Worn-out windshield wipers are a safety hazard with Douglas Automotive

Worn-out   windshield wipers are more than annoying. They’re downright dangerous.

According to Doug McAllister, owner of Douglas Automotive, in Crystal Lake and Barrington, it’s estimated that 78 percent of people wait to replace their wipers until they are so worn they’ve become a safety hazard.

“Since 90 percent of our driving decisions are made visually, it is pretty important that we can see well,” McAllister said. Noisy blades up the annoyance factor, but when they don’t clean your windshield properly, they impede your vision by leaving streaks or unwiped areas where the blade no longer touches the windshield.

“It seems the wipers are always the worst when we need them the most. Then they’re forgotten until the next time we need them,” McAllister added. Keep using them after they’re past their prime and they’ll only make a smeary mess of bird droppings, bugs and other gross stuff that finds its way onto your windshield.

Let them get really bad and your wiper blades can even permanently scratch your windshield.

McAllister recommends changing your wipers twice a year, in the spring and fall.   There are blades made specifically for snow and ice. You can change them over to regular blades come spring. He also warns against taking the cheap route by replacing only the rubber refill. You get a higher quality product that performs better if you replace the entire blade, and they’re not expensive.

“The next time it rains, you’ll be glad you did,” McAllister said.

He offered one other tip for the approaching winter — don’t turn on your wipers when they are buried under snow or frozen to the windshield.

“Worst case you can do expensive damage to the wiper mechanism and minimally it could damage the wiper blade,” he said.

www.douglasautomotive.com | 123 E. Virginia Rd., Crystal Lake, IL 60014 | 815.356.0440