The holiday season is an exciting and festive time full of warmth, goodies, and loved ones. It’s the perfect time to connect and travel. However, the traveling bit can be quite stressful and lead to potentially dire consequences if not careful. Approximately 55 million Americans are expected to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday and that will continue through New Years’. The estimates for Thanksgiving involve 49.3 million travelers via car which is almost a 3% increase from 2018. Fortunately, while you can’t control what anyone else does on the road, there are some simple travel tips to help ensure you avoid a car crash on your way to your holiday events.
Check and Prepare Your Vehicle
Prior to getting on the road, make sure your car is ready for the trip as well. Check your battery, brakes, lights, wipers, and tires. And have a general tune up to ensure nothing major is about to burst. Check all fluids, gas up the day before leaving, and pack up all essentials and emergency items like tools, blankets, and phone chargers.
Plan Your Trip
GPS is a fantastic tool, but construction and accidents can extend or detour your trip. Added stress can prolong the arrival time and turn a fun adventure into a panic attack. Use technology to your advantage by relying on weather and road apps before leaving to plan out several routes. You may find the one you expected to take is full of potential dangers and detours, and a quick change of plans could help you avoid needing to call a Michigan car accident attorney.
Pad Your Travel Time
Weather, road conditions, and driving behaviors all play a part in actual travel time for anyone on the road. So instead of trusting you’ll arrive just in time for your sister-in-law’s 4 pm dinner if you leave by 1:30, give yourself an extra 30-45 minutes for short trips and an hour or two for longer treks. You can always hang out at a coffee shop for a while if you arrive too early and don’t want to head straight there. But it’s always better to show up a bit early than rush and end up in a car crash.
Keep a Cool Head and Assign a Helper
Travel stress can get out of control and even lead to risky or dangerous behaviors. Instead of lashing out, let other drivers pass and slow down to stay safe. Rather than fumble with your phone, the radio, food items, or other belongings, assign a helper or several helpers prior to leaving on the trip. Let the helper make the necessary calls, load the directions, handle the food, and change the tunes as needed; or give individual jobs to different helpers to keep everyone happy and preoccupied while you focus on the road.
Don’t Drink and Drive
Alcohol seems to overflow around the holidays but it still never mixes with driving. According to the CDC, alcohol-related accidents kill 29 Americans daily which translates to one death every 50 minutes. You’ll never be able to control another driver’s behavior, so if you still need a Michigan car accident attorney, we’re just a call away. But you can control your own driving behavior, avoid alcohol around driving times, and potentially avoid an auto accident over the holidays.
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