Boyd Autobody & Glass Articles

Winter is here, and whether you like it or not, snow comes right along with it. Winter is a time to be sitting warmly by a cosy fireplace, not sitting in your cold car after getting stuck in the snow.

However, getting stuck in the snow is a common occurrence during the winter season. If you find your vehicle stuck this winter, keep these tips in mind: 

Getting Unstuck

Don't spin your tiresWhen your vehicle is stuck in deep snow, your first instinct might be to rev your engine and force your way free. But, whatever you do, do not spin your tires. This will only dig your vehicle in deeper.Instead, attempt the following:

Rotate your tires from one side to another, pushing...

Accidents happen, and sometimes they are completely unavoidable. However, there are many things that you can do as a driver to help reduce the risk of becoming involved in a collision that leaves you in need of auto body repair. 

We’ve shared a few safe driving tips to help you avoid an unwanted trip to the auto body repair shop! 

Top Driving Safety Tips

First, let’s start with some top safety driving tips. These are things that you should do every time you are behind the wheel of your vehicle to reduce the risk of an accident. Most of them are common sense, and if you get into the habit of doing them they become second nature and help make you a safer driver! 

Focus on...

If there is one thing we cannot control in life, it is the unexpected emergency! However, we can make sure we are fully prepared to handle whatever life throws at us. As a driver, emergencies can include extreme weather, a tire blowout, a breakdown, or maybe even an auto collision. These things happen to us all at some point, so it is wise to have an emergency roadside kit in your car to cover all of these eventualities and more!

 Why Do I Need an Emergency Kit?

Before we delve into what to put in an emergency kit, let’s talk about why it is important to have one! If you are out driving and for example, you are involved in an auto collision it is essential that you get assistance as quickly as possible. If it happens in...

One of the biggest causes of auto glass damage – and to some extent paintwork damage too – is loose rocks on the road. It doesn’t matter whether you are an experienced driver or a newbie behind the wheel, tires and loose chips of rock don’t mix, and you are likely to scatter some chips at some point while driving. 

However, there are a few steps you can take to avoid unnecessary auto glass damage for yourself and other road users.

Watch Your Speed

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to avoiding throwing up rock chips and other debris is the role speed plays. It all comes down to physics – the faster your tires turn, the more force they exert on the road...

Statistically, nearly everyone will be involved in some form of collision in their lifetime. Thankfully, most accidents that occur are minor and involve minimal injuries and auto body repair. Getting into a vehicle accident can be an overwhelming experience. However, having vehicle insurance in place, protects you from repair expenses to your vehicle and may cover you in case of injury.

If you get into a vehicle collision, there are a few things that can be done post-collision to ensure your safety and minimize stress during the insurance claim process, and ensure a seamless collision repair experience.

 

Move Your Vehicle

At the time of the collision; most drivers feel that it’s best to leave...

Years ago, roads were just pathways where more than one horse or wagon traveled

Horses didn't move very fast so no one needed a lot of road signs. As vehicles become more prevalent, and faster, road signs and lane markings were needed to help drivers drive safely.

Our driving is made safer and more informed by the number of road signs and lane markings that are posted

We're told what the speed limit is and when road conditions change (i.e., lanes merge or an intersection ahead or pavement turns to gravel). Signs help us to know how and where to drive.

But signs also tell us something else. They help us to read the minds of drivers around us and anticipate where collisions could occur.

For example, if you are driving...

The Best Ways To Avoid A Collision

Collisions are costly and can be avoided sometimes. One of the best ways to avoid a collision is to know what the most common reasons for a collision are and then drive in a way to eliminate or minimize those risks.

What Are The Top Causes of Vehicle Collisions?

If you want to drive safer and avoid more collisions, read this list and adjust your driving to reduce the risks around each of these accidents. Let's take the top five reasons and think about how your driving can change because of it:

Distracted driving. This one is easy. Put the coffee down. Put the iPhone down. Put the makeup kit down. Put the banana muffin down. Put both hands on the wheel and look straight ahead...

Our brains take in information from the world around us and that information helps us make decisions

While driving, we see a red light and we decide to stop. Or we see that we are entering a school zone and we decide to slow down. The human brain can only handle so many pieces of information at any given time.

The more information coming into our brain, the hard it is for our brain to process the information and decide what to do with it. If you are mindful of this fact, you can actually avoid some collisions!

A study of an airline crash showed that most pilots handle a normal number of information coming into their brain but during an airplane malfunction, the number of pieces of information increases dramatically and this...

Whether you have a short trip or a long trip, do this one important step first before you even get into your vehicle

Do a complete walk-around of your vehicle. Starting from the driver's door, walk counter-clockwise around your vehicle. As you go, inspect the following:

Tire pressure: Do a visual check of your tires to make sure that each one has sufficient air. If a tire has too little air, it can cause your vehicle to pull in one direction while you drive and could even come off the rim. Reinflate your tires if necessary Tire condition: Although you might not need to check over each tire with a fine-toothed comb, keep your eye out for bulges and cuts in your tire, as well as the level of tread...

The Challenges of Driving During The Day or Night During the day, we might be blinded by the sun During the night, we might not see very well even if our vehicle's headlights are illuminating the path

 

The Challenges of Driving At Dusk

One time of day we don't think about is dusk. Unfortunately, dusk is a very difficult time to drive. Here are five top tips to drive at dusk:

1. Be aware of the quickly changing light conditions. One moment might be extremely sunny so we are forced to wear sunglasses, but within moments, the sun can darken and our sunglasses end up doing more harm than good. If we don't have sunglasses, be aware that the rapidly changing light conditions can be very difficult on our eyes (which...