Safe Driving Tips

• Do not change lanes suddenly while driving. Use your indicators to show your fellow motorists that you wish to change lanes or take a turn as the case may be. If for any reason your indicator lights are not working please use hand signals.

• If your vehicle brakes down use help and push the same to the corner of the road so as not to obstruct traffic. Use the hazard warning lights to indicate a brake-down.
  

• Do not leave the keys hanging in the ignition switch if the driver of the vehicle is not in place. ( specially if children are in the vehicle) Always keep safe distance from the vehicle ahead of you to enable you to stop in time if urgent braking is required.

• Ensure no object that you may be carrying is kept loose or unsecured. In an accident or in urgent braking the same may hurt yourself or some pedestrian.
  

• If the vehicle is parked ensure that the hand brake is drawn and the vehicle is in gear to avoid any untoward mishap.
  

• Always ensure that you give right of way to an Ambulance. Please understand that there may be a patient in the vehicle to whom even a minute's difference would mean the difference between life and death. Also the same would apply in the case of the fire brigade.
  

• While travelling, both in the city and on the highway avoid using the High Beam of your headlights if other vehicles are approaching from the opposite side.
  

• Always ensure all the indicator lights and the operating gear of the same is operational. Pay attention to brake lights and headlights.
  

• If you are about to overtake or in the middle of an overtake on a two-laned national highway or a narrow road, indicate to the approaching vehicle with two to three flickers of the headlight, be it daytime or night to let him know of your intended maneuver. If in such a case the approaching vehicle flickers back, don’t overtake. This means he is too close to you for safely carrying out the overtake.
  

• Always obey traffic rules and signals. They are for the benefit of both yourself and your fellow motorists. Also by obeying the rules you will ensure safety and avoid confusion.
  

• Do not use a mobile phone while driving your vehicle, it is dangerous for both yourself and others. If you must speak on the mobile pull over to the side of the road and stop. Or have a hands free attachment that comes on automatically and switches off too.

Car Care Tips During Monsoon

TYRES

Make sure your car tyres are in excellent condition before the monsoons arrive, as these will be in constant touch with the wet slippery roads. To avoid skids and unwanted jolts, make sure your tyres have good tread depth. Compromising on this could prove dangerous. Car tyres should be minimum 2mm in depth, including your spare. Fine parts of dust get entrenched in the tyres, causing them to skid. Rubber has a tendency to soften when it comes in contact with water. Check the tyre pressure regularly and inflate it to recommended pressure when it is cold. This increases driving comfort and the life of your tyres.

WIPERS
The wiper blades are better when new. Always make sure they are of good quality, no streaking and smooth functioning. The wiper blades should not be hard and cracked, as these will cause scratches on the windscreen. Check that the wipers are working in all the three speeds (normal, slow, fast) before you start out on your drive. Instead of ordinary water for your windshield wiper, try using some solution like soap solution for better visibility.

BRAKES
The most crucial part of a vehicle, brakes calipers, must be regularly cleaned and replaced. Brakes should not be too loose or too tight. Keep using the car brakes as water may make the brake drums wet, causing low braking efficiency. Keep taking your car for regular service check-ups. You can dry out the wet brakes by placing your left foot on the brake pedal and gently moving the throttle with your right foot. Make sure the handbrake works fine.

WATER-PROOF IT
To prevent the car body from rusting, use an anti-rust coating on the car fittings. Service your engine and make sure it is made water tight. It would be a good idea to use an anti-moisture spray or simply remove the plug and clean out the moisture with a cloth.

CAR INTERIORS
Many a times, water flows into the cabin area, damaging the carpets and flooring. Place old mats on your car floor, so that these soak up the dirty water. It would be a better option to use fabric mats rather than rubber ones. Vacuum clean the car interiors regularly and use car perfumes with light fragrances that will also make your car smell fresh. This will keep the car interiors clean and smelling fresh. If your car seats get wet, keep the windows open, to avoid the formation of fungus.

ELECTRICAL PATCH-UPS
Patch up all the weak or loose electrical connections and check if all the external wires are insulated, as these tend to act up in the rains and during the monsoons. Take care to remember that exposed wires, if any, should be properly insulated. Coat battery terminals with petroleum jelly (not grease) and use a waterproofing spray to keep the electrical system moisture-free. Also check to see if all the fuses are in order and ensure that you always carry a few extra fuses with you.

Drive safe

The Met Department has told us the monsoons are almost at our doorsteps – a week prematurely. Now every driver knows that one has to take a great deal of care when it comes dealing with wet conditions on the roads. There are instances of cars skidding, poor visibility, and a whole host of other issues. To prevent trouble on those wet days, we bring you some driving dos and don’ts in the monsoons. Make sure you keep these handy – and take extra caution while being out on the roads.

• Extra oily: Be very careful if it rains after a dry spell. During this time, engine oil and grease build up on the road. The surface of the road, after fresh rainfall, becomes extremely slick. Continued rainfall will eventually wash away the oil, but the first few hours can be the most dangerous. Drive slow.
• Start early: You will need more time to travel because of jams and water logging, etc. Start early in case your route has a traffic jam or is filled up with water. Speeding to make up for lost time is extremely dangerous.
• Mind those brakes: Brake earlier and with less force than you would normally. Not only does this increase the stopping distance between you and the car in front of you, it also lets the driver behind you know that you're slowing down. Also, be more meticulous about using turn signals, so that other drivers know your intentions, and take turns and curves with less speed than you would in dry conditions.
• Don't use cruise control: Cruise control tends to make drivers less vigilant and some could take their foot away from the pedals — not a great idea when reaction time is so important.
• Avoid large puddles: If you see a large puddle up ahead, drive around it or take a different route. Remember, water splashing up into your car's engine compartment could damage its internal electrical systems. Also, a pothole may be hiding under the water, just waiting in ambush to damage a wheel or knock your suspension out of alignment. If you can't gauge the depth, or if it's covering up the side curb, try to avoid it.
• Run away from running water: Don’t try stunts and attempt to cross water running across the road in a torrent. This could mean trouble if the force of the water is greater than the weight of your vehicle. An all-wheel drive isn't going to be much help if your vehicle is being pushed sideways.
• Lights on: Turn on your headlights, even when there's a light sprinkle. It helps you see the road, and, more importantly, it helps other motorists see you. However, don't switch to high beam in the rain or if there’s a mist — it'll obscure your view further, as the light will reflect back at you off the water droplets in the air. If your car is equipped with fog lights, you may find it helpful to turn these on, as these throw a little extra light on the road while making your car easier to see.
• Stay alert: Watch out for pedestrians. An ordinarily observant pedestrian may become distracted by fiddling with an umbrella or a rain slicker. Plus, raindrops deaden sound, so the usual audio clues for measuring car distances become obscured. Keep a sharp lookout for people on the road.
• It’s better to wait: If it's raining so hard that you can't see the road or the car in front of you, pull over and wait.
• Follow your leader: Track the car ahead of you. Let the car ahead pave a clear path, so to speak, through the water.
• Let there be distance: Make sure you maintain extra distance if there is a truck or bus ahead of you. The reason is that their large tyres can create enough spray to block your vision completely. Avoid passing one, but if you must pass, do it as quickly as safety allows.
• Defog: Defog your windows. Rain will quickly cause your windshield to fog up. Switch on both front and rear defrosters and make sure the air-conditioning is turned on.
• Avoid skidding: If you start to hydroplane (Hydroplaning happens when a layer of water builds between the rubber tyres of the vehicle and the road surface, leading to the loss of traction and thus preventing the vehicle from responding to control inputs such as steering, braking or accelerating) don't brake suddenly or turn the wheel, or you might spin into a skid. Release the gas pedal slowly and steer straight until the car regains traction. If you must brake, tap the brake pedal.

We wish you very happy and safe monsoons. Drive carefully!