A car floor mat undoubtedly protects your floor area and especially your carpeting. Nonetheless, there are some safety hazards you need to be mindful of.
The talk of safety hazard is not to deter you from investing in a good quality floor mat. Just like your car has practically infinite benefits for you and your family and still carries some hazards, the same is applicable to your car floor mat.
It gives your car flooring invaluable protection, but you need to take care of some things to keep your car, yourself, and your family safe.
The case of Savannah Chrisley’s accident was widely covered, especially when she said that the accident happened because her car floor mat got stuck behind the pedals of her car.
Though, it was not the actual sticking of the mat that caused the accident but her trying to resolve the situation while still driving the car, by the end of the day, it is accepted that it was the faulty car floor mat that caused the accident.
The importance of car floor mats
You can easily imagine what all your car floor area is subjected to over the time, including dirt and mud that you track in, drinks and bits of food, bacteria and all sorts of elements. If there is regular snowfall in your area, you are also regularly bringing in snow and sludge that, when melts, gives rise to harmful microorganisms in the fabrics of your carpeting.
Hence, every car owner is advised to use high-quality floor mats. You can keep them clean. You can easily take them out and wash.
Most importantly, they protect your car area. Premium quality floor mats also have raised corners so when you spill something over them, it doesn’t flow under your seat or other unreachable corners of your card.
With these out of the way, let’s see how you can avoid the car floor mat hazards.
What are the various safety hazards you can face through your car floor mats?
To be frank, most of the safety hazards begin to manifest when your car floor mats go through wear and tear. Yes, there are some inferior-quality car floor mats that are a danger to use anyway, but if you have invested in good quality car floor mats, unless something untoward happens, they are mostly safe.
Keeping this in mind, let us explore some ways the car floor mats can cause safety hazards and how to avoid them.
- The car floor mat getting stuck in the pedals
Not the commonest problem, but it definitely happens on many occasions due to faulty edges or loose car floor mats.
The foot area in front of the driver’s seat is anyway quite sensitive to all sorts of objects. You shouldn’t leave bottles, cans or food packets loitering around that area because anything can get stuck in the pedals or can stop them from getting pressed enough.
Faulty and worn out mats can cause all sorts of problems with the gas pedals, the brakes or the clutch. They can either stop you from properly pressing the pedals or the pedals can get stuck and are not released when you lift your feet.
For example, even when you have eased your foot, the accelerator pedal won’t come up and the speed of your car will go on increasing.
This normally happens when your car floor mat is loose and curls around the pedal area and its folds get stuck underneath the pedals or behind the pedals. They can even get into the holes of the pedals.
Always ensure that there is enough space between your pedals and the floor mat.
To avoid such situations, it is very important that you purchase high-quality car floor mats. You should also get your car floor mats custom-made.
For example, at MudSmart we make available only custom-fit car floor mats prepared through laser technology. They are sturdy. They don’t fold. They last longer. We provide a lifetime warranty. If they are damaged and the damage is due to the quality, we replace them, no questions asked.
- The car floor mat is loose and moves around
The floor mat under your feet must be solidly fixed and shouldn’t move. It should strongly hold your feet. When your car floor mat is constantly moving, unconsciously you are trying to bring it back to its proper place with your feet, causing distraction.
Aside from safety hazards, it also defeats the entire purpose of putting a car floor mat. If it is not at its proper place, your carpeting gets exposed and gets dirty. Your car floor mat should completely cover the area.
When your car floor mat is loose, your feet may get entangled in it and this may cause delay in pressing one of the pedals, jeopardising your safety in the process. Your feet may even slip during times of emergency.
Your floor mat must be fixed firmly to the floor area using hooks and screws.
- Your car floor mat is not easy to clean
There are many materials that are not easy to clean. They may have tiny fibers on them. These fibers can hold germs and other stuff for weeks and months.
Even when you wash these car floor mats, the germs and other forms of dirt remain stuck. This can make your car stink. It can also cause health hazards as all forms of illnesses may lurk inside your car.
You should be able to wash your car floor mats completely. This is only possible with high quality material. Your mats must be resistant to water & dust. You should be able to easily take them out, give them a nice washing, preferably with disinfectants, and put them back.
- Your car floor mat is not antiskid
As mentioned above, you should be able to place your feet firmly on the car floor. There are plain car floor mats that you simply throw on the floor area and hope that they’re going to protect your carpeting as well as provide you comfort and safety.
Then, there are high-quality car floor mats that come with carbon fiber embossed patterns which stop your feet from skidding or slipping.
You think slipping is not possible while sitting on your car seat?
You don’t realize, but when you are driving, you go through lots of exciting moments and during these exciting moments, there is tension in your legs.
If your foot is not firmly placed on your mat, it may slip and you may inadvertently end up pressing one of the pedals or getting your foot stuck in a pedal while you are trying to press the pedal with your other foot.
Even when you are trying to pick something from the back seat and you extend your arm, your foot can slip on your mat and you may unknowingly enter pressing one of the pedals. While entering and exiting, your foot can slip, causing unexpected injury.
Hence, it is crucial that the surface of your car floor mat is anti skid and holds your feet firmly.
Conclusion
It is understandable that your car floor mat is always under your feet and sometimes it is not easy to pay attention to it exclusively.
But remember that it is always near one of the most critical areas of your car – your pedals. Even seconds matter when you are switching between the accelerator, the brakes, and the clutch. Even a small obstruction by your car mat can be life changing occurrence. Closely observe the condition of your car floor mat and change it if you feel that it can cause some sort of safety hazard for you and other passengers in the car.
