Car Snow chains, and salt

Snow in London, England in January, same in the USA.

We took a long trip in the snow and had to turn back. Some cars have better grip than others. If you have two or more cars to choose from, take the one with better grip. If you have tyre helper devices, put them in your car boot in winter so you don't hunt for them and delay your journey, or forget and go off without them.

Snow Chains Or Textile
To help tyres, you can buy one of two types of protection. One is the standard and more expensive tyre 'chain'. The cheaper option is a kind of gripping matting, like sackcloth.

Salt
If you go over salted snow, the salt can damage your tyres' aluminium. You want to wash it off immediately, by car wash or the old fashioned bucket of water.

When loading your car, think:

Snow chains / textile
Shovel
Blanket
Hot drink
Food
Hat and gloves and spare socks in case yours get wet
Wellington Boots
Long mac or waterproof coat or plastic bag
Umbrella - anti rain, anti glaring sun, anti snow, and hide for emergency toilet
Portable potty or sealed container or portable urinal for emergency toilet in traffic jam or stuck car

Useful Website
https://www.snowchains.com/car-snow-chains About 30 pounds with free delivery available.
https://iwantzone.com/products/unisex-portable-car-urine-bottle

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Recording Travel Expenses For Employers + Tax Returns: New (Tax) Year's Resolution

Problem
Oops - I've completely lost track!

Answers
Do it every week, same time of day, Friday afternoon or night, Saturday morning, Sunday night.

Here are some of the things for which you might need to claim or keep records. Even if you are not claiming, you might want to check. Where did the petty cash go? Why have I spent so much? Have I been robbed, or did I spend the money? Was my free lunch worthwhile if I had to take a taxi?

Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly Outgoings
It helps to anticipate when the big bills will come in. I got a shock when I saw I was due for a three-figure sum for quarterly maintenance on a flat. How could I pay that out of monthly income!

Then I realised that although the quarterly sum was total was provided for information; I was actually paying monthly. So a third of that sum was due to be paid.

Car Miles And Petrol
Keep a notebook in the car for mileage.
Mark number of miles per journey; reason for journey, mileage on clock at start, mileage at end.
Receipts for petrol can be stapled into the book.
Alternatively, the allowance for depreciation on the car used for business can be allowed. (In the UK not for going to and from work but other excursions.) New Tyres, air, petrol, annual service, car wash?
Check what is currently allowed with your accountant / tax consultant / the tax collector. (NB rules in the USA for the IRA will be different, and tax is different for every state as well as the USA as a whole.)

Alternatively, use the AA (Automile Association) or tax allowance calculator.

Subsistence - food
When I last looked it was something like a certain allowance if you were so many miles from your home / office.
Keep all receipts, both as evidence if you are challenged by the tax office, and to remind yourself.

Next year I shall be much better organized! Didn't I say that last year?

Stationery
Box files, paper, printing, postage stamps.

Insurance.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Car accidents

Planning
Before taking a long car journey here are the precautions I take:
1 Check oil and tyres. (Or get the garage to do so for you.)
2 Fill the car with petrol.
3 Check all suitcases will fill in the boot of the car (what the Americans call the  t r u n k of the car; they also refer to the bonnet as the hood).

Decide if you will have a show nothing policy. One of my friends gave me a lift from London to a writers' holiday. She insisted that we had nothing on display on the car. Not a coat or cap, not a map nor a cup. Not a bottle of water. Not a coin or a pair of sunglasses. She wanted a completely empty car so that any potential thief would look at it and think, nothing there. Not worthwhile breaking in.

If we needed anything from the boot of the car for a food and toilet stop, we did not open the car boot in the car park of the motorway station before leaving the car. We took out any food or camera or valuable and put it in our handbag or tote bag and took it with us.

After leaving the motorway station we drove a short distance before stopping to put any camera or laptop or jewellery or other valuables back in the suitcase at the back of the car in the boot.

At a motorway stop we never left the car unattended. If one of us got out to pay for petrol, or to go to the toilet, the other person stayed in the car with the doors locked. We took sandwiches and did not stop on the journey.

Accident
On my way to Wales one year my car was hit by another and propelled into the fast lane where it hit the barrier, scattered bits over the motorway and spun around and stopped. The car which hit me was stationary in the slow lane behind me.

When my car was towed away to a garage, I had to continue my journey with only what I could carry in my wheeled suitcase. All the other paraphernalia, the car blanket, maps (which were recovered later) had to be left behind.

As a result I am now much more aware that any clutter in the car could be lost or left behind on the way.

Vital Numbers
I also put not my mobile phone the emergency numbers of my car insurers (the house contents insurers if my valuables are covered by my house contents policy instead), as well as the destination address and phone number and postcode, and the phone numbers of the organisers of a conference or event.

Friends of mine have told me about their accidents and how it affected them.

Car Fire
One friend, A, smelled burning and felt heat under her feet. She pulled into the hard shoulder. The car started filling with smoke so she told the three children to get out. Her bag was by her feet with her phone in it.

Her children were not wearing shoes. One child left behind his teddy and demanded she stop to pick it up. (That was a risk!)

She called the rescue services. They would only take her to the nearest motorway station because her insurance did not cover an engine fire. (Compare policies.) She was able to phone relatives two hours away to collect the family after a long wait.

Tyre Blow-out
Other friends had an accident in which a front tyre blew out and the car veered across the motorway lanes and hit another car in the opposite direction two other cars were write-offs as well as their own. Fortunately when he was breathalysed the driver had not had anything to drink. Also the car tyres had recently been changed.

In addition, when the police came to their house later and interviewed the husband and wife separately, she was able to say when he had had his eyes tested recently, (because she was careful to keep records because of glaucoma in her husband's family).

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.