Five safety tips for your next adventure road trip
By Gary Sandberg
With spring not far away, an annual fever will soon grip many Americans. The spirit of adventure is felt in a road trip — a timeless American pastime where families head out to discover new places or re-visit familiar ones.
According to MMGY Global’s 2017 Portrait of American Travelers, road trips are trending upward. The survey showed that road trippers accounted for 46 percent of all American travelers over the last 12-month period recorded and that road trip vacations rose from 22 percent to 39 percent from 2016 to 2017.
No matter how fast technology advances, the simple bonding a group gets in a road trip is just the right speed for many, slowing things down to be enjoyed and remembered. It’s something so many Americans still like to do — take a drive in the country or plan a long weekend that’s distant but within manageable driving distance.
But sometimes good intentions run into unfortunate snags, and the stories are endless of people who weren’t prepared adequately for the worst-case scenario. Taking the time to pack a few simple items for the road is definitely worth it.
Here are five safety tips for your next road trip:
—Take a map. Having a smartphone gives you access to maps and turn-by-turn instructions, but what if you lose service? Then you’ll need a good, old-fashioned paper map to know how to get where you’re going.
—Pack roadside necessities. It’s important to be prepared for your car breaking down — perhaps for an extended period — or getting a flat tire, etc. Essentials to have along for the ride include water, snacks, jumper cables, a screwdriver, a tire jack, a tire iron, and a spare tire.
—Have a light source. Having car trouble at night emphasizes the need for a flashlight, which people frequently forget. Even when they do remember, the batteries may be dead, so it can be helpful to have a flashlight that runs on an alternative energy source. One way to bypass the need for fresh batteries is a water-powered flashlight, such as Hydralight, which can also be converted into a lantern. Hydralight comes with a Hydra fuel cell that can be dipped into water, providing up to 100 continuous hours of light on each dip and up to 300 hours per fuel cell.
—Enable child safety locks. If you’re traveling with youngsters who are naturally curious and like to use their hands to open things that they shouldn’t, make sure to activate all of the child safety locks in your vehicle.
—Share the driving. Long road trips can lead to drowsy or distracted driving if one person does all the driving. To avoid this danger, share the driving duties with another responsible driver, and give each other a break from time to time.
There’s nothing more enjoyable than a family road trip and few things more aggravating than car trouble that ruins, or at least disrupts, the trip. You have to be prepared for that, and further, you need to know what traveling safely really means. It’s more than just safe driving.
Gary Sandberg is a passionate prepper and preparedness enthusiast. He has taught hundreds of church groups and neighborhood communities, sharing ways to become prepared before and during an emergency situation. When he’s not prepping, Sandberg is busy raising two teenage daughters.
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