Winter Safety Tips for your Car

Snowy weather is starting to ease in and a lot of us know how Zanesville roads can get during those conditions. WHIZ Brittany Clark has some tips for keeping your car in good shape and ready to handle the winter weather.

Often times we forget to winterize our cars before a snow storm hits. I talked Mark Hawkins at Auto Zone who gave me some quick and easy tips to help keep your car safe when there is snow and ice on the road.

“Always have your battery checked. You wanna make sure there is no corrosion, it turns and is nice and clean. Make sure you have plenty of juice in it,” said Hawkins.

We also learned it’s important to know the proper fluids to use when trying to remove ice from your vehicle.

“This is good down to 27-degrees below zero. Where the other will freeze up on you then you’re going to go through a lot of trouble trying to thaw that to even get the De-Icer in it,” said Hawkins.

Hawkins said keeping a survival kit in your car can protect you in case of an emergency.

“We sell emergency road-side kits. It has your flares, jumper cables, some basic tools and stuff like that to help you out in case of an emergency. You never know what might save you out from being stuck in the snow for two to three hours. Hawkins went on to say, “this is something you can just pull out of the bag and fix a hose or something real quick and get you back on the road.”

Hawkins said to ensure that your tires are in tip top shape for the snow. You should check your tire pressure and tread depth. You can try this at home with a coin.

“It’s always important to check your tire tread, and make sure you have plenty of tread for the winter time. You just take a normal penny take it upside down, stick it here in your tread. As long as your up to where the top of Lincoln head is your alright,” said Hawkins.

Car maintenance may seem like a small worry but it’s very important to plan ahead to avoid problems on the road.