Improve your road safety: the vehicle checks you should do before you drive
Road safety is an important issue these days, with many workers driving longer distances more regularly than ever before on increasingly busy roads. For those driving regularly on business, perhaps spending all day on the road, and for fleet managers, this becomes even more important, especially in the light of recent legislation, such as the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter Act, which means that bosses can be held accountable for road accidents caused by their employees whether using company cars or their own vehicles.
While road safety can be significantly improved through safer driving habits, and through fitting vehicle tracking systems such as one of the range provided by CMS SupaTrak, it’s also vital to ensure vehicles are roadworthy. Here are some of the most important vehicle checks to do:
Tyre pressure: keeping tyres at the correct pressure not only leads to fuel savings but also reduces wear, therefore increasing tyre life, and improves safety, since over or under inflation can affect grip and braking. Also, over-inflated tyres can lead to a bumpy ride. You can buy your own pressure gauge to use at home to check and correct tyre pressure, or do this at a petrol station. Check your vehicle’s manual for the correct tyre pressure under different loads.
At the same time, check that the tyre treads have not worn down and for any bald patches or tears. Either could lead to difficulties in controlling the vehicle, especially on winding roads, or when braking.
Check headlights, reversing lights and brake lights are all working.
Clean the windscreen and re-fill the screen wash reservoir and keep a de-icer, cloths and scrapers handy. Also, check there are no chips or cracks in the windscreen. Fix them before they become a danger.
Ensure you’re not carrying any excess weight or uneven loads, which can reduce fuel efficiency and make controlling the vehicle more difficult.
Make sure you have your vehicle serviced regularly to keep it driving safely and efficiently.
CMS SupaTrak’s range of vehicle tracking devices help to keep business and fleet drivers safe while on the road, through a range of features from monitoring good driving habits, to real-time tracking.
