15 Things That Can Make You an Automotive Hero.

It doesnt matter if you're on a long road trip or just driving around town, motoring can present suprises that can turn an ordinary day of driving into a catastrophie.  The difference inbetween sitting on the side of the road waiting for rescue and saving the day in a heroic way can come down to a small amount of preparation.  Here are some simple tips that might turn a roadway disaster into nothing more than a minor delay.

1. Fire Extinquisher.  The immeadiate importance of this should be pretty apparent.  Car fires typically arent the giant fireballs you see on TV, they typically start very small and then slowly consume the car.  An electric fire is usually caused by too much current going through a wire and that wire creating enough heat to start a small fire, typically giving you ample warning inside the vehicle with the smell of smoke.  Other times a worn moving component creating enough heat through friction to cause a small fire somewhere under the car, again usually giving ample warning through terrible friction noises.  Sometimes a small fire can start under the hood of a car if things are horribly wrong, but this is less common than you might think.  Usually, no matter the cause, having a small fire extinquisher at the right time could keep a small fire from becoming a big fire.  Call me unlucky, but I have had 2 vehicles catch fire on me and I have come across another few vehicles that had caught fire.  Having a fire extinquisher handy turned me into an automotive hero and prevented the total loss of these vehicles.
Kitchen or RV fire extinguishers are very cheap and quite handy.  I would reccommend keeping one in your vehicle and keeping it both out of the way but within quick access.  Having it buried in the trunk or in a spot where you have to dig to find it can cost valuelable seconds or minutes.  Having it too close could interfere with normal safe driving or have it accidentally disharged by a passenger.  I like mine mounted to the floor just in front of the passenger seat of my little sports cars, well behind the pedals, as it is quite handy and out of the way.  In a SUV or van, I would put it just inside the rear hatch mounted up against the wall behind the back seat.  I'll leave it to you to decide a good place for it where it would be handy and out of the way.  A car fire could happen to you or to another motorist, having a fire extinquisher handy could turn you into an automotive hero.

2. First Aid Kit.  With or without first aid training, having a first aid kit in your car would be ideal for giving aid while waiting for an ambulance.  Coming across an accident, or being involved in one, having the materials to stop bleeding in the critical minutes before an ambulance arrives could make you an automotive hero.  Actual training in first aid would be better in such situations, but still would be meaningless without a first aid kit handy.
 
3. Full Sized Spare.  Did you know that those small skinny doughnut tires are rated for a maximum of 50 miles per hour for a distance of 50 miles?  And thats only if you have kept up on it's maintenence.  Its sole function is to get you to the first service station where you can pay for a new full sized tire.  Having a full sized spare can get you on your way at highway speeds and your trip can continue leaving you to have the flat tire serviced at your convienience, assuming you know how to change a tire.  A full sized spare has fit comfortably into all my small vehicles, and some of the larger vehicles have plenty of room or already have a full sized spare.  Do you know if your car even has a spare?  When was the last time you checked its tire pressure?  Changing a flat tire involves more than just knowing how to do it, it requires a good spare tire to swap out for the flat tire.  A good full sized spare can be swapped out and you can continue on your way at hi-way speeds with little interruption.

4. Pre-Drive Inspection.  A lot of breakdowns can be prevented if you do a good pre drive inspection.  A typical basic inspection would consist of a few easy tasks:  Checking the oil level, checking the coolant, checking the tire pressure on all 4 tires plus your spare, 'kicking' the tires looking for unusual wobble or clunking sounds, inspecting the tires for abcesses or nails stuck in them, pushing down on the suspension and listening for noises.  Additional tasks can be performed during a pre-drive inspection, but those above tasks cover the basics.  A pre-drive inspection should be performed regularly, especially on older cars, typically being done monthly on commuter vehicles or before any long drive.

5. Basic Tools.  Let's assume for the moment that the readers aren't mechanics and wouldnt know what to do with a full load of tools.  However, there are some tools that really should be in the car to help you deal with basic emergencies.  A small jack and a lug wrench would be neccesary to change a flat tire, and typically come in most vehicles.  Security lugnuts require a key in order to loosen, and not knowing where that key is would prevent you from changing a tire.   I would reccommend to any preparedness minded reader to keep in thier vehicle any tool that he or she knows how to use that would apply to a potential roadside problem.  A very basic tool load would consist of one flathead screwdriver (very handy for changing fuses!), one phillips head screwdriver, a tire pressure gauge, and possibly a small assortment of wrenches (typically metric for foerign cars, standard for american vehicles).  Again, having a tool you dont know how to use does you no good, and leaving tools you know how to use at home does you no good.  Just have the tools you need.

6. Organized Interior.  No tool or emergency item does you any good if you cant find it.  Typically the glovebox is a good place for small tools like screwdrivers and pressure gauges, however my wife thinks its a great place to collect picnic supplies.  While I'm fighting the battle of where to store the napkins and plastic spoons, you may want to consider whats really neccesary to have in the most acessable compartment in the vehicle.  Ideally, I would reccommend having litte more than the vehicles registration and insureance cards (up to date ones would help, be sure to check the dates!), small delicate tools like the pressure gauge, perhaps a first aid kit, and only the items I would want in hand at a moments notice.  Having too much stuff in the glovebox makes whats in the glovebox inaccesable.  There are dozens of pockets, compartments, and cubbies in modern vehicles that can store all the rest of your glove box junk.  Similarly the cargo area of the vehicle needs to be organized to allow ready acess to tools and emergency items.  Decide what you really need to take with you on a regular basis, anything else is dead weight and costs you fuel to haul around.   

7. Reflective Signs.  In some places it is required, but no matter where you are its a good idea to have.  A good reflective sign should be put several hundred feet behind your vehicle at the edge of the road if your vehicle is for some reason disabled.  Your vehicle should be pulled as far off the road as conditions allow, but the job of the sign is to warn other drivers that your car is ahead and thay you might be very close to the road.  Flares have been used in the past, but there are a few drawbacks... flares are one time use, flares cant be turned off, and flares use fire... and depending on the roadside emergency, having an open flame around could be bad.  When placing your sign, give drivers ample warning (time equals distance in this case) but not too much.

8. Good Flashlight.  A good flashlight is essential to any motorist.  Used as a tool to hunt down lost lugnuts in the dark or as a signal to warn drivers, you can never appreciate how important having one is untill you need one.  It would be a good idea to check the batteries whenever you do a pre drive inspection, and also to have spare batteries stashed in one of the many cubbies in your car.

9. Portable Air Pump.  I have discovered that most service stations now charge money for air fills, and thats if the coin operated machinery is working.  I have a small DC powered pump that I keep in my tool kit so that I dont have to rely on service stations for air.

10. An old Blanket or Tarp.  I used to have an old army blanket folded up in the back of my car because I discovered how useful it is to have them around.  The idea was to have an insulater inbetween myself and the surface of the roadside when I did roadside repairs, but the amount of uses I found for it was astounding.  I discoverd that I could unfold it and put it inside the doorway and close the door on the blanket so that the blanket hung off the top of the vehicle.  This covered windows on the sunny side of the car, keeping the inside cool while I performed repairs (a good idea if you plan to be in a sunny spot with children in the car for any reasonable amount of time).  Or I could do the same thing and form a bit of shelter with a small amount of rope, or to lay on the ground and picnic with... as well as the emergency uses of treating shock by using it to elevate a victims legs or to wrap them with to keep them warm, to keep myself warm in cold weather.  The amount of uses were many, so I kept it around.

11. Water.  I would reccomend having a gallon of water on hand, just in case.  One gallon goes a long way to filling a radiator (Distilled water would be best for this) and having water to drink can make being stranded on the roadside for any amount of time far more bearable.  Like the flashlight, you can never really appreciate how important having it can be until you dont have it when you need it.

12. Power inverter.  Long trips can make you really appreciate having acess to a power outlet.  A power inverter is a device that plugs into your 12 volts DC cigarette lighter and gives you 120 volts AC out, just like a wall outlet.  These devices are relatively cheap and are rated in watts.  Be sure to get one that will supply enough power for your device, typically you will need 80-120 or so watts to power a laptop, less for cell phone chargers, more for things like small televisions, and just forget about coffemakers and hairdriers.

13. Spare Fuses. Changing a fuse is easy.  Locating the fusebox and finding a blown fuse may present a challenge, but if it means the difference in rescuing yourself instead of waiting for the tow truck then it may be worth the effort.  Fuses are typically color coded for the amphere rating, also stamped into the plastic as a small number.  Fuses are designed to blow if too much current goes through it.  Fuses have a narrow filament that goes through them, and they will break the filament when they "blow".  Spotting a blown fuse will require you to look for the filament and see if it has broken.  Sometimes it will be easy to see, a melted filament with charred markes on the casing of the fuse.  If there is any doubt, replace it with a fuse of the same value.  Spare fuses are easy to find and cheap to buy, keep some spares in your glovebox.

14. A spare key.  Being locked out really is unpleasant.  Even more unpleasant is locating a locksmith, waiting for him to arrive, and then having to pay him.  Keeping a spare key can prevent this.  As a man, I carry a wallet, in this wallet is a spare key.  Other solutions include magnetic boxes, hidden compartments, and for some time I had a key duct-taped to the inside of my rear bumper.  You will have to decide what solution works best for you.  It is obviously a tradeoff between keeping your car secure and allowing you access to your car, but it is a tip that could keep you from being stranded.

15. Mindset.  Keeping your wits about you will keep you alive.  In the event of an emergency, you will need to take appropriate action.  Immeadiate action, like a medical emergency or a fire, will require you to think more about your surroundings so that you dont become a victim yourself by being hit by another car.  In the event of a mechanical failure, like a flat tire or an overheated engine, deciding exactly where to pull off the road and how far could mean the difference between life and death.  If there is nowhere to pull off the road, say in a construction area or on a highway with no shoulder, slow down and keep going untill there is a spot to do so.  There is no reason to risk your life on such a road, parts can be bought to replace the ones damaged by these decisions.  Keep a cool head and think.

Now dont feel pressured to go out and do all these things all at once.  A good way to get these preparations in place is to work on one at a time, learning how to properly utilize each tip so that you can use them in a roadway emergency.  These tips are in no particular order, and each one can individually make you more prepared for any of life's roadside suprises.

About the author:
The author has broken down, been stranded, performed roadside repairs, and generally spent a good deal of time on the side of American Hi-Ways on many occasions.  He has survived every one of these ordeals.  Have any more tips for surviving as a motorist?  Please feel free to leave these tips in the comments section!