When it comes to healthy driving and maintenance habits, many drivers are working with outdated advice. While inherited knowledge can be useful, it often fails to keep pace with advances in automotive technology, leading to wasted time, effort, and even compromised safety behind the wheel. Take the old adage about changing your oil every 3,000 […]
Category: Safety
Small Upgrades, Big Risks: 7 Dangerous Interior Accessories For Your Car
Walk into a local parts house, or scroll any online marketplace, and it won’t take you long to stumble across droves of interior accessories that promise to improve your driving experience. Some come bearing the gift of comfort. Others offer convenience and organization. On occasion, you may see them claiming to improve safety. I like […]
Run-Flat and Self-Sealing Tires: Should You Have Them on Your Vehicle?
Few things feel more devastating than being stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire, especially in the middle of the night with no cell phone service. (Yes, it’s happened to me.) Trying to change a tire or arrange a tow truck can be time-consuming, expensive, and potentially life-threatening. Even if you […]
What Are the Best Tools for Getting Your Car Out of Snow?
The winter snow will be here before you know it, if it hasn’t already arrived. As someone who’s lived in the Northeast all my life, I know something else comes with it: the potential to get stuck in the snow. Even with winter tires, AWD, careful driving practices, road maintenance, and every other precaution, the […]
What Is Traction Control?
Since 2012, all new cars sold in the US have been required to have a traction control system (TCS). First developed in the early 1970s, traction control was introduced to help prevent “wheel spin” due to loss of grip. Multiple studies have confirmed the effectiveness of traction control in reducing accidents. Not surprisingly, the technology […]
What Are Emergency Brakes and How Do They Work?
Every vehicle is equipped with an emergency brake, also known as a parking brake or a handbrake. The emergency brake locks the wheels of your vehicle to help keep the vehicle from unintentionally moving. In other words, the emergency brake is designed primarily to hold your already parked car in place. The best use of […]
Get Ready for Snow: Prep Your Winter Emergency Kit
It’s that time of year again to make sure your vehicle is ready for the winter. There are quite a few ways you should go about this, including making sure your battery is in good shape, checking and replacing your windshield wipers, and perhaps adding antifreeze to your washer fluid. This is also the time […]
How to Pick the Right Motorcycle Helmet
If you’re getting ready to buy a motorcycle, then you need a helmet. Even if you live in one of the states that do not have a helmet law, riding with a helmet is a much more comfortable experience and increases your chances of surviving a crash by roughly 40%. However, there are a ton […]
Don’t Slack Off With Our Guide to Motorcycle Chain Tightening and Replacement
Motorcycles are relatively easy to maintain compared to their four-wheeled counterparts. Many of the most important parts are easily accessible, and the drivetrain is simple to understand compared to the inner workings of a car, truck, or SUV. For decades, riders have found a certain zen in performing their own maintenance and repairs, which allows […]
Taking a Crack at DIY Windshield Repair
We’ve all been there: you’re going about your daily drive, maybe commuting to work or running some errands around town, when you hear the dreaded crack of an object against your windshield. It could be a piece of road debris kicked up by a passing semi, rocks and gravel from an overloaded construction vehicle, or […]
Elevate Your Jack and Jack Stand Knowledge
From changing your oil, coolant, and tires to working on your exhaust system or swapping out your brake pads and rotors, many of the most common DIY projects require the use of a car jack and jack stands. While many drivers are familiar with these vital pieces of automotive equipment, they don’t exactly qualify as […]
Airbags and Motorcycles: A Look at Motorcycle Airbag Vests
Climbing in the saddle of a motorcycle is inherently risky, but that risk is often worth the reward for riders who appreciate the open-air freedom only riding offers. Unlike cars, trucks, or SUVs, motorcycles offer zero protection as you navigate the road. You’re not sitting in a high-strength steel cage but are vulnerable and physically […]
What to Know About Laminated Glass
Almost everyone reading this has experienced at least one chip or crack in their vehicle windshield. Have you wondered why the windshield simply cracks instead of breaking into thousands of tiny pieces when a rock strikes? You can thank laminated glass for that. Pioneered in the early 1900s just as the automotive industry was finding […]
Affordable Life-Saving Tools to Keep in Your Car
Almost every motorist has experienced the dread of being stuck on the side of the road—or worse, in the middle of it—because something went wrong. Agero estimates there are 69 million vehicle breakdowns in the US every year, and the National Safety Council adds that more than 13 million vehicle crashes occur; this means there’s […]
Emergency Kits 101: Building the Best First Aid and Roadside Kits for Your Vehicle
Do you ever think of worst-case scenarios when you’re behind the wheel? While scenarios like your car launching off the river bridge often (and thankfully) only play out on the silver screen, there’s a lot to be said for being prepared and expecting the unexpected. I spent years working with civilians and responders in tactical […]
Get Your Paws on These Pet-Friendly Car Accessories
From running off-leash to sniffing a particularly interesting pile of leaves, dogs tend to be enthusiastic about almost everything under the sun. That said, car rides certainly seem to rank at the top of the list. The rattle of keys or a subtle move toward the door can cause any dog to jump around in […]
Put Winter Weather on Ice With These Snow Removal Tips
The winter season can bring all sorts of challenges for drivers. From slick streets and road salt to rough starts and towering snow banks that obscure your vision, winter driving is no picnic behind the wheel. Some of these issues can start to rear their head before you even leave your driveway, especially when it […]
The Rundown on Brake Rotors
If you’re anything like me, then for the longest time, what you knew about brake rotors came from early 2000s movies and video games. That meant that if you wanted a car to stop quickly, the disks absolutely needed to be gold, drilled, and, most importantly, connected to a red caliper. Then, when you got […]
Get a Grip! Motorcycle Tank Grips and Protectors
Tank grips and tank protectors are an often overlooked accessory that can benefit many riders. Tank grips can make you much more confident on the road, and seriously improve comfort in some cases. Tank protectors, on the other hand, can help keep your tank looking new and scratch-free. They seem like an extremely minor addition […]
Hey You, Stop Doing These Things to Your Poor Car!
Look, I get it—we’re all busy, we all have places to be and things to do, and proper vehicle maintenance isn’t necessarily at the top of the list when it comes to how you want to spend a day off. That’s all well and good, but if you don’t take proper care of your vehicle […]
More Than Hot Air: A Look at the Modern Airbag
From waxing the hood to deep-cleaning the wheels and giving the dash a healthy coat of Armor All, drivers tend to obsess over the smallest details. That said, there’s one common vehicle component that no driver is in a rush to get acquainted with: the airbag. This vital piece of safety equipment is the last […]