Simple Solutions

Winter is here! And first snowfall brought a lot of accidents already. I haven't tried any of these... I just got this from my inbox and thought that it might be interesting to share...


As we all know, all sorts of variables can have a real and immediate effect on our capability to safely operate our vehicles at this time of year. Unusual as they may seem to some of us – they are really just some very simple solutions, that once applied can make a world of difference to all of our driving abilities. Listed below are these helpful, but unusual hints:

• At this time of year, especially with the way the headlights of the vehicles are now designed, the snow/rain & dirt can quickly cause a "film over" of your vehicle’s headlights in a very short time – leaving you with reduced visibility right at the wrong time. The Simple Solution: To prevent this from taking place a simple application of ordinary car wax will keep your headlights clear. Just wipe a light coating of some ordinary car wax onto your headlights. The car wax contains special water repellents that will present that messy snow/water/dirt mixture from accumulating on your lights. Properly done, a single application of the wax to your headlights should last on your vehicle for about 6-weeks.
  
  
• How about those squeaky wind-shield wipers – and they seem to keep getting worse the more that you utilize them. The Simple Solution: "Squeak-Proof" your wind-wipers with ordinary rubbing alcohol. Wipe the wind-shield wiper with a cloth that is saturated with rubbing alcohol or even ammonia. This one trick can make a badly streaking and squeaky wipers change to near perfect silence and clarity.
  
  
• The winter conditions will bring both frost and/or ice onto the wind-shields' of our vehicles. Want to be pro-active and ensure the frost or ice won’t affect you in any way? The Simple Solution: Ice-proof your windows using ordinary vinegar. Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water and then spray it on all your windows at night. In the morning they’ll be clear of the icy mess. Vinegar contains acetic acid which raises the melting point of water preventing the water from freezing.
  
  
• Also with the ice and frost thing – how many times do you find your vehicle's doors frozen due to ice or frost? The Simple Solution: Prevent car doors from freezing shut with household cooking spray. "Spritz" the cooking oil on all the rubber seals around your vehicle’s doors and gently rub it in with a paper towel. This application of the cooking spray prevents water from being absorbed into the rubber.
  
  
• With the quickly changing temperatures at this time of year, your vehicles wind-shield fog can very quickly "fog-up" and create an extremely dangerous lack of visibility situation. The Simple Solution: Believe it or not by applying a light coating of shaving cream from a spray can on the inside of your windshields and then carefully wiping it off with paper towels – you can have a "fog-proof" windshield. The shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers.
  
  
• Ever find that your car-door locks have become frozen and you have no way to get in. The Simple Solution: Easily de-ice your car-door locks in just seconds with ordinary hand sanitizer. Just put some hand sanitizer get on the key and then the lock and the problem is solved. Hand sanitizers contain alcohol [the same as lock de-icers]. The small bottles of hand sanitizers are easy to carry and are very much a dual purpose to assist you with sanitizing requirements.

Driving is no different than any other job-task we are expected to perform. The amount of preparation that we take before we start the task, will certainly keep us on track to perform that task in the safest manner possible. As unusual as these hints may seem – they do work and can certainly make our driving safer. With just these few suggestions, we can prepare ourselves for the upcoming transitional winter months and ensure we have a prepared, productive and warm workforce where nobody gets hurt.