wipers must be in good repair to work efficiently. They are too often neglected till they split and fall away, just when you need them most. Always replace them as soon as they start to show missed areas when they are in use.
Don’t forget to clean your screen on the inside; It is often forgotten how quickly dust and greasy deposits arrive here. If you or your passenger is a smoker, the screen will become dirty even quicker, so keep a cloth and cleaner handy in the car and wipe that screen over at least every other day.
By Rex Lloyd
