When it comes to road safety visibility is one of the most vital components. Failure to see the road, or other road users clearly can put lives in danger. To help avoid any accidents we’ve put together our guide to help you improve your visibility when driving.
Windshield wipers are a crucial automotive accessory that often goes unnoticed until we find ourselves driving in adverse weather conditions. These small yet indispensable devices play a vital role in ensuring clear visibility while driving, ultimately enhancing safety on the road. Designed to keep your car’s windshield free from rain, snow, dirt, and debris, windshield wipers are an absolute necessity for every driver.
Windshield Maintenance and Best Practices
“An unsuitable windshield washer fluid or just water in the washer reservoir can represent a true safety risk. Especially in the dark or when the sun is going down, light coming from up ahead and passing through a dirty windshield can cause glare, which impairs the driver’s vision, increasing the risk of accidents.”
This one’s a no-brainer, but it often gets overlooked when you’re rushing out the door: Keep your windshield clean. Heading out at night, or in extreme weather? Check your windshield and give it a quick wipe down before you set out.
Even something as seemingly harmless as dust can cost a host of visibility issues. A fine layer of dust can increase glare from both the sun and oncoming headlights. It can also create or intensify fog in damp driving conditions. Those fine particles of dust give the moisture in the air something to hold on to, so a dirty windshield will fog up a lot faster than a clean one.
When hit by the sun, or oncoming headlights, smears and smudges on your windshield can cause dazzling bright spots and light flares. Of course dirt, mud and bug guts are no better, as they directly reduce your visibility. Keeping your windshield clean is especially important in bad weather and during the winter months, when freezing temps, road salt and hazardous conditions are factors.
Bottom line: The dirtier your windshield, the less safe you’ll be on the road, so keep that windshield clean! And invest in a high-quality windshield wash to stay safe on the road.
Identify when windscreen wipers need replacing
The tell-tale sign that your windscreen wipers aren’t doing their job is a windscreen that won’t fully clear. Streaks or lines of water being left on the windscreen is often caused by aged or hardened wiper blades. Other symptoms of this include juddery movements and screeching noises as the blade moves across the windscreen. If certain areas of the windscreen are left unwashed (particularly when travelling at high speeds), it may be a sign or decreased wiper pressure and the wiper arm needs replacing. If you’re not 100% sure why your windscreen isn’t clearing properly feel free to bring your vehicle to our Bognor Regis garage and we’ll make sure no parts are replaced unnecessarily.