When the weather is hot and humid outside, and you’re driving a vehicle, the natural tendency is stay as cool as possible while inside your car. An automobile can easily trap in heat with the sun beating down on it and when the windows are closed, at this point, it becomes an incubator. There are ways to cool off when inside your vehicle, so you can keep comfortable and cool during your drive.

To start off with, when storing your car, it’s helpful to keep your car in a cool garage area where the cooling cement and darkness maintains a less warm environment for the vehicle. If you don’t have a garage accessible for your automobile, you can pick a shaded area and crack the windows to allow for any hot air to escape and for the air to circulate. Of course, if there’s rain in the forecast, nix keeping the windows slightly ajar. Since a sunroof provides opportunity for the sun to enter and warm up the car’s interior, try keeping the cover over it to block out the sun. A portable cover for the front wind shield also acts as a barrier for the sunlight, keeping the interior cooler and preventing the seats from absorbing the sunlight and, in return, burning your bottom. Keeping your car cooler before you enter it is key to starting off your drive on a cooler foot.

Once inside the car, roll, roll, roll down all your windows both front and back and open the sun roof to allow any trapped heat and warm air to escape and reduce the temperature inside the vehicle. As you start driving, there’s nothing like a fresh man-made cross breeze that enters through the open windows to cool you off. Try keeping the interior lights off, since lights emit heat, especially if left on for long periods of time. Now, as your start your journey, it’s helpful to have a cold drink in your coffee cup holder for hydration, and a spray bottle of cool water, so you can mist your body with a fine stream of it.

There are many accessories on the market to cool the interior of your car. You can carry a portable mini fan or a hand held fan to help provide a reprieve from the warm weather. Try filling a water bottle with cold water, as well as, ice, and lay it on your lap; or keep skin wipes with a dash of peppermint oil on them in your refrigerator. When you go to use them on your car travel, they’ll be nice and cold – now that’s a great way to cool off.

Along with these portable items to cool you off, it’s a good idea to dress cooler, so forego any hats, they may protect your face from the sun, but they trap in heat that’s released from the top of your head. It’s a better choice to wear loose, light-colored clothing, which absorbs less heat than dark clothing. Besides a cooler clothing choice, opt for shoes or sandals that don’t trap the heat in your feet, but let it out.

The hot weather is a great excuse for a cold treat, so indulge in an ice pop on your drive or bring a cup of ice and keep it in your vehicle’s cup holder. As the ice melts, the cool vapors will be released into the air to help keep down the temperature of the interior.

Utilize your shopping experience to your advantage. After food shopping, any bag of cold vegetables or frozen grocery item can be temporarily placed on your lap, just don’t let them thaw out.

There’s always the good old air conditioning option. If you need it, use it, and crank it up to its coldest setting, aiming the air vents in your direction. Try putting it on the coldest temperature setting to give you some fast warm weather relief. When it’s warm outside, try some of these tips to keep you cool while in your vehicle. This way, you’re comfortable while traveling, making the experience more enjoyable. Just as important as a cool and comfortable vehicle ride in the warm weather is car insurance; and Runnels Insurance, serving the Brandon, Florida location, is here it help you cover your automobile risks, www.runnelsinsurance.com.

Any parent will have some level of anxiety when it comes to letting their teenager out on the roads. Most people that age really can’t understand the gravity of responsibility before they get behind the wheel. You obviously don’t want to run the risk of making them too nervous though, as they’ll certainly never learn properly that way. Here are a few ways to promote safety in your home. 

Setting Them Up for Success 

Show them your commitment to safety first and foremost. Start by enrolling them in the best safety course in your area, and get them instructors who will care about their progress. You’ll also want them in a vehicle with the best in safety features. Automatic Emergency Brakes in newer cars will actually apply the brakes if your teen has too slow of a reaction period. Rearview cameras means they can see everything behind them in clear color. At the very least, their car should be equipped with airbags for accidents of any kind. 

Talk to Them 

Having a real conversation can sometimes be just what a teen needs to connect with you and the safety matters in question. Let them know that you’re there for them if they make a mistake and have too much to drink one night. Work out a plan for phone use, and ask specifically what they’ll do to keep themselves off their mobile device when they’re in motion. Be honest about your own driving experiences, and let them know just how much safety counts

Buying Insurance 

Runnels Insurance serves Brandon, FL, and they can help you find the right policy for your teen. Call for a quote and get the affordable policy you need to keep your child safe from criminals, accidents and more. 

There are a lot of dealerships in Brandon. When you are looking for the perfect used family car, there are a lot of things to consider. Knowing how to pick is going to help you get a better value for your purchase.

Compare

Compare the various vehicles out there. It pays not to be too picky in terms of color and make/model. Focus more on the value that you’re going to get. Plenty of websites allow you to check the inventory at multiple dealerships so you can look at the age of the car, the price, and the mileage.

Inspect

Have the car inspected before you buy it. The dealership may have inspected it and there may be others who can inspect it. Consider bringing it to a local mechanic shop for their input on whether the vehicle is worth the money. Any time a dealership doesn’t want you to bring it to a mechanic, be extremely worried because they may be hiding something from you.

Consider

Before you buy a used car, consider what kind of value you are getting. It’s possible to get a certified, pre-owned vehicle, which means it has already been inspected to the guidelines of the manufacturer, and comes with an extended warranty. You want relatively low miles so you can rely on the car for years to come. Three years is the magic number where the car’s not going to be too expensive, and not too old.

Ultimately, you have to be happy with your car, so do the research to ensure this happens.

Auto insurance is going to provide significant amounts of protection while you drive throughout Brandon, Florida. Call on one of our agents at Runnels Insurance can answer questions and obtain quotes to help you get affordable coverage.

Whether riding through Brandon, Florida or anywhere else in the country, there’s just nothing like being on the open rode and your own, personal transport. The main problem with motorcycles is these vehicles are far easier to steal than anything else out there. Skilled motorcycle thieves can grab and go with a bike in a matter of moments. It is up to you to prevent this from happening. At Runnels Insurance, we sell motorcycle coverage to protect your bike in the event of an accident and other occurrences, but we also want to make sure you never are faced with trying to hunt down a stolen bike either. 

Always Install a GPS

Most modern vehicles now have GPS tracking installed. However, the same is not the case with all motorcycles. This is something you need to invest in. With a GPS, even if something does happen to your bike, you can notify the police and give them the tracking information. Most stolen bikes are moved out of the area or chopped into pieces quickly, so locating the stolen motorcycle quickly is essential. GPS gives you this opportunity. 

Bike Cover

Perhaps you live in an apartment complex, and you simply do not have the ability to park in a garage. While parking under a covered parking space is a good idea, the next step is to add a bike cover. This hides the quality of your bike, and it makes it less identifiable to those looking to steal a bike. 

Always Lock it Up

Creating a skeleton key that works on most motorcycles isn’t as difficult as you might think, so locking your bike and wheels is not always going to work. This is why securing your bike with an external lock is necessary. 

 Deer mating season and migration season generally fall in the autumn and winter months for most of the United States. During this time collisions are increased for drivers, especially those in rural areas. You can decrease your chances of colliding with a deer, however, by following this tips.

Slow Down

You should not just slow down when in a wooded area, but you should slow down period during this time of year. Deer have been known to collide with vehicles in a variety of locations. Just because you are on the express way or in a heavily populated place, does not mean you will not meet a deer. The slower you are going the more reaction time you will have should you meet a deer.

Pay Attention at Dusk and Dawn

Deer move around the most at dusk and dawn. During these times of day you should really decrease your speed and pay attention. Deer also like to hang around the same areas. So if you have already seen deer in an area it is likely you will see them again in this same area.

Where There is One There Are More

Deer travel in herds, so if you spot one his friends are not far behind. Once you have spotted a deer, you should decrease your speed and blow your horn a few times to scare off any other deer who are getting ready to dart across the road.

Don’t Swerve

If you think you are going to hit a deer then brake hard and brace for the collision. Swerving to avoid hitting the deer almost always causes a more serious accident. Swerving can cause collisions with oncoming traffic or it can cause your vehicle to wind up off the road, colliding with a tree or worse. The impact the deer will have on your vehicle is far less than the impact of another car, a tree or a pole.

To learn more about vehicle safety during deer season and insurance concerns contact Runnels Insurance now serving Brandon, FL.

Even though it may not snow in Brandon, it is still important to prep your car for the fall months. This is because there is going to be colder weather and it can take a toll on your car. You don’t want performance to be lowered and you don’t want to be uncomfortable in the car at any time, either.

Performance can be affected in a number of ways because of the cold weather. This means you will want to schedule some maintenance with your car. Think about:

• Brake inspection
• Tire inspection
• HVAC service

Each of these are important for their own reasons. You want to make sure that the brakes are capable of stopping. Tire tread needs to be strong enough that it can grip the roads. The HVAC service will ensure that the heat works and that your defroster system is effective.

There are a few things you should think about replacing in the fall as well. This includes the cabin air filter as well as wiper blades. Even though it may not snow or sleet in Florida, it can rain heavily and you want to be able to clear the windshield effectively.

It is also a good idea to use the fall as a reminder to have your battery checked. You will often get absolutely no warning signs that your battery is going to fail, so sometimes it can be helpful to simply replace it, especially if it has been several years.

At Runnels Insurance, we are here to help you every way we can. Let us give you tips on how to protect your car as well as yourself when you are on and off the roads. We can get you a quality policy in Brandon, Florida so you have nothing to worry about.

It’s important that you get the life out of your car that you anticipate when you buy it. New or used, there are tips that can be used to ensure you can extend the life. Many of them are common sense, yet so many people forget about them.

Don’t Run the AC so Much

It can get very hot in Brandon, FL, especially during the summer time. However, running the AC too long is going to put extra strain on the engine because that is where the power is generated from. You can cut down on the heat by parking in the shade, using a windshield shade, and driving with the windows down.

Don’t Forget to Inflate

The temperature can change dramatically from season to season, and sometimes even day by day. This can cause tires to deflate quickly, and this means you have to make sure that you are inflating your tires on a regular basis. Check the PSI to what is recommended. More than a third of all drivers are driving with lower PSI than what they should – and it can make an impact on car life.

Stay Tuned

Your engine should be tuned on a regular basis, and this includes getting regular oil changes and having the oil filter replaced. If your engine is not tuned, it can increase fuel consumption, and cause an array of car problems down the road. Simple car maintenance can go a long way to make sure that your car lasts for many years to come.

Call us at Runnels Insurance today so we can search for quotes for you in Florida. Throughout the Brandon area, having auto insurance is imperative and we will work to find you an affordable policy to provide you with peace of mind.