A Mum's Guide For Keeping Your Family Car Safe with MOT & Car Care

Disclaimer: This is a pre-written guest post, published on behalf of Fife Autocentre. All thoughts, opinions, and advice provided are those of the writer.

Car care should be important to all motorists but this is especially so among mums (and mums-to-be) who want to ensure their family is safe every time they venture out on the road. Of course, keeping your car in a roadworthy condition doesn't just benefit you and your kids on the school run but other road users, too. This is why annual MOTs are so important. They don't just involve inspections of the mechanical parts of cars but their safety systems, as well, such as its seatbelts, for example. What should you do to keep your family car safe so it can be used at any time?

Get your MOT carried out with a service

The best way to ensure your car passes its MOT is to book a service to coincide with it. This way, your mechanic will pick up on any minor issues that might come up in the MOT test later. Moreover, scheduling service before your MOT provides peace of mind, knowing that all aspects of your car’s condition are thoroughly inspected and optimized for safety. This proactive approach can save you both time and money by avoiding the need for a re-test or costly last-minute repairs.

You can book an MOT at Fife Autocentre today or find a centre close to you where servicing is carried out alongside the official inspections. Doing so doesn't just help your car to pass but also ensures essential safety systems are thoroughly checked. Of course, having a full-service history maintained on your family runaround also helps to preserve its resale value, something you should not overlook.

Have your air-con repressurised

Air-conditioning is now commonplace in modern cars and most models have it in some form. However, no air-conditioning system lasts forever and it needs to be repressurised with new gas once in a while. Importantly, this isn't just to help keep you cool in the hot summer months. Cars with air-conditioning will demist much quicker than those without this function. When you pick up children after a school sports event on a rainy day, your car will soon steam up, impairing visibility so regasing your air-con will be beneficial for road safety by allowing you to see out more clearly. Busy mums might be tempted to set off before their screen has cleared properly. When you consider how cost-effective a professional repressurising service can be, there is every reason to have one carried out for you.

Wash your car more frequently

Taking your car to the car wash is a good idea for the safety of all road users, as well. This is because grime can build up on your headlamps, sidelights and braking lights over time, especially in winter when there is grease on the road. Without washing it off, your headlamps won't shine as brightly meaning you won't see the road ahead so clearly. Likewise, your brake lights and your fog lamp (in very poor road conditions) are essential to stop other motorists from driving into the back of you. If you want to keep kids safe on faster dual carriageways and motorways, then keeping your car visible to other motorists is essential. Remember, too, that although your car is unlikely to fail its MOT because it has dirty bodywork, if the license plate is illegible through the build-up of grime, it might not pass.