Winter Driving By Brenda Williams At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Driving during the winter can really be a pain at times. Some car manufacturers have made their vehicles in such a way that winter driving isn't as bad as it used to be. For instance, there are many cars (such as the one that my mom has) where you can remote start it from inside your house in order to warm it up for you before you get in. What a fantastic feature to have!

I can still remember being a child and having to go somewhere with either one of my parents during the winter time. Typically, my brother and I would be buckled in and waiting inside of a frigid car with the heat on full blast while one of my parents grabbed the ice scraper and proceeded to manually de-ice the front and rear windshields. You would have to wait a few minutes for the car to really warm up before you could go anywhere. Nowadays, cars are built with internal mechanisms in which all you have to do is press a button to heat up the rear and/or front windshields in order to thaw them out. And what's more is that this usually takes a matter of seconds- not minutes to do.

What many people don't realize is that instead of sitting in an idling car waiting for it to heat up, you are better off starting to drive (provided that it is safe to do so- meaning that your visibility is clear) because as you drive, your car tends to heat up a lot more quickly than it does sitting still. The same thing applies if you are anxious to get that air conditioning working during the summer. Rather than sitting there waiting for the cold air to actually be cold, roll down the windows and start driving to where you have to go. The car will be in motion and will cool down a lot more quickly.

There are a few must-haves if you are driving anywhere during the winter. I keep these items in a bin in the back of my Jeep as a sort of “emergency kit”. The first thing you'll want to have is a blanket along with a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. You never know when your car is going to break down suddenly, and if you're sitting in a cold car during the winter, it can get really cold really quickly; and what you have on might not be enough to keep you warm until help arrives. The other thing you'll want to have are some non-perishable food items. Again, if you're broken down somewhere and are unsure if you'll be waiting hours or days, it's good to have a few things to nosh on. Right now, my non-perishables consists of a generous package of Teddy Grahams and a few packages of prunes. Bottled water is also a must-have when talking about sustenance.

Another thing that is great to have, but which many of us don't carry are jumper cables. If your battery wears out, knowing how to jump your car and having the equipment to do so can be a life saver. During the winter time, it is also handy to have at least one ice scraper, an extra pair of winter gloves and a fully charged cell phone.

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