Your vehicle is like an infant

There isn’t a week that goes by when I have to ask at least one of my kids to go and have a shower. At every meal I also have to ask at least one of my four kids to wash their hands before they sit down at the dinner table. There’s a lot to be said about cleanliness and proper hygiene. Both of my daughters have reading glasses and when I looked at their glasses the other day, I saw how filthy they were. I wondered how they could see through them. This makes me wonder though, how well would they keep their vehicle clean when they learn to drive?

We need the windshield and other windows to be clean, not just on the outside, but also the inside. The glare that comes from the sun can make it very difficult to see road signs, traffic lights, other vehicles and in the case of this photo, any pedestrian that may be crossing the street in the middle of the road. If you only glanced at this photo you may have missed the pedestrian crossing, so take another look. Wouldn’t it have been easier to see things if the windshield was cleaner?

By the way, what colour is the traffic light ahead of us in this photo? If you have to stare and squint to see the traffic light, how risky would it have been if you were traveling at city speed? Wouldn’t that become a huge distraction for you as a driver? What if there was a driver ahead of you who was braking; would you see the brake lights soon enough to brake safely behind them?

During the winter it’s a good idea to keep a spare container of windshield washer fluid inside your trunk. With the spray of slush on the road that comes up to your windshield from the tires of the vehicle ahead of you, you’re going to need to wash the outside windshield of your vehicle quite often as you drive. But what about the inside of your windshield? When was the last time you cleaned the glass on the inside of your vehicle?

I’ll keep a container of glass cleaner inside my trunk. At any time of the year I’ll need to clean the glass. If the windows are down in the nice weather a thin film of filth can form on the glass on the inside of the vehicle. You’ll need glass cleaner and a cloth to clean it off the glass. I have a friend who would use his glove or hand to wipe off a smudge on the inside of the windshield. That may seem like a good idea at the time, but the oil in our skin makes the smudge worse.

Remember, you need to look after your vehicle just like you would your kids. Since it can’t do things on its own, you’ll need to do it. Think of your vehicle as an infant. You need to wash it and look after it because it can’t do it on its own.