Winter weather brings a host of challenges.
Shoveling the driveway, finding ways to stay warm and negotiating snowstorms are just a few of the issues that arise when the mercury starts to dip and winter winds begin to howl.
The colder months are also no cakewalk for motorists.
Less than ideal road conditions that threaten driver visibility can make it hard for even the most defensive drivers to avoid accident or injury. Such conditions only further emphasize the importance drivers must place on doing anything and everything to improve their visibility when driving during the winter months.
Better visibility often makes for more confident and comfortable drivers, reducing their risk of accident or injury.
The following tips can go a long way toward improving driver visibility during the most difficult driving season of the year. ? Work with your wipers.
Too often drivers blame the weather for poor visibility. While harsh weather can be difficult to drive in, wiper blades functioning at full capacity can often mitigate weather no matter how harsh the conditions are.
Much like the rest of a vehicle's many parts, wiper blades can break down over time. But it's not always necessary to replace wiper blades. In fact, wiper blades can be restored and work as good as new.
Permatex Wiper RestoreTM revitalizes wiper blade rubber, extending blade life while improving overall wiper performance for better vision.
Featuring a water-based silicone emulsion formula with a special surfactant to clean, soften, and condition the wiper blade to make it more pliable, Permatex Wiper Restore increases wiper flexibility and minimizes streaking and skipping, making it easier for motorists to see what lies ahead.
? Diligently remove snow and ice from the vehicle. No one enjoys waking up in the morning to a vehicle covered in a night's worth of snow and ice.
Even less enjoyable is spending several minutes out in the cold removing that ice and snow from the vehicle. However, drivers must be diligent when removing snow and ice from the vehicle.
Be sure to clean off the entire rear windshield so there is nothing blocking vision when backing out of the driveway or driving down the highway. In addition, clean the roof of the car as best as possible.
This ensures large blocks of ice and snow won't melt and slide down the windshield while unexpecting motorists are driving down the highway. Those few minutes spent removing snow and ice might not be very fun, but being thorough is imperative to driver and passenger safety.
? Monitor headlight performance. The sun sets early once the temperatures drop, and motorists rely on their headlights to get them to their destination safely. But nighttime accidents are still a great risk, as research indicates that the average driver's vision is reduced by as much as 70 percent when driving at night, and cloudy headlights can reduce driver visibility even further.
Permatex Lens Renew Headlight Restoration Kit makes it easy for anyone to restore cloudy, yellowed and scratched plastic headlight lenses to "like new" clarity in as little as five minutes.
It also has a UV protectant, which helps the lens stay clearer longer.
By improving light output, the Headlight Restoration Kit increases driving safety without the need for costly headlight lens replacements.
"Almost all modern day vehicles now use plastic headlamp lenses," says Adam Cincotta, Senior Product Manager at Permatex.
"Over time, clouding of these lenses becomes a serious problem, especially as vehicles get older.
The Permatex Lens Renew Headlight Restoration Kit is an inexpensive way for drivers to make their cars safer to drive at night, without spending hundreds of dollars on headlight replacements."
? Address windshield issues immediately or even before they occur.
Nearly every driver has experienced a stone hitting their windshield while driving, particularly during the winter months when the roadways are littered with sand and other debris.
Initial damage may appear in the form of a bullseye, chip or star on the glass, but if left unrepaired, these small problems can expand, possibly because of changes in the temperature, and create a large crack that might require replacement of the entire windshield.
But fast-acting motorists can use the Permatex Windshield Repair Kit to fill in any dings and keep the damage from spreading.
In minutes, drivers can minimize the blemish on the glass and make a permanent, professionalquality repair for far less than the cost of a complete windshield replacement.
Drivers can also take a proactive step to improve their vision in inclement weather.
No Touch Rainshield(R) Windshield Coating improves visibility by putting an instant protective coating on the windshield that repels rain, sleet and
Raindrops bead off the windshield when traveling above 35 mph, protecting drivers who must take to the highways regardless of how harsh the weather is.
