Traveling during winter months can be precarious. Refresh your road safety knowledge by reviewing these top five tips before heading off on your next adventure, whether it’s for work or pleasure!
Keep an Emergency Road Kit
No matter how cheesy it sounds, this is not a step that should be skipped especially if any of your travel includes rural areas at night. It’s not only colder at night, but help can be harder to come by. It may take the nearest tow truck company a few hours to reach you, depending on your location and the severity of the weather.
Pack Warm Clothes and Blankets
This one is included in the emergency road kit, but warrants repeating. In case you have to get out and walk, or you can no longer run the engine to warm the car, bring warm clothes and plenty of blankets! A tarp to act as a temporary shelter wouldn’t hurt (and wouldn’t take up too much room). Do not forget warm, waterproof hats and footwear.
Fill Up Your Tank
That goes for the car as well as you! Get plenty of rest and fill up on gas before heading out. Traffic alerts don’t always catch up to our smartphones as fast as we’d like, which means we don’t know to take the alternate route. This can leave you not only with a bit of road rage (deep breaths) but light on fuel faster than you’d think. Also, in the winter months, you risk a frozen gas tank if you let it get too low.
Check the Weather
This one might seem obvious, but every year we hear of reports accounting for accidents due to inclement weather. If your trip can wait, it’s probably best to delay. However, should you find yourself in unfavorable conditions, keep these things in mind:
Keep your headlights, taillights and brake lights clear of snow or debris
If your windshield wipers are on, your headlights should also be on
Leave plenty of room between your car and the cars around you
Don’t leave the car running for too long if you have to pull over (risk: asphyxiation from carbon monoxide poisoning)
Rest often by stopping to stretch and/or switching drivers when possible
Notify Someone
Be sure someone you trust knows when and where you are going and touch base with that person once you have reached your destination. Even when it’s nice out but all the more when it’s not, drivers run into issues; those issues can multiply quickly, especially when there are no checks and balances in place.
Other folks to notify:
Newspaper
USPS/Fedex/UPS
Your security company
It’s good for the folks who monitor your home security system to know that you’ll be gone so that they know how to best respond to alarm notifications while you’re away. It’s also a good idea to test all burglar and fire devices (cameras and environmental monitoring systems, if you have those, too) to ensure they are working properly. Don’t forget to keep fresh, updated security signs and decals on your property to deter burglars! Contact us for additional signage.
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