10 Essential Items for your Vehicle Emergency Kit

When setting off in your vehicle it is important to be ready for any eventuality. Though quite low on anyone’s wish list the unexpected can happen, such as a road accident or a vehicle mechanical breakdown. To have on hand the emergency items required to retake control of the situation quickly is highly advantageous. For an adequate response, see below the 10 essential items that should always be found in your vehicle emergency kit.

1. A comprehensive first aid kit: Bandages, gauze pads, small scissors, gloves, etc. A first aid kit can literally save your life or the life of an injured person. Regardless of a wound’s severity, you must always be able to take adequate action.
2. A handle flashlight: You may need to stop on the side of the road at night. A flashlight will help you to get out of a tight spot like changing a tire, looking for your way on a road map, finding an accessory in the trunk, etc. It is critically important to always have access to some form of lighting. Have extra batteries on hand to extend emergency lighting time.
3. Non perishable water and food: If you are stuck by the roadside for long hours without knowing when assistance will show up, emergency water and food supplies could provide comfort. Also have a plastic water bottle in your vehicle and make sure that you change it as six-month intervals. As for nourishment, having a few cereal bars in the vehicle trunk is recommended. These will come in handy should you become hungry while you wait for roadside assistance and could actually prove to be a crucial item added to your vehicle emergency kit.
4. A blanket and warm clothing: You may experience a breakdown in winter and lose vehicle heating. It is critical to be able to keep warm in such cases. Always leave a blanket and warm clothing in your vehicle such as gloves, a tuque and a scarf.
5. A fire extinguisher: Your vehicle or another stranded driver’s vehicle can catch fire. An extinguisher can help you bring the fire under control and facilitate the work of an emergency crew arriving on the scene. Never forget to ensure that your intervention does not endanger your own life.
6. A snow broom, a scraper and a shovel: Wintry weather can prove tricky. Staying stuck in a snow storm is a common occurrence. To free a vehicle rapidly, keeping a shovel in the trunk is indispensable. In addition to a shovel, you cannot do without a snow broom and a scraper to remove snow and ice from the vehicle windshield and windows for safe driving visibility.
7. Antifreeze and windshield washer: These two liquids are essential to your safety and the proper functioning of your vehicle in wintry conditions. In frigid temperatures, antifreeze allows the motor to run smoothly by controlling its temperature, while the windshield washer eliminates road grime that can smear your windshield. To avoid problems on the road, it is advisable to carry a spare gallon of each of these two liquids in your vehicle trunk.
8. Emergency flares and a whistle: Should you be stranded by the side of the road in the dark, failing to signal your presence could prove dangerous. In this type of predicament, these two accessories will quickly get you spotted by other drivers or emergency crews.
9. Boosting cables: Vehicles not uncommonly fail to start in the winter cold. Low temperatures are quite rough on vehicles and even more so on batteries. When temperatures plummet batteries lose charge. The boosting cables will jump start a dead battery to get the vehicle to start.
10. Sand or non-scoopable cat litter: A vehicle can get stuck on ice patches and in snow accumulations on the road. Spread sand or non-scoopable cat litter on the pavement to give your tires more traction and get your vehicle moving again. Avoid keeping deicing salt in your trunk as this product could to lead to vehicle rust formation.

A vehicle breakdown or an accident can happen to anyone. Keeping this emergency vehicle kit handy ensures you can get behind the driver’s wheel with confidence all winter long.