If you’re heading on a road trip this festive season, there are a few universal safety tips you need to follow to ensure you arrive safely and in one piece. In fact, if you consider the time on the road as part of the overall experience, you’ll learn to appreciate the fun that comes with a good ol’ road trip.
Get your car checked:
The first step, and one of the most important, is taking your car for a tune up. The last thing you want is a breakdown in the middle of nowhere in a place where the closest living thing in the vicinity is a lonesome cow with social anxiety that you wouldn’t be able to get help from anyways.
Some essential things to check are the:
1. tyres (not forgetting the spare tyre)
2. battery
3. brake
4. engine fluids
5. lights
6. wiper blades
7. air conditioner
Be well rested:
This one seems obvious but considering how many accidents happen because of sleepy drivers, it seems important to reiterate that you should get a good night’s sleep and be well-rested for the long journey. According to Arrive Alive, a road safety organisation, “when we are sleep deprived, reaction time is decreased, driving is more erratic and we are more vulnerable to making mistakes”.
In essence, naps are good, naps behind the wheel are not so good.
Take a break:
This ties into the ‘get some rest’ advice but can also add some fun into your trip. Stretching your limbs, taking a bathroom break and going for a little walk after a few hours on the road, as regular roadtrippers will agree, might be more enjoyable than your actual vacation. A cool way to make certain you get the breaks you need is by planning your road trip beforehand, this way you can also tick off a few other exciting places to visit while on your way. Plus, small bakeries and cafe’s in little dorpies is where you’ll find some of the best homemade treats.
Fill It Up:
While you’re taking breaks, it would be a good idea to fill up your tank. When on a long journey, especially on a road you’ve haven’t been on, you never really know when the next petrol station might be. So fill up while you can so that you don’t have to push your car 50km while your friends/family shoot death stares your way.
Snack Attack:
Since you’re filling up your car’s tank, don’t forget to fill up your own. Eating something healthy and vitamin-rich will keep your body happy and energised throughout the journey AND you’ll be able to brag about how super healthy you are and how you’re thinking about releasing a diet book now.
If possible, buy your snacks at a grocery store instead of at a petrol station, as the former is more likely to have healthier options. While there, try avoid buying heavily caffeinated drinks as well, though these will give you a boost in energy and alertness, it will only last for so long before it wears off and you’re back to square one.
Buckle up buddy!
Another tip that should always be abided by is buckling up, and that goes for everyone in the car. Various engineers didn’t spend years and years perfecting a product that keeps you as safe as possible in your car for you to not wear it. There’s just no excuse as to why you shouldn’t be buckled up, it’s just a simple pull and click that could be the difference between you surviving an accident or not. As the driver you should also ensure that all passengers are wearing theirs too.
Other top tips:
● Dress comfortably – wear clothes that you would normally move and stretch in so that the trip made even easier.
● Know where you’re going – a GPS device will help when it comes to making your way through unfamiliar areas, in fact a ‘retro GPS’ aka a map isn’t a bad idea either.
● Keep it simple, stupid! – Do not overload the vehicle, simply pack the essentials
● Switch it up – if possible, share driving responsibility so that there is always fresh eyes and mind at the wheel.
● Change is possible – Keeping some coins nearby will make getting through toll gates a breeze.
What to wear on a roadtrip:
Bottoms:
Tops:
Shoes:
