Summer Driving Dangers: Stay Cool, Safe, & Avoid Breakdowns

So it's hot as balls outside and your car's been baking in some parking lot all day. You know what's coming next – you're gonna open that door and get hit with a wave of heat that feels like opening an oven. Your steering wheel's gonna be too hot to touch, your seats are gonna burn your legs, and you're gonna sit there for like ten minutes waiting for the AC to do literally anything.

Yeah, summer driving is the worst. But here's the scary part – when you're miserable and overheated, you drive like an idiot. Your brain just stops working right. And your car? It might just decide to break down right in the middle of nowhere because engines hate this weather as much as you do.

Those silver windshield things that make your car look like a spaceship? Get one. Right now. They're like five bucks at any gas station and they'll save your ass. Without one, your car turns into a torture chamber. With one, it's just regular uncomfortable instead of "I might actually die in here" levels of hot.

People always argue about AC versus windows and honestly, it depends. Around town, crack the windows and blast the AC. Sounds wasteful but you need the fresh air or you'll feel like you're suffocating. On the highway though, windows up because otherwise you're just throwing money out the window in gas.

And drink water, for crying out loud. Even with AC running, you're still drying out. Your body's trying to keep you alive by sweating, but it needs water to work with. Keep a cooler full of bottles in your car and actually drink them, not just let them roll around on the floor.

If you've got one of those fancy electric cars, you basically won the lottery. You can cool that thing down while it's still plugged in at home, then walk out to a perfectly chilled car. It's like having a personal assistant who makes sure your car's ready before you even think about leaving.

Your car's gonna try to overheat and leave you stranded, guaranteed. All that stuff your mechanic keeps telling you about oil changes and checking fluids? Actually do it. Watch those gauges on your dashboard too. If that temperature needle starts climbing toward the red, pull over right now. Don't think about it, don't try to make it just a little further, stop immediately. Engines are expensive to replace.

Drive early in the morning or late at night if you can swing it. Less traffic, cooler weather, less chance of your car having a nervous breakdown. Makes sense, right?

Keep water in your car for emergencies. Not just for you – sometimes your car needs it too if the cooling system starts acting up. But don't pour cold water on a hot engine unless you want to get burned by steam. Let everything cool down first.

Here's something that sounds insane but works: if your car's overheating in stop-and-go traffic, turn the heat on full blast and point it out the windows. You'll be miserable, but it might save your engine. Sometimes being a hero sucks.

Never leave your dog in the car. Ever. Cops will break your windows and they should. Cars become death traps in like fifteen minutes when it's this hot.

When those afternoon thunderstorms finally show up, the roads turn into ice rinks for the first few minutes. All that oil and dust that's been cooking on the asphalt makes everything slippery as hell when it gets wet.

Look, summer's gonna suck no matter what, but at least you don't have to make it worse by being unprepared. A little common sense goes a long way toward not ending up on the side of the road calling for a tow truck.