Why it’s important to have your car serviced to prevent accidents while driving it
**A contributed post as written for The Safe Driver by John Masterson.
You’re driving your car per usual when you suddenly got caught in an accident with another vehicle. But you told the police who responded to the site of the crash dozens of times already that you’re driving defensively like you always do. Sure, you may be the most cautious driver that you know, but when was the last time you had your car maintained? If your answer is very rarely or even none that you can remember, you’ll want to know the following reasons why it’s important to have your car serviced so that you can prevent accidents while driving it:
- Having your car serviced can get any of its busted head, tail and signal lights restored to working condition.
When you’re driving your car at night, its various lights can help you navigate the road ahead with ease. However, if you’re doing long night drives too often, any of those lights can easily get broken.
- When any of your car’s lights are malfunctioning, you can get in an accident after failing to see an approaching vehicle in the opposite lane or being unable to signal that you’ll make a turn. If you’ve stopped on the shoulder of a road to rest and your hazard lights aren’t working as they should, a passing vehicle might not see your car in the dark and thus hit it.
- To avoid being tangled in an accident because of your car’s broken lights, you should drive your way to a repair shop and have them replaced as well as the vehicle’s electrical system checked.
- Having your car serviced can get its worn out brakes fixed.
The brakes of your car help it either slow down or go to a full stop which can be useful especially when driving in less than ideal road conditions.
- However, your car’s brakes can succumb to wear and tear after prolonged use. When your car doesn’t slow down at all despite repeatedly stepping on its brake pedal, you can’t simply put your foot out and use it to stop your car since it’s dangerous.
- As you can’t control your car’s speed since its brakes are already worn out, you can get yourself caught in a head-on collision with another vehicle or crash onto some fixed object.
- You’re not a mechanic yourself which is why you should send your car over to a repair shop and have its worn out brakes so that you can have a safety and accident prevention system put back in place.
- Having your car serviced can get its tires repositioned, realigned, or even fully replaced in case any of them gets bald.
More than your car’s brakes, a part of it that gets all too easily worn out is its tires.
- It isn’t safe to assume though that every time you drive your car, all four of its tires wear the same amount of rubber out. In fact, your car’s front tires wear out faster than those at the back since simple physics dictates that all the force that comes with steering and braking gets pushed forward.
- Tire rotation can solve the problem you have with your car’s wheels wearing out unevenly. However, you’ll want to have it done by a mechanic in your preferred repair shop instead as there are specific patterns to be followed when doing it.
- If you feel that your car is leaning on one side or its steering wheel isn’t centered despite not having adjusted it yourself, its tires are most likely misaligned. By having them realigned in a repair shop by a mechanic, you can regain control of your car and decrease your chances of getting involved in an accident.
- When winter strikes, you may have a very hard time driving along snowy and icy roads. In that case, you should send your car to a repair shop – preferably during a non-winter month – and have its tires replaced with those specially built to withstand snow and ice.
- Having your car serviced can get your windshield replaced if it had sustained a chip or crack.
Your car’s windshield protects you from flying objects and creatures. It also helps you have a clear view of the street as well as vehicular traffic in front of and around you.
- But if some troublemaker decided to throw rocks on your car’s windshield, or a very small pebble flew and hit it, it might sustain a chip or even a crack that can impair your view of the road ahead and get you into an accident.
- If your car’s windshield had sustained a chip, you could have a minor repair done on it. But if your car’s windshield had received a crack, you’ll have to have the entire plate of glass replaced with a new one so that you don’t have to compromise your view while you’re behind the wheel.
According to a representative of the Canadian Automobile Association, the average cost of having your car maintained for five straight years after you first bought it ranges between 500 and 700 Canadian dollars. The mentioned amount range might sound too expensive for you, especially if you’d rather buy food and other necessities instead and believe that your car would do fine even without periodic maintenance. However, having your car maintained is also a necessity that you shouldn’t forgo at all. The above-listed reasons why it’s important to have your car serviced so that you can prevent accidents while driving it should convince you to take it to the nearest auto body shop St. Louis after you’re done reading this.
John Masterson
John Masterson is an auto vehicles enthusiast who’s been in love with cars since his childhood. He continues to share this passion 
with others as a writer for an auto body shop St. Louis, and aims to spread his love for automobiles with his pieces. He reads magazines about cars and the automotive industry during his free time.