‘Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty’

Danah Cameron may be recognised by many as a public relations professional with a great personality and a pretty face.

Looking at her, one would have trouble imagining her getting her nails dirty, tackling the grimy work of changing tyres or working on a vehicle. However, Cameron laughs that off.

“Pretty face!” she said as she shared with The Gleaner that it’s the last thing on her mind when she has a flat tyre and must get her hands dirty to change it.

This ‘daddy’s girl’ has learnt all this from her father, Audley Astwood, as she knows not just how to change a tyre, but also to recognise sounds that signal that something is wrong with the car.

“My dad believed that, if you were going to drive a car, you should know how to fix basic problems. Quite frankly, I don’t know the names and models of most vehicles, but generally when something is wrong with my vehicle, I have a sense of what’s going on,” she said.

Cameron added that it was absolutely important for her father that she knew how to change a tyre, and there was no driving unless she could at least do that.

She recalled during her early years as a driver that many times that training was her saving grace. She highlighted a case when she was a back-up singer for international gospel artiste Chevelle Franklin and she was on her way to St Elizabeth with friends to join her for a show.

“I identified a sound coming from the engine of her car, so I was monitoring it and, when the overheat signal came on, I pulled up at the nearest gas station and, based on what I had learned from my dad, I could tell it was likely to be damage to my radiator. Something was not right there,” she said.

Of course, a carload of girls pulling up at a gas station with Cameron jumping out and flying the bonnet was enough for the ‘good Samaritan’ males to make their way over to their rescue.

The men started to make their diagnosis and just one of them matched what she already thought was the problem. Following a ‘temporary fix’, she was again merrily on her way with the men still debating as she and her friends drove off.

“For me, though, it was not about ‘showing them’ or proving them wrong, it was about quick diagnosis with the following questions answered: Can this be corrected? Is this a situation where I need someone to come and tow me or I can go forward?”

For Cameron, it is essential that female drivers have enough knowledge to handle themselves on the road.

“I know it’s dirty work but, at the very least, we should have basic knowledge so that we are not taken advantage of,” she advised.

Regarding female drivers being fleeced by some mechanics as they think they are easy prey, Cameron said women should not feel pressured to take the first quote they receive, but actually shop around and, if the diagnosis and charges seem consistent, then they will be better able to make informed decisions.