If you are a parent, you may find yourself driving your kids to and from school regularly. This year you may be there for their first day of first grade or their first day of their freshman year of college. Either way, with the school year fast approaching, it’s a good thing to be prepared for those early mornings on the road, making sure your child (and the rest of your possible carpool) make it to class on time. Here are some back-to-school safe driving tips from My Auto Store for preparing your car for the upcoming school year.
Clean Up
First things first: a clean car is a happy car. It’s always a good idea to clean your car’s interior before your kids spend a lot of time in it. There’s a good chance they’ll be making messes in the backseat, so it’s better to let them start with a clean slate, rather than allowing them to compound messes on top of messes. So, go from top to bottom and give your car a thorough cleaning. You never know, your kids may enjoy the clean car so much that they may even want to keep it that way.
Don’t be Late
Whether it’s freshman orientation or three months into fourth grade, you don’t want to be the reason your kid is late for school. Make sure you leave a little early. This will give you wiggle room for traffic or navigating a new route on the first day.
Working Order
Most importantly, make sure that your car is working and that everything is mechanically sound. When you have your kids in the car, you want to make sure that the ride is as safe as possible. And you don’t want your kid to blame you for getting to school late. A breakdown on the road is enough of a headache, but a breakdown on the way to school is worse. Your kids are going to be late and you are likely going to have to be driving even longer to get to work. So, make sure your car is in top shape before the first day of school. In fact, your car should be in top shape all the time, check out the article on When To Perform Scheduled Maintenance.
Used Parts
If you’re trying to keep your car fit for the road, but don’t want to spend a fortune on new parts, My Auto Store offers used OEM parts that are guaranteed to be the best. You’ll get certified used parts at a great price and rest assured knowing that you can trust those parts with your kids in the car.