6 Ways to See Better While Driving

While driving, you probably give a lot of thought to where you're going and what else is going on around you. This level of awareness helps you to avoid accidents and get to where you need to go safely.
You probably give little thought to your car's windshield. In good conditions, you shouldn't see it. However, Canadians rarely live in "good" conditions. We face every imaginable extreme of weather and it impacts how well we can see.

Here are some tips to help you see better while driving.

1. Your car's windshield is curved slightly, providing some aerodynamics to improve fuel efficiency. However, this means that your windshield wipers tend to take the shape of the bottom of the window, which is shaped different than the middle of the window where you look out of. When you turn on your wipers after not having used them for a while, they can smear or miss a spot entirely. Flex your wipers periodically and be sure to replace your wipers regularly as part of your automotive maintenance habits. This will ensure that you can see while you're driving!

2. Your car's windshield takes the brunt of the cold weather. When you're driving in the winter and your windshield begins to fog up, it's because the outside is much colder and drier than the inside. Turn your interior so it brings in cold air from outside (instead of recirculating the humid, warm air in your car) and roll down your windows slightly. This will lower the temperature in the car and help to eliminate some of the humidity that is causing the fog.

3. Driving during dusk or dawn, the sunlight changes rapidly and your eyes have trouble adjusting quickly. If you cannot avoid traveling during these times, drive with extra caution.

4. Bugs, mud, and glass chips may not seem like a big deal on your windshield, but they can break up your ability to focus on the road ahead. Besides, glass chips can quickly turn into glass cracks when the weather cools down. Clean your windshield regularly and get glass chips repaired as soon as possible.

5. Your car's windshield is part of your car's safety cage. Although it is glass, it helps to add support to the structure of your vehicle. Cracks in the glass diminish the safety of the windshield and put the driver and passengers at greater risk. You wouldn't think of driving with a missing door, so why would you drive with a cracked windshield?

6. In the winter, take the time to scrape all of the windows instead of a small crevice so you can see straight out. Your visibility is one of the most importance lines of defense between you and a serious accident.

Mother Nature throws an awful lot of bad weather at Canadians – from rain to snow to sleet to hail to fog to blinding sunshine. Don't let nature get the upper hand. Do everything you can to stay safe on the roads by keeping your windshield clean. If you have a glass chip or a glass crack, bring it in to Boyd Autobody to be fixed right away to help keep you safe on the road.

The most annoying part of winter driving

If you were to have people to make a list of all the different aspects of winter driving that they hate, you'd get stuff like "it's cold", "it's hard to steer", "the car won't start", "I have to shovel my driveway to get to work". Pretty standard stuff. No surprises there. Part of what makes us Canadian is our shared dislike of the coldest 6 months of our seasonal year.

Everyone has something they hate about winter driving. Want to know the thing I hate most?

It has nothing to do those things listed above (although they can be troublesome, I'll admit it). What I hate most about winter driving is something I call "The Tank Syndrome".

Here's what happens: You (yes, YOU) get up in the morning and it's cold and you don't want to go to work. And when you get out to your car, you notice that there is snow and ice all over it. Instead of taking the three minutes to brush off all of the snow and then using the ice scraper to completely clear all the windows, you create a wee little opening to see out of.

This little opening is probably the size of a postage stamp or, if you're really diligent, maybe it's the size of a business-card. It's small enough to make old-time pinhole camera manufacturers jealous. For those who are really conscientious, they can boast about creating a panorama with their postcard-sized hole.

I call it "The Tank Syndrome" because it reminds me of military tanks – the car is armoured in show and ice and there is a small slit in the front window that the driver can see out of but the enemy can't shoot inside. You feel invulnerable in that kind of rolling cage of safety.

How does this happen? During the summer, the windows are down (or better yet, the convertible roof is retracted), and you have full range of vision and can drive safely. That makes sense.

But during the winter our minds somehow change and we decide that the weather is bad so we don't want to see any of it. Somehow, the short days and bitter temperatures confuse us into thinking that we shouldn't have a clear field of vision to drive through ice and to swerve around snow banks and to battle through blizzards. We somehow think that our cars – armoured in snow and ice – will protect us from the worst weather and we minimize our field of vision to the narrowest possible amount.

By the end of winter, the ice and snow on our cars have built up so much that only a team of archaeologists could chip down to the original surface of our car.

Please! Take a few minutes and chip off the ice and snow. Ignore your desire to drive around in a tank and do battle with the snow.

And, if you get hit by a moving ice-tank, bring your car to Boyd Autobody & Glass and we'll restore the REAL safety features of your car so you can get back out there and face the elements.

Apps For Your Car

Top 5 Apps for your Car
By Josh Briggs

These days, technology has evolved to the point where imagination is the only thing slowing the gadget world down. Yet it seems like even our imaginations are running more and more rampant. The result: smartphones.

In this article we will look at iPhone applications available for your car. We know that you're probably thinking, "What's the big deal? Any app on an iPhone is accessible in the car." However, these five apps are specifically designed around motor vehicle operation. They cover a wide range of features and functions. Some are practical while others are just downright fun. So here are, in no particular order, the top five iPhone apps.

#5 - Carticipate
Carticipate brings fellow commuters together into a large social network of individuals looking to save money on fuel while also contributing to the environment by emitting less CO2 into the air in the form of emissions.

#4 - iGasUp
For just $2.99, iPhone users can download the iGasUp application and have updated gas station locations and fuel prices at their fingertips. The app gives users the 10 closest gas stations based on the phone's current location. This app is for US gas stations only.

#3 - Trapster
Have you ever driven down the road only to have an oncoming vehicle flashing its lights as you approach? Chances are someone is trying to warn you of a speed trap. If you have an iPhone, you won't have to rely on these visual signals from other drivers. With Trapster, you can scan your area for any known speed traps, police hang outs, speed cameras or even stop-light cameras.

#2 - TripAlyzer
TripAlyzer will let you know how well you're doing with your eco-friendly driving skills. After each trip, TripAlyzer can also give you a bottom line cost of how much you spent.

#1 - Dynolicious
If you have a hot rod, or at least you think you have what it takes to be the next John Force, Dynolicious may be the right iPhone application for you. Similar to other performance meters (some that cost hundreds of dollars) Dynolicious is the equivalent of having a radar gun, a drag strip timing mechanism and a dynamometer in the palm of your hand.

Source URL: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/automotive/5-iphone-car-apps.htm