By
Dave Trux
With
kids now on their way back to school, parents have good reason to be
concerned with safety. Safety is especially important for our new
drivers, so now is a good time to have an overall safety check of
your vehicle before you hand over the keys.
A
teenage driver is a new and inexperienced driver. They tend to be
less attentive when compared to more seasoned drivers. Kids have
enough challenges operating a car on a public highway, so you don’t
want to allow them to operate an unsafe vehicle. A good place to
start is by making sure that the brakes and tires are in really good
condition.
When
inspecting your brakes, be sure to have plenty of life on your brake
pads and that the rotors are in good shape. You really want to check
the rotors to make sure they don’t have any ridges, even though the
pad doesn’t run across the whole face of the rotor. With most cars
nowadays, the old rotors are tossed out and new ones are put on. As
for the brake pad itself, you probably want 3/32 of an inch or more.
The issue with the brake pads is the more material it has; the more
heat can dissipate, so the less likely it will stay under pad in
stopping conditions.
When
you inspect your tires, make sure you have a decent amount of tread
on them, especially now that the rainy season is just a few months
away. In the old days, people used to use a penny as a guide and
measure to the top of Lincoln’s head, which is 2/32 of an inch. In
the state of California, you’re allowed to have a minimum of 2/32
of an inch on your front steer axle. The rear axle must be a minimum
of 1/32 of an inch of tread. A word of caution is that these are
minimums, which means they will be pretty useless in the rain.
While
examining the trend depth, be sure to also check the tread design.
Most new cars now tend to be a little sportier, with tires that are
designed for summer use. I recommend that you take your car to
someone who really knows what they’re doing and ask if the tires
will be good for the wet winter months ahead.
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