A Fully Stocked First Aid Kit

The first, and potentially most important, thing your car should have is a fully stocked first aid kit. Hopefully, you never have to use it. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Make sure that your first aid kit includes:

• Gloves

• Antiseptic Wipes

• Antiseptic Cream

• An Eye Bath

• Bandages

• Gauze Pads

• Dressings

• Tape

• Safety Pins

• Scissors

• Tweezers

A Cleaning Kit

You never know when you might have to clean up a mess during your journey. Whether your kid has been sick or had an accident in the back of the car, a bird has made a mess on your windscreen, or you’ve managed to muddy up your 4x4 rims. You’re going to want to be able to clean things up quickly and easily before they mark or stain. A cleaning kit should include all vehicle friendly cleaners - nothing with fumes that could impact you while driving, nothing that will bleach interior fabrics and nothing that can corrode the exterior of your vehicle.

Photo by JULIO NERY from Pexels

Air Fresheners

While not entirely essential, air fresheners are a great added bonus for any car. At the end of the day, nobody wants to travel in a car that smells bad. A good quality air freshener can make your car smell of whatever scent you like, making driving - or being a passenger - a much more pleasant experience.

Spare Glasses or Contact Lenses

Some of us need to wear prescription lenses to drive. These are essential if you have poor eyesight - how else will you see the other vehicles on the road clearly. Now, if you do require contact lenses or glasses to drive,it’s a good idea to have a spare set stored in your glove box. You don’t want to find yourself out and about, only to break your glasses or for a contact to fall out, and for you to be unable to get home safely.

Sunglasses

Sunglasses are also extremely important. You never know when bright sunlight might strike, making driving difficult. Having a pair of sunglasses stored away in the glove box can make sure that you can focus on the road ahead much more effectively and drive much more safely as a result.

A Paper Map

The vast majority of us use satellite navigation systems or our phones to find our way to our destinations. But it’s always a good idea to have a real, paper map of any areas you’re driving through too. You never know when your phone might run out of battery or break and you’ll still need to be able to get back home safely. A paper map can help you to achieve this!

An Empty Fuel Can

You never know when you might run out of fuel. Sometimes, we’re caught by surprise and there simply isn’t a fuel station for miles around. Carrying an empty fuel can can give you a means of collecting fuel from a station and getting it back to your vehicle.

A Spare Tyre

Fortunately, punctured tyres aren’t an everyday occurrence. But you should make sure that you have a spare tyre on board at all times, just in case. This will mean you can replace your tyre, or roadside assistance can replace your tyre on your behalf, if you do find yourself with a flat.

Jump Leads

Jump leads are another essential. If you find yourself with a flat battery, you can entail the help of someone else to jump start your car and get you back on the road again! Keep them stored in your boot, as you never know when you might need them.

Sure, this isn’t a comprehensive list of absolutely everything you should have for your car. But it’s a good starting point and should help to get the ball rolling in the right direction. Hopefully, some of the above suggestions will prove useful to you!