Mother's Day 2025
Dated: 28 Mar, 2025
It is Mother's Day this Sunday and we would like to wish all the amazing Mum's have a great day celebrating.
Before you make a long journey to see your mother on Sunday, make sure both you and your vehicle are fit for travel before setting off. We suggest using FLOWERS to remember everything. Hopefully you will also remember the flowers for mum.
Fuel: Ensure you have enough fuel or charge for your journey or check when you can fill up/recharge on your route.
If you drive an electric vehicle, use an app such as Zapmap to find the most suitable and convenient public charging points on your journey.
Lights: Check all the lights on your vehicle are working – get someone else to walk around to check them if you can. Don’t forget the number plate light as there can be a £100 fine if your reg is not visible. Make sure they are also clean, and the lenses are free of cracks.
Oil: Check that the oil level is between the minimum and maximum marks on the dipstick. Only check oil levels when the engine is cold and always remember to wipe the dipstick before taking any readings.
Water: Whilst only water can be used to top up the screen wash it is advisable to use ready-mixed or concentrated screen wash on your windscreen. The advantages of this are screen wash contains detergents to cut through dirt and bug smears and solvents to stop the fluid from freezing in winter. Fill the screen wash to the fill level.
Also check that the coolant is on the level mark and not above or below it. (If the tank is too full there is no room for the coolant to expand so don’t overfill). As with the oil, make sure your engine is cold before checking the coolant levels in your radiator.
Electrics: Check the battery terminals and ensure the connections are clean and tight. Failing batteries often cause breakdowns so get older batteries checked by a garage. They can also check the drain on your battery to check if it is getting to the end of its reliability.
For electric vehicles (EVs) do a visual check to see that all the cables are in good condition. Do not touch the orange cables, they carry high voltage. If there is any damage to these, they MUST be checked and repaired by an EV specialist.
Check you have your charging cables with you. Although many EV charging stations have rapid charge cables, it’s always handy to have your own cables for long journeys. Remember rapid chargers only charge quickly to 80% beyond this the speed of charging slows down considerably.
Rubber: Check the tyres are properly inflated. Your vehicle handbook will tell you the recommended tyre pressure for your vehicle (and don’t forget the spare, you never know when you might need it!). Having your tyres at the correct pressure saves on fuel (less friction than underinflated tyres) and is safer (overinflated tyres mean there is less tread in contact with the road).
Tyre tread should be 1.6mm at a minimum (the outer rim of a 20p piece is about 2mm so you can use this as a guide). The tread has to be the minimum depth across ¾ of the tyre. Driving with tread below the legal limit is not only dangerous (less traction and grip) but could also cost 3 points and up to £2,500 per tyre. That’s 12 points and £10,000 if all four tyres are bald.
Visually inspect the windscreen wipers by lifting them away from the windscreen. The rubber on these can split, change shape or stiffen as they age, or they may collect dirt which will smear over the windscreen making it difficult to see.
Self: Make sure you are well enough to make the journey. A well-rested driver is a safer driver. Take regular breaks as concentrating on a drive, especially if the roads are unfamiliar can be exhausting. Having a break from driving every couple of hours is also good for the posture as you can relieve the muscles that have been in the same position for some time. Making a long journey, often with youngsters in the back, can also be stressful so give everyone the chance to ‘stretch their legs’ so you can all take a break from travelling.
