I partnered with Life of Dad and Michelin for this promotion. I have received compensation for my participation, but my first car memories are my own and I’m jealous of my 16YO self. My dad wanted me to be Steve McQueen. Granted he never actually told me that, nor have I seen my dad avidly watching his old movies, but he did. My first car was a 1968 white Ford Mustang. The year was 1984, Van Halen just released their classic album (ask your mom kids) and I was driving one of the coolest cars ever. That’s our #FirstCarMoment and while I don’t remember what tires were on it; I can say that our son’s first car won’t be as cool as mine, but it’ll darn sure have great quality tires.
Sadly, the Mustang met an untimely end at the hands of distracted teen driver (see: the author). It didn’t look like it was totaled, but it went straight to a junk yard. Fortunately for a young teen Mojo his dad, for some unknown reason his dad wanted him to drive muscle cars and the ante was upped on the next one.
What better car for a teen driver who just totaled a car than….an even stronger, faster car, the 1974 Dodge Charger. Gone were the cute accoutrements of the Mustang, in its place was a longer front end, more space and, finally a cassette deck. I remember that Charger being able to catch a wheel in second gear. Note to parents, this is not a memory that you want your teen son to have almost 30+ years after their teen driving years.
The Charger had better tires than the Mustang. I know that only because of the many wheels I caught and the number of tires that I had to purchase during its time with me. We got through the teen driving years unscathed and the Charger went on to a better home with a driver who appreciated its power and class.
What’s your #FirstCarMoment? Was it when your parent let them use the family car, when you saved up for your own first car or something else?
If it’s a new car or a bucket that you bought to fix up it needs the best tires. Again, like the classic album that you need to ask your parents about, if the needle is ragged or broken the experience will be horrible. In the case of music it’s just unpleasant, if it’s your tires it would be much more serious.
Michelin has been making tires and focusing on road safety for over 125 years. It’s hard to say Michelin without thinking Michelin Man and picturing the white tire man throwing tires at vehicles to help them stay safe on the road.
The period between Memorial Day and Labor is sometimes called the 100 deadliest days for teen drivers. Summer, friends in the car, distracted, is that a text?, all add up to potential trouble for teens. Out of all the accidents annually 12% of 2.2 million are due to tire related issues. Break that down further and 26% are due to low tread and 32% to improper tire pressure.
Obviously the frustrating part of those statistics is that they are entirely preventable. Even if you’re taking a summer road trip you should remember to focus on air, wear and spare.
Check the air pressure according to your vehicle’s manual when the tire is cold and hasn’t been moving for at least three hours. To determine the wear just take five minutes to look at your tires for excessive or irregular wear, do the penny test and ask a tire professional if you suspect something is off.
Let’s talk about that spare tire, no the other one. It’s not the tire that you just replaced from the car, is it? The spare tire needs to be a fully functioning real tire, with great tread and dependable enough to keep you on the road.
What about you? Have you got a special story about your first car? Be sure to join Life of Dad for the #FirstCarMoment twitter party, Wednesday, June 24 at 8PM ET. There will be prizes, lots of people reminiscing about their first ride and a twitter party with lots of tread.
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