Winter brings with it all sorts of extreme weather conditions to make driving more difficult. Don’t let poor visibility turn into no visibility by neglecting your vehicle’s windscreen bulbs and wipers.

Visibility, Visibility, Visibility

Whilst winter brings lots of wonderful things, like Christmas, bank holidays and more time with your family and friends, it also brings with it some truly horrible driving conditions.

Making sure that your car is fully equipped to deal with some of the UK’s more extreme weather – snow, heavy fog, ice, torrential rain, and storms – might be the difference between you getting home safely or not. The two areas we often take for granted, but definitely require some checking and seasonal maintenance, are your headlight bulbs and your windscreen wipers because they control how well you can see the road in front of you. Are your bulbs and wipers ready for winter?

How Often Should I Replace My Windscreen Wipers?

Generally speaking, you should replace your wipers every 12 months, but you should check them a lot more regularly so that you can spot the signs of damage, as wear and tear is more prevalent in winter.

Extreme weather from hot summers drying out the rubber and causing it to split, to cold winters freezing and tearing the blades mean you need to replace your wipers more frequently. So always be mindful of the fact that wipers are completely exposed to the elements, and make sure to fully defrost your windscreen before using your wipers.

How Can I Check for Damage to My Wipers?

The main signs of wear and tear are seeing streaks in the windscreen, seeing cracks in the rubber on your wipers, and hearing a squeaking noise when they’re in use. These are all indicators that something is affecting your wipers, but not necessarily that they need replacing; you may just need to give your wipers a good clean.

If you see streaks in the windscreen whilst you’re using your wipers, it’s a clear sign that the wiper blades are damaged or contaminated and they aren’t able to clear your entire windscreen anymore. Likewise, if you check the wiper blades themselves and notice cracks or notches in the rubber, then they are damaged. These will obviously need replacing straight away as they’re no longer doing their job.

A squeaking noise whenever you use your wipers can either indicate that the blades are dry because there isn’t enough moisture on the windscreen, or that there is a build-up of debris on the wipers. The best way to remedy this is to clean the wiper blades, and you may not need to replace your wiper blades just yet.

Be careful to spot the signs early by regularly checking your wipers, as wipers can become covered in salt and grit in the winter, which they will then drag all over your windscreen, potentially damaging it.

How Will I Know If My Bulbs Need Replacing?

Most headlight bulbs will last at least 12 months, but depending on the type of bulb, this could be much longer. Some LED bulbs will last up to 42 months, and different lights will wear out at different rates depending on how frequently they are used. You wouldn’t expect your brake lights to need replacing as often as your head lights.

Driving in the winter, when there are fewer hours of light in the day, will lead to you using your headlights more often, and most cars have automatic lights that will come on when the sun goes down or if there’s fog. This means that bulbs will wear out more quickly if you drive a lot during the winter.

What Can I Do to Protect My Lights?

As part of your regular car checks, you should be checking that your bulbs are not only working, but working well. Dim bulbs that are on their way out and barely light up the road ahead are of no use to you and need replacing. Don’t just wait for them to break.

You can preserve the quality of your lights for longer if you clean them regularly. This includes cleaning your reflectors and indicators, not just your headlights

Driving over potholes, speedbumps, or old cobbled roads will rattle your car, and the vibrations that this will steadily damage your bulb filaments, causing them to need replacing sooner, so make sure to drive carefully and avoid potholes where you can.

Can I Just Replace One Bulb?

Whilst it’s physically possible to replace one bulb at a time, it’s not recommended. As your bulbs have a very similar lifespan, so if you come in to have just one replaced because it was the first one to go, you will probably find yourself back in the garage a few weeks later because the other bulb was not far behind.

The other issue this causes won’t directly affect you, but it may well affect other drivers. As bulbs age, their power diminishes, as does their light. They may also discolour, depending on the type of bulb. If you only replace one bulb, you may have drastically different qualities of light coming from your left and right headlights, which can be jarring or even distracting to other drivers. And any distractions on the road pose a danger to you and those around you.

Stay Safe This Winter with Well-Maintained Bulbs and Wipers

The bottom line is, make sure that visibility is not any harder than it needs to be this winter. Keep on top of checking your bulbs and wipers; it’s one of the easiest ways to improve your overall safety and make sure that driving in winter is not as hard as it could be.

Don’t wait for poor visibility to become a problem. Book your winter vehicle check with us today and ensure your car is safe and ready for the road.