Category: Auto Body Blog

Summer is upon us, which means long trips in the car with friends or family. Such trips can be really rough on a vehicle. Since nobody wants to end up stranded in the middle of nowhere, be sure to check all of the following before you hit the road:

Engine Oil: Are your levels right? Are you due for a change? This is one of the easiest ways to foster a well-functioning engine.
Transmission Fluids: Many people forget about their other important oils, like the ones that lubricate your transmission. If you’re due for a change in your transmission fluids, seek out an oil-change professional.
Engine Coolant: If you have a reasonably new care, your coolant should be good for between 100,000 to 150,000 miles. Check your coolant reservoir to see if you need to be topped off.
Tires: Be sure that your tire pressure is at a proper level, and that your treads are not too worn down.
Brakes: Do your brakes squeal when you apply them? It’s time for a change. Be sure to take care of this before any long drives.
Battery: If your battery is over a couple years old, check that the terminals are secure and corrosion-free.

If you have any more significant problems with your car, take it into Greenwood Collision’s auto body shop in Seattle.

Do you find yourself feeling a little drowsy behind the wheel as you drive sometimes? You might not think that this is too big of a deal, but it is a good way to get into an accident. According to a study coming from a research team at Virginia Tech, fully twenty percent of all automotive accidents could be linked to sleepiness on the part of at least one driver involved.

You don’t need to actually drift off to sleep in order to get into a crash. Just being a little drowsy can impair your reflex time and judgement. When you’re traveling at highway speeds, it only takes a second or two of lost focus to end up in a disastrous accident.

If you do regularly drive drowsy, there is really only one true solution: You need to get more sleep. For most adults, this means getting about seven or eight hours of sleep every night. Should you find yourself on the road at a bad time, consider getting a friend to take over or pulling over to catch a quick nap. If the worst should happen, consider bringing your vehicle to our Seattle auto body shop for quick and reliable repairs.

Though driving is not generally considered a physically-demanding activity, it does still require a certain amount of movement. Some people, particularly as they reach advanced age, can benefit from doing some warm-ups before they begin to drive, in much the same way they might warm up before participating in an athletic activity. In this way, they can be better prepared to react quickly and avoid muscular fatigue while out on the road.

The big muscle groups to focus on when warming up before a drive include your neck, your torso, and your shoulders. Start by rotating your torso one way, then the other. Stretch your neck by trying to touch your chin to your chest, then rock it back and forth, pushing your ear down towards your shoulder. Finally, link your fingers behind your back so that you feel a healthy stretch in your shoulders.

If your best efforts should fail you and you end up in a collision, bring your vehicle down to Greenwood Collision in Seattle. Our auto body shop will get you back on the road quickly and reliably.

Aggressive driving and road rage represents a significant risk for the driver, his or her passengers, and the other people on the road. Be on the lookout for the following symptoms of aggressive driving that may indicate that you or your driver is heading for trouble:

• Mentally condemning other drivers, or having violent thoughts directed at them.
• Expressing a condemnation of other drivers out loud.
• Disregarding driving safety rules because you do not agree with them.
• Following too close in an effort to get the other driver to speed up.
• Braking suddenly to discourage tailgaters.
• Passing other drivers, then slowing down out of spite.
• Excessively honking or flashing headlights at oncoming traffic.
• Speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, cutting between vehicles to change lanes, or otherwise engaging in reckless driving practices.

In the event that road rage gets the better of you or another driver, and you need to have repairs done on your vehicle, consult Greenwood Collision. Our auto body shop in Seattle can get you back on the road quickly and efficiently.

Road rage is a serious problem. When you let your anger get out of control out on the road, you risk losing control of your vehicle and getting into a serious accident. If you are subject to such rage, consider the following tips to reign in your emotions and stay safe while driving:

• Practice relaxing while you drive. This can be accomplished by listening to the right music, or an audio book. You can also benefit from breathing exercises.
• Accept that there will always be a certain number of people making an idiot of themselves out on the road. Then, make a game out of counting them. This serves well to reduce your stress from observing careless or rude drivers.
• Do not assume that somebody is being intentionally aggressive towards you.
• If another driver actually is hassling you, avoid making eye contact and do not engage.
• Manage your time. A lot of stress is caused by failing to plan ahead, making you more susceptible to rage.

When your road rage gets the better of you and you get into a collision, consider bringing your vehicle to our Seattle auto body shop for repairs.

There are many reasons that people get into collisions out on the road. What follows is a list of the biggest dangers that drivers face:

Distracted Driving: This can come in many forms. Big culprits include driving while texting or talking on the phone, or rubbernecking at the site of a collision.
Fatigue: Your awareness and reaction time are both compromised when you are tired. Don’t be afraid of pulling over for a nap if you really need to.
Driving Under the Influence: Collisions resulting from alcohol or other inebriating substances are among the most deadly.
Reckless Driving: Whether you’re speeding, or simply driving more aggressively, you are at a greater risk of getting into an accident.
Environmental Hazards: Some hazards are out of our control, like roads that are slippery from ice or rain. Take particular care during icy conditions, high winds, or during the first rain after an extended dry period.

Should your best efforts fail you and you end up in a collision, bring your car to our auto body shop in Seattle for repairs.

It’s never pleasant to be pulled over while driving. Unfortunately, with all the rules that we need to obey while out on the road, it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of them all. What follows is a list of the five most common violations that police agencies report; try being mindful of these, and you’ll be able to keep your traffic stops to a minimum:

• Speeding: This one is a no-brainer. Speeding is one of the easiest safety violations to detect, and account for about 34 million tickets in the United States every year. Keep an eye on your speed, and you’re in good shape.
• Distracted Driving: These violations include driving while texting, eating, or performing a similar action that threatens to keep your hands off the wheel or your concentration off the road. Texting is apparently the top violation, with teenagers being the main offenders. If you have a young driver in your household, be sure to advise him or her on proper phone use.
• Equipment Violations: It is fairly easy for a cop to spot violations in your car’s equipment. Illegal window tints are the biggest violation, followed by burned out lights, dangerously broken windshields, and expired tags on your license plates.
• Tailgating and Reckless Lane Changes: Tied for number four, these two violations include cutting off another driver, changing lanes without looking, and driving too close to another vehicle.

These violations are not just potentially costly if you get pulled over; they’re also dangerous, and put you at risk of serious accidents. Should the worst happen, consider bringing your car down to Greenwood’s auto body shop in Seattle.

Your bumper can take quite a beating. This is the part of your car most prone to damage in a collision. In some of the worse cases, you may have your bumper completely fall off after an accident. Some people will lose their bumpers and continue to drive around without it for an indefinite period, thinking that the expense that goes into replacing it is not worthwhile. This is a mistake.

Indeed, there is a reason that your bumper is so prone to damage. Its purpose is to cushion the blow of collisions, preventing damage to the more valuable parts of your car and the passengers inside. Thousands of low-speed collisions happen every day, with roughly 14% of all auto damage claims coming in the form of small, parking garage crashes. If you don’t have a bumper to absorb the impact, even these small nuisances can turn into hundreds of dollars in damage for your engine.

When you lose a bumper, don’t leave your car more vulnerable than it needs to be. Bring it to our Seattle auto body shop for the repairs that it needs.

Chances are good that any driver is going to need to have a vehicle towed now and then. You’ll generally have a professional take care of the towing for you, but it’s an easy enough matter to tow yourself should the need arrive. In such an event, keep the following tips in mind to avoid doing any extra damage to your car:

• Attach the Chain in a Secure Place: Do not attach the cable to your bumper! You want to find a sturdy place on the undercarriage of your car to loop the tow cable around. In most cases, you should be at least double-looping the cable. Attach the other end of the cable to the trailer hitch of the towing vehicle, or a secure location on its undercarriage if you don’t have a trailer hitch.
• Put Your Car in Neutral: Park the car you are to tow until you have the cable attached, then put it in neutral and make sure that the parking brake is disengaged.
• Place a Sign on Your Car: It helps to have a sign in the rear window of the car you are towing to alert other drivers that the car is being towed.
• Vacate the Towed Car: Nobody should be in the car that you are towing!
• Drive Slow: Don’t drive any faster than 45 mph; preferably, you should be going even slower.
• Keep Trips Short: Ideally, you should only tow a car as far as you absolutely need to, like to a gas station or an auto body shop.