Be Prepared: Essential Items to Keep in Your Vehicle

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Whether you are someone that heads off on long road trips in your vehicle, or you use it once a week to visit the grocery store, it is essential to keep some essential items in it. Being prepared for all eventualities is particularly crucial if you head off across the country on long journeys. No one can know when an accident will happen, or a tire will blow, so it’s best to have everything you need already inside your vehicle ready in case you need it. Having your car packed with all the essentials that you need doesn’t take too long to do, but it is something that you will regret not doing if something happens and you’re not prepared.

What You Need to Keep Inside Your Vehicle

When putting together items that you need to keep inside your vehicle, it is best to keep them neatly stored, so that you don’t have stuff rolling around in your trunk while you drive. Having everything neatly stored will help you to locate the items faster when you need to use them too. A trunk organizer is the best solution for your larger essential items to keep them from escaping each time you make a turn. Other smaller pieces could be kept in your glove compartment instead so that you can access them easily when you require them.

What to Keep in Your Glove Compartment:

Make sure that you car manual is inside your glove compartment, rather than filed away at home. The chances are that the times that you will need to use the manual are when you are out and about, so having somewhere handy will make life much easier if you find that you need to use it.

A small notebook and pen are useful additions to your glove compartment. Hopefully, you won’t need to use them, but if you were involved in an accident, they would come in very useful. The notebook and pen can be used to record your details to give to the other driver, and can also be used to sketch the positions of the cars involved in the accident so that you can pass this information on to your personal injury lawyer and insurance company, should you need to.

Essential Items to Keep in Your Trunk:

To help keep you prepared for whatever happens, it’s useful to have the following items in your vehicle to give you peace of mind on your travels:

Flashlight

First aid kit

Blanket

Ice scraper

Multi-tool as this is much easier than bringing your whole tool kit everywhere you go

Spare tire

Tire iron 

Tire jack

Jumper cables

Tire pressure gauge

Map (in case your sat nav fails you)

USB charger for your phone in case you are left with no battery power and need to make a call

Water bottle

If you have breakdown assistance cover, ensure you keep your membership details and their phone number with you, so that you can call them when you need them.