When snow is on the ground and the temperatures plummet, the experience behind the wheel changes dramatically.

Winter can be a lot of fun, but when you’re on the road, it does require some added care and attention to safety to make sure you arrive at your destination without placing yourself and other road users at risk, which is why you should keep an emergency kit within reach, containing a digital tire pressure gauge and a car escape tool.

Ideally, all the features you need to stay safe should be kept within easy grasp, all worked into one high quality tool.

Many people do think of keeping a digital tire pressure gauge, a glass hammer, a seat belt cutter, and other car escape tool components in a box under the driver’s seat, in a glove compartment or even in the trunk. However, if a crash ever does happen, the majority of those locations simply aren’t convenient enough. Moreover, if you need to keep digging through a box containing several different tools, you may not be able to find what you need with the ease in which you require it.

The best plan is to keep a tire pressure gauge with built-in car escape tool features right where you can get it.

It should be stored in a place where you can grab hold of it from the driver’s seat without having to make too much of a reach. Moreover, you shouldn’t have to take your seatbelt off in order to be able to get it. After all, what’s the point of having a seatbelt cutter if you need to rely on escaping your seatbelt to get your hands on it?

The features you should look for in a proper car escape tool include at least a seatbelt cutter (in case your seatbelt is jammed and you need to be able to get out of your vehicle) and a glass hammer (in case the doors aren’t working and you need to get out through a window). Remember that seatbelts and windows in cars are designed to be difficult to tear or break. Therefore, you can’t simply depend on your feet to break your windshield or on your nail clippers or file to get through your seatbelt. Having the right tools can be key to safely extracting yourself and your passengers from the vehicle if a crash should happen.

Of course, the ideal would be to avoid a crash, altogether. Drive appropriate for the road and weather conditions, pay attention, use winter tires and regularly check their inflation with a digital tire pressure gauge that provides accurate results. However, as much as you might not want to think about an accident, it is better to be prepared for one than not.