May 20, 2022
Abby Nuttall
Driver Articles
Whether you are driving a company vehicle or your personal car you’ll find this piece useful for knowing what essentials you should keep in the vehicle.
1. First Aid Kit
The first essential that every driver should carry is a first aid. This can be as basic as keeping a few plasters, antiseptic wipes and pain killers in the car though you can pick up a small kit for as little as £10 from Amazon. Buying a kit comes with the additional benefit that it is all kept neatly in a small pouch or box that you can tuck into a corner of the vehicle out of the way. You can also add to it making the kit personalised for your needs, for example drivers with hay fever or allergies will usually add allergy tablets.
If you are driving a company car a lot of employers will provide a first aid kit as an additional step of their fleet management. We recommend checking with your fleet manager when you first take a company vehicle what items they supply and are required to be in the vehicle.
Please note that some first aid supplies have expiry dates on them so we recommend that you check each of them once a year, at least, to make sure they are still valid.
2. Warning Triangle
There are no legal requirements to keep any safety equipment in your vehicles in the UK currently but many other European vehicles do legally require drivers to keep some items in their vehicles including a warning triangle.
We recommend that you always have at least one warning triangle in your car though some drivers like to have two so that if they are involved in an accident and are blocking the road then you can give other road users in both directions warning of the hazard.
3. High-Vis Jacket
Another essential safety item is a high-vis jacket. If your car breaks down or you are involved in an accident and have to exit the vehicle on a busy road then a high-vis jacket will make you more visible to other road users and reduce the risk of you being involved in an accident.
If you have enough room, then you might want to have enough high-vis jackets for your passengers as well so that they are noticeable when they leave the vehicle.
4. Water
We advise all drivers to keep a bottle of water in their car no matter the weather. You can use it to top up the washer fluid if it runs low, clean other windows if there is a mark blocking your view, clean out wounds if someone is injured and just to drink if you’re thirsty.
5. Charger Cables
If you are driving an electric vehicle (EV) or a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) then we would advise you keep these in the vehicle at all times so that you are never stranded because you have run out of charge and there are no tethered chargers available to use.
This will be less important for PHEV drivers as they have a combustion engine to use and they can fill up with petrol / diesel more easily than finding a tethered charger.
6. Jumper Cables
We recommend all drivers with an internal combustion engine, which are all petrol and diesel vehicles, keep jumper cables in their vehicle. These cables are used to jump start one vehicle from another and can be useful if you have battery issues or you need to help someone else who is experiencing them.
Please note that if a battery is fully flat then you might not be able to jump start this and may need to have the battery replaced.
7. Phone Charger
We all rely on our phones for much more than making calls and texting, they can be used to navigate, listen to music and search for the nearest fuel station when you’re in the car. Because of how useful they are we’ve included a charger for your phone in our top ten essentials.
Most modern cars are able to charge your phone while on the go with an inbuilt charger or the ability to use an adapter in a 12V socket. We recommend having the wire and adaptor suitable for in car charging as well as an adaptor for the standard three pin plug so you can use it while outside of the vehicle too.
8. Tissues
It’s always useful to have tissues with you and this is especially true in the car. We recommend having a small travel pack within reach when you are driving that can be used if you spill anything or need to blow your nose. Additionally, if you need to do any maintenance work or roadside repairs you can use them to clean your hands to prevent spreading grease or dirt around the interior.
9. Sunglasses
We recommend keeping a pair of sunglasses within reach whenever you are driving. While it is not that hot in the UK we do have a lot of bright and sunny times which is why it’s important that you are able to reach a pair of sunglasses and stop the sun from becoming a hazard for you when driving.
10. Key Car Information
We recommend that you keep a sheet with all the key information for your can in the glovebox or somewhere else out of sight. We advise keeping the registration number and registered keeper details (if it is not you), your insurance provider, their contact number and your policy number as well as the details for your fleet management team if it is a company vehicle.
Enjoyed this article? Read more of our latest blogs below:
- What Happens at the End of a Lease
- How Long Will My New Car Take to Arrive
- Changes to the Highway Code for Autonomous Cars
- Five Tips For Keeping Your EV Charged on Long Trips
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