Automobile or Junk-Mobile?

We wash the outside of our cars, but are we as diligent about the inside? Is the car interior salt and peppered with fast food bags, broken crackers, CD’s, candy wrappers, newspapers, sneakers, etc?

Cars are uncluttered when we get them, but we turn them into cluttered junk-mobiles. An uncluttered car can make travel efficient, safer and more economical.

Safety First: The Dangers of Car Clutter

1. Sudden Stops. Items left free in your car become dangerous projectiles if you stop suddenly. Think of the sharp edges on CDs, books, DVDs, for example. Purge any uncontained items, especially in the space underneath the rear windshield!

2. Clutter Invites Thieves. Smash and grab thugs ignore clean car interiors and go for cluttered interiors. They think there may be something valuable hiding in there. If your car has a flea market appearance, it’s a banquet for thieves. You know there is nothing hidden under those old newspapers, fast food containers and t-shirts. They don’t. Clutter attracts the bad guys.

Car Clutter Wastes Money

Carrying extra, unnecessary weight around uses up gasoline. If your car is a rolling storage room, you are throwing money away. Lugging heaving items - golf clubs, seasonal tools, books - puts a damper on fuel economy. It’s a drag, literally. Reduce the weight of clutter and save cash!

Keep Your Cool!

If you are stopped by law enforcement authorities, an un-cluttered, organized car helps cool your nervousness. You know you have what you need and when asked, you will be able to find it, without the embarrassment or concern that clutter causes. You’ll save time, too. Your quick response might help you avoid a ticket!

During an emergency which requires that you pull to the side of the road, the last thing you want to do is stand on the side of the road emptying the junk out of the trunk to find what you need. You’ll be embarrassed, waste time, feel frustrated and potentially risk your life de-junking under the eyes of every car that goes by.

Time to Act!

1. Purge out-of-season tools and accessories. Take out snow shovels, snow brushes, ice scrapers and sand bags in the spring; remove folding chairs, sunshades and beach towels in the autumn.

2. Assign important “must have” items to specific places in the car – take everything else out of the car.

• Glove Compartment: “Paper Place” - for maps, the owners manual, repair log, car registration or a copy of it, and other necessary car-related papers.

• Under a Front Seat: a small emergency tool kit, a “Help Police” sign, a small first aid kit a flashlight, fresh batteries and an umbrella.

• Trunk: Safety Place - Store your spare tire, a jack,, emergency flares or reflector triangles, a tool kit, fire extinguisher, extra blanket, reflective vest, emergency first aid kit, jumper cables, work gloves, paper towels and windshield-washer fluid.

Eliminating clutter from your car is a relatively small job. It only takes a few minutes.

• Change of season: de-clutter the entire car.

• When you prepare for a car vacation: de-clutter the entire car.

• Weekly maintenance: keep small plastic bags in the car and once a week clean out the interior. What day to pick? Garbage night.

• Daily: remove CD’s, DVD’s and other perishable, valuable items.

Car Organizers

Purchase useful containers that add to your safety and convenience. Examples include: a back of the seat organizer, an expanding container for between the front seats, one or two large totes for the trunk with velcro on the bottom to prevent movement, small portable organizers for CD’s and DVD’s that you can remove from the car during hot and cold weather and when you leave the car for the night.

Children? Purchase a small tote for each adult and child traveling in the car so they keep their stuff together and contained. Color code them. You can create an art kit or other keep-them- busy- in-the-car kit geared to the interests of each child. Include a travel journal so they can keep notes of their trips.

You, too, can have an automobile, not a junk-mobile.

© Copyright 1998 Helen D. Volk All Rights Reserved

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