Crossing the Desert Without Incident

Plenty of ordinary Southern California trips cross serious desert — out to the Coachella Valley, the runs toward Arizona and Nevada, the Antelope Valley commute. In summer that's an environment where a mechanical problem stops being an inconvenience and becomes a safety issue, mostly because there is no shade and long gaps between services.

Heat and tires

The most common desert failure is a tire. Heat is the mechanism: pavement temperatures far exceed air temperature, and a tire that's underinflated flexes more, which generates more heat, which accelerates the failure. Three things prevent almost all of it:

• Check pressures cold, before you drive, against the placard on the driver's door jamb — not against the number moulded into the tire sidewall, which is a maximum rather than a recommendation.
• Check the age. Sun and heat harden rubber. A tire with good tread but many years on it can fail anyway. Any tire shop will read the date code for you.
• Don't overload, and if you're loaded or towing, check the load rating and pressures for that load.

If a tire lets go at speed: hold the wheel straight, ease off the throttle, don't brake hard, and let the car slow before steering gently to the shoulder.

Cooling systems and air conditioning

A cooling system that copes on a coastal commute can be marginal on a long climb in triple-digit heat with the air conditioning running. Watch the temperature gauge on grades. If it climbs, the counterintuitive first move is to turn the air conditioning off and the cabin heater on full — that dumps engine heat into the cabin. It's miserable and it works. If the gauge reaches the top, stop, and do not open a hot radiator cap.

Stopped on a desert shoulder

This is the part people underestimate. In serious heat, a stationary vehicle without air conditioning becomes dangerous quickly.

1. Get the car as far off the roadway as you safely can and put hazards on.
2. Stay in the shade of the vehicle if it's safe, away from the traffic side — but not in the roadway.
3. Call for help before your phone dies, and tell them the nearest mile marker or exit number.
4. Carry water. More than you think, all summer, every year. This is the single cheapest safety item for desert driving.

What towing coverage is actually for

A desert breakdown is where roadside coverage earns its keep, because the tow is long and the alternatives are bad. Towing and roadside assistance is usually an optional add-on rather than part of a standard policy — and many drivers already have it through a motor club or their vehicle manufacturer. Check what you have before you buy it twice, and check what the limits are: some coverages cap the distance or the dollar amount, which matters more in the desert than anywhere else.

Heat and the car itself

Sustained sun degrades interiors, cracks dashboards and ages paint. None of that is an insured loss — it's wear, and policies exclude wear. Sunshades, covered parking where you can get it, and window tint within California's legal limits are maintenance decisions, not coverage decisions. Where insurance does come in is the flip side: a car parked in the open is also exposed to hail, falling objects and theft, which are comprehensive matters.

If you want your roadside and towing coverage checked before summer, send us the declarations page — it's a two-minute read and we'll tell you if you're paying for something you already have.