random tip

[cos]

When giving someone a ride, it is a good idea, after dropping them off at the house they're going to, to wait and watch until the go inside, before driving off - as long as it's possible to do without obstructing traffic. I think I first heard this as a safety tip (when dropping off a woman alone at night), but I think it's much more likely to be useful for more mundane reasons like they forgot their key, or they expected someone to be home who isn't there, or it's the wrong house, or oops their cell phone is still in your car, etc. Anyway, it's a really simple thing that makes a lot of sense and yet I didn't think of it until I heard someone suggest it (many years ago), so perhaps I have readers who haven't thought of it yet either and could benefit from seeing it suggested.

Any other random useful tips you'd like to pass along?

Comments

[ceo]

Keep a box in the back of the car containing the following (some may not fit in the box):

• windshield washer fluid
  
• roll of paper towels
  
• roll of toilet paper
  
• spare headlight bulb
  
• spare taillight bulb
  
• rear-view-mirror adhesive kit
  
• jumper cables (real ones, not those lighter-socket-to-lighter-socket things)
  
• adjustable wrench
  
• pliers
  
• screwdriver with flat, Phillips and Torx bits
  
• coil of wire
  
• duct or gaff tape
  
• bungee cords
  
• rope
  
• flashlight

In the winter, add:

• snow brush
  
• ice scraper
  
• collapsible snow shovel
  
• emergency blanket

If you have a small child, add:

• spray cleaner
  
• emergency diaper-change kit
  
• change of clothes (that still fits the child)
  
  A good place for the less frequently used stuff, like the jumper cables and spare bulbs, is in the spare tire compartment, if it fits.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

I don't think the bulbs are necessary.

Also, don't forget "spare tire/donut" and "jack kit" and "practice changing a tire".

AAA is worth every penny.

As well, it's useful to keep a snow brush and/or ice scraper in your house as well as your car, for those times when you can't get into your iced-over car to get the stuff inside.

how big a coil of wire, and what gauge?

[cos]

Two snow brush / ice scraper things in the car. That way when you have someone with you, you can both work at the same time and be done much more quickly.

That actually just came in useful for me this weekend, when I went with lakmiseiru to a bluegrass concert in Lexington in the early evening and VAST in Brighton in the late evening. Snow started falling fast during the first concert, when we left it we both brushed off the car quickly, then headed to the second show and got there during VAST's second song. I think that second brush saved us a song (if we'd taken longer to clean off the car, we'd have gotten there for the third song, I think :)

[some-kitten.livejournal.com]

Knowing how much you travel, I originally parsed "bluegrass concert in Lexington" as Lexington, KY (because, well, bluegrass!), and was EXTREMELY impressed and a little terrified at how quickly you got to Brighton.

--from someone planning on driving a 12' truck from Indianapolis to Medford in the next couple weeks. Any tips for that?