Travel Plan Tips to Keep You Safe During the Holidays

What are your travel plans for the holidays?  Are you making a road trip?  If so, you may want to follow some simple rules to be safe on the roads.

Travel Plans to Grandma’s House

So you’re going away for the holidays this year. You’re off to Grandma’s house with the whole family and the dog and you’re looking forward to some family togetherness once your road trip is over. That is if you make it there. It seems like accidents happen more frequently during the holiday, probably as a result of the increased number of cars on the road and drivers that are unfamiliar with the ways of the road. There’s no discernable way to make traffic go away, or even a surefire way around it, we just have to deal with it.

Increased Traffic Can Interrupt Your Holidays

However, what is the best way to deal with an increasing traffic problem? Do we just creep along and ruin the trip for our car mates with our incessant cursing and complaining? Do we sink into the ultra-relaxed holiday version of ourselves and just take it all in as part of the experience? The solid answer is that we do whatever works for us. There’s nothing you can do to get through it faster. You’re not going to make it any better; the only thing you can do is make sure you’re not making it worse.

Over the River and Through the Woods –The Rules

Keep Your Eyes on The Road

Pay attention! The best way to contribute to traffic is by not paying attention and causing a fender bender that makes it all worse. Don’t take your eyes off the road. This means that you don’t get distracted by what is going on in your vehicle, you don’t use the abandoned car on the side of the road as your source of entertainment, and you don’t spend more time looking at the pretty birdies than watching the cars in front of you. If the car in front of you moves six feet, and you don’t follow, you’re going to make everyone very angry.

Put Your Phone Down

Even if you’ve been living under a rock for several years, and you don’t completely understand that driving with your phone is dangerous, listen well. Driving while playing with your cell phone is incredibly dangerous, and distracting. It is quickly becoming the biggest reason for car accidents, and no one in your life is important enough to risk your life. When you’re sitting in traffic, put your phone down. Stop texting. Stop playing Candy Crush.

Follow Procedure

If you’re involved in a fender bender, and you can get off the road; do it. This is the proper procedure for car accidents that do not involve grievous injury or serious vehicular damage. This helps clear the road for traffic to proceed, without an enormous interruption.

Go with the Flow

All traffic patterns have a flow, and it is the driver’s responsibility to keep up with that flow. This means maintaining the speed of the cars around you; moving with them and stopping with them. An interruption in the flow of traffic makes it worse and leaves drivers open to the potential of dangerous lane-switching maneuvers. Keep up with what is going on around you.

Rely on Passengers

If you’ve got a passenger, let them wrangle the kids. Ask for their help with food and drinks, or with finding an alternate route. Allow your passengers to play the role of DJ, and keep your head in the game. Focus on the road more, and less on what’s going on in your car and on your radio.

Minimize GPS Distractions

When it comes to following a GPS, pay more attention to the road. No amount of directions can make up for good judgment. Also, a ridiculous amount of focus on, yet another, the tiny screen can cause accidents. Don’t be the person who is so intent on finding an alternate route that you forget about all the rules of the road.

Handle the Drive and Enjoy the Holidays with Family

True, most of the above-mentioned suggestions involve paying closer attention, but they need to be spelled out. Traffic is difficult to manage for everyone; no one enjoys it, but there are ways to get through it with minimal damage. There is no substitute for driving defensively and excellent judgment, but even using these tactics, accidents happen; traffic happens. Keep your temper, you’ll get there, but if traffic is the start of your holiday vacation, use the aforementioned suggestions to get through it safely.