Monday Fresh Bites Daily 25.09.06

Congratulations to James Hannon who passed the Test last week on Wednesday, in the middle of a torrential rain storm! Taking the test in bad weather conditions requires an extra level of skill if you are going to be successful!

Wet weather and overcast conditions should be expected at this time of year and you need to ensure that your car is up to scratch (if you will excuse the Pun!)

The Tread depth indicators are visible and are repeated around the circumference of the Tyre. So no excuse for driving with illegal Tyres!

Finger Courtesy ...Sinead Piggott!

Tyres Courtesy  ... Victory Tyres Limerick & Uniroyal!

Here is a very quick check list of things to cover when your Wet Weather Driving Test is taking place:-

1.      Preset your Heater Controls to full or almost full Heat; and Full Frontal Windscreen Direction. This will go a long way to reducing the likelihood of you misting up quickly. You then only need to operate the fan if misting occurs.

2.      All secondary controls should be operated by feel and touch and not by taking your eyes off the road!

3.      Keep an eye on your rear windscreen and use the rear Demister promptly to keep your vision clear!

4.      Use lots of screenwash or “splash” as I call it; whenever you are operating the Wipers. This will reduce the possibility of scratching your windscreens.

5.      Ensure your Windscreen washer Bottle is full and use some “Blue Rinse” for extra lubrication. You can buy this cheaply in places like Atlantic Homecare or Homebase.

6.      Double check your tyre pressures to ensure all is well and give a visual check to the tyres themselves to spot any cuts splits or bulges.

7.      Ensure your Tyre tread depths are well within the legal minimum of 1.6mm.

8.     If you have tyres that are on the limit; quite often your spare tyre in the Boot can be almost new and unworn. You should put this on the front axle and try to achieve both front tyres with a similar wear level.

9.      Your best tyres should always be on the front axle since they do all the work and wear out twice as fast as the rear tyres.

10.    Allow plenty of time to get to your designated Test Centre …if you are six minutes late your Test will be forfeited! If you have driven through bad weather conditions on the way to your Test Centre the make sure you are carrying a roll of kitchen wipes so that you can clean all windows and windscreens and your rear light clusters and your front headlights. Your brake lights need to be as bright as they can be since many Irish Drivers drive far too close to the vehicle in front and in the event of you having to perform an emergency stop, the last thing you want is for some crazy to rear-end you on your test!