Safe Travel Tips For Your Upcoming Winter Vacation
Winter vacations are a different beast than summer vacations. The type of fun you’re seeking is typically much different, and choosing to drive means that you could face some challenging road conditions along the way.
Freshening up on your roadway safety knowledge is a great way to prepare yourself for your winter vacation road trip. Take some time now, and check out a few safety tips for riding the roads during the winter travel season.
Prepare your vehicle for the journey
Before you ever start out on your journey, you need to take a few critical steps to prepare your vehicle for the trip. Check the tread on your tires. Check all of the different fluids in your vehicle, and make sure to check for a spare tire and a jack.
If the route you’ve chosen has a high chance of snow along the way, make sure to bring chains for your tires. You can also safeguard your line of sight by adding deicer to your windshield wiper fluid reservoir.
Prepare your mind for the journey
Of course, you should get a good night’s sleep before leaving on a long drive, but there are other ways to prepare your mind for a winter road trip. Educate yourself in the ways of 18-wheeler driving customs.
Understanding these roadway giants will help keep you safer as you travel alongside semi trucks on the interstates. Collisions between cars and big bus are one of the most common accidents reported on the roadways.
Pack a road safety kit just in case
You never know what could happen along the way, and you should be prepared to keep yourself and your family safe. Pack a winter road safety kit before leaving, just in case you get stranded somewhere very cold.
If your vehicle has troubles, leaving you and your travel party stranded in the cold, blankets are a great thing to have packed in your emergency kit. Non-perishable snack foods, bottled water, and basic first aid provisions are all staples of a well-planned safety kit on your winter road trip.
Other than first aids and nonperishable foods, families often take other thorough safety measures for road safety, like taking the gun along with them on road trips. While it is perfectly okay to carry a firearm, be sure to note the gun laws of that particular jurisdiction you are traveling to. Many reciprocity laws govern firearms in the United States and so if you are planning on taking a gun along, check for the state-specific gun laws, like indiana concealed carry permit or California CCW.
Research the route you’re planning to take
You’ll want to have a good idea of the route you plan to take on your road trip before setting out. It’s important to understand the probable weather conditions along the way, so you know what you’re up against.
It’s never a bad idea to plan a backup route just in case the weather makes plan A impossible. Planning is clearly a large key to executing a successful winter road trip.
Pack tools to release your vehicle from the snow
If your travel plans include a snowy region of the country, you should probably pack some tools to release your vehicle from the snow. After a night of rest, you don’t want to let the snow slow you down.
Pack a shovel and a bag of sand to help you get your vehicle out of a night of heavy snow buildup. Otherwise, you’ll be left waiting for a snowplow to come around.
