Safety, like travel insurance, is probably one of the most boring travel topics. But, it is truly one the most important.
Unless our car is brand new, we always make sure we have put it in for a service before we go on a road trip. It’s a hassle and may cost some money, but it is better to pay for the prevention rather than the cure.
Here are some pre-road trip safety tips if you want to perform them yourself:
- Check brake pads, break lights, headlights and blinkers.
- Check car tires (check the tread and tire pressure to be safe and improve gas mileage).
- Check your windscreen wiper blades.
- Top up the water level.
- Check your engine coolant level and top up.
- Fill the windscreen washer fluid.
- Check your oil level and change if needed.
- Get some sort of roadside assistance (In the USA, there is AAA, and in Australia we used NRMA). I cannot tell you how many times we have used them in the past. It’s good peace of mind. Your car make may have their own roadside assistance plan – we have one with our Ford F250 in the US.
- Check that your insurance and registration is up to date, as well as your drivers license.
Emergency Kit
Always good to have in the car for peace of mind:
- A spare tire and tools to change it with
- A torch
- Warm blankets
- Water
- A fully charged phone
- Hazard triangle
We have had to use these several times with flat tires. It can be super scary, if you are changing a tire on a busy motorway or highway with cars whizzing by.