With winter weather, mechanics recommend checking your car

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Temperatures are dropping significantly this weekend and automotive mechanics are urging the public to pay attention to vehicle safety in extreme temperatures.

When the temperature outside drops to near or below freezing, as it is expected to over the next week, there are a few things you want to check on your vehicle.

According to Chris Morris, a local mechanic, keeping your tires inflated properly and checking your tread is a simple task you can do to stay safe.

“There’s bars in between the treads that you can see and if it gets close to that, it’s time for a new set of tires,” said Morris.

Another thing you can do at home, make sure all your fluids are full of the proper agents.

“Keeping your washer fluid full with a good washer fluid that is for the ice and those kinds of things, that is always a good thing to do,” said Morris.

Morris recommends letting your car run for at least five minutes before driving it when the weather is cold, but if the car is in a garage, make sure the garage door is open.

“Carbon monoxide is very very poisonous, and you don’t even know you are being poisoned. It can kill you in a matter of minutes,” said Morris.

If your car is not in a garage, Wes Watt, the spokesman for the state transportation cabinet’s district office in Bowling Green, encourages the public to make sure ice or snow is not obscuring your vision.

“Give it time to warm up. Make sure that all the ice or anything that is on the windshield or the back windshield has melted to give everybody a clear view. Clear your side mirrors. Make sure you can see out of them,” said Watt.

“Make sure that you fill your gas tank up as well and keep it on the upper levels if you are traveling, that way if you get stuck in a traffic jam or something, you are not running out of gas,” said Watt.

Running out of gas means your heater won’t work in the car.

Experts also recommend keeping a blanket and other essentials in the car with you in case something like that were to happen.

It is also a good idea to have a mechanic look over your car once a year, especially during the colder months, to catch anything you may have missed.