Mandatory maintenance

"Be prepared!" That is the motto of the Boy Scouts. It will serve the motorist today on our new highways that are coming up all over the country. These are super highways which allow uninterrupted high-speed driving over long distances. For this, the car has to be perfectly roadworthy. You may have taken the car for a complete service to the dealer. However, the service will not include checking your tyres or filling up the fuel tank. This is the owner's responsibility. For some reason we shy away from getting a tankful. This is a must.

Poor attention to maintenance and safety can cost you your life

We also ignore the condition of our tyres. It is your only contact with Mother Earth. The person who sells you the tyres will tell you, "Radial tyres, Sahib. Good for 60-70,000 km." It is not so. When you go for a tyre check and ask the tyre-wala the condition of the tyres, he will say: "No problem, saar jee, another 10,000 km!" Both these statements will lull you into a false sense of security. The best names in tyres are available in the market. The manufacturer will recommend a change of tyres at 40,000 km. If you have a heavy car, an SUV, a Mercedes or a BMW (which are fast cars) it necessarily means high speeds, hard braking, severe cornering and the life of the tyre is reduced.

The next time you are in a parking lot, inspect the tyres on the expensive cars. They will not pass the safety test carried out on expressways abroad. In India, a tyre past its life has to face another problem. The heat generated by the road surface. The Indian sun, even in winter, can be exceedingly hot, so the operating temperature of the tyre is at its maximum.

So what happens to a tyre that has exceeded its useful life? It bursts. This is what happened to a BMW on the Yamuna E-way last week. The driver was 19 years old, the other three occupants were all 18 year olds. What better place than the E-way to let loose a Beemer.

A Beemer loves a pedal-to-metal scenario. It won't let you down. The tyres did. The rear tyre burst and flipped the car over and over. The car was a write-off. No serious injury, thanks to BMW's high-safety standard, in spite of the owners' low safety standards.

Thomas Malthus, an economist said, "If you don't take preventive measures, nature will take positive measures". It is so true in the automotive world.

Preventive measures mean preventive maintenance. Or else, pay the price e.g. burst tyres past their life. Now, here is an example of neither preventive or positive maintenance. It is simply ignoring the lights on your dash board. When you switch on your ignition, a number of lights show up on the dashboard. It is an E.C.G., C.T. Scan, X-ray of your car before it is put on the TMT. (Tread Mill Test), in this case, the highway.

When you start the engine, they will go out. It means the car is in good health. There is also a fuel gauge. With the electronics available these days, it tells you how many kilometers travelled, how many kilometres to go. Do not ignore these directions.

Mr X did. He left Noida for Mathura to see his friend. He ran out of fuel. He was driving a Toyota Fortuner. The Fortuner has a 85-litre fuel tank. At the worst fuel average, it means a 1,000-km range. Mr X had about 10 litres in the fuel tank. He ignored the bells, lights and the whistles that warn you of low fuel. If he ran out of fuel, serve him right! He set out on an adventure with a nearly empty fuel tank. In many countries abroad this would invite a very heavy fine. How can you set out on a long journey without a tyre check and a full tank of fuel?

And carry a survival kit. Water, lots of it. Sandwiches, biscuits, home- made paranthas. Potato chips, junk food and aerated drinks are not recommended. The days of the dabha are over. You won't find any on the Expressways

Motoring is such great fun but you need to keep your wits about you!

Happy Motoring.

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