Useful safety tips for holiday trips

ITH the festive season already in full swing, it is important to embrace and uphold safety tips during travelling to various respective destinations.

This will greatly help along the way and throughout the holidays.

This period is characterised by frequent travelling as people roam places of interest to enjoy some time out, while others will be travelling to be with their families and relatives.

For some, the long holiday that starts today (Friday) with the Unity Day and runs through the weekend to next week Tuesday (Boxing Day) presents a perfect opportunity to travel and make merry.

As such, it is necessary that we remind each other of the need to not drop guard over our own safety.

This calls for discipline and responsible behaviour.

A few useful safety tips for the holiday trips will also suffice.

Elsewhere in this issue, we carry a story on the police in Manicaland Province calling for sanity and safety during the festive season.

Journeys must properly be planned for. Doing researches to identify emergency facilities and hospitals along the routes like ambulances and fire brigade, among others, is important.

Carrying a phone with enough battery power and backup ensures that travellers will stay connected during the journey. This will enable calls to be made if need be, especially when one gets stuck or stranded along the way.

While on the road, caution and safety must reign supreme. Safety begins with oneself, but should not end there. We must prioritise

Wother’s safety and desist from action that endangers their lives and property. During the festive period, public transport operators have the propensity to be after super profits only, while neglecting the safety of passengers.

This is unacceptable as it brings the risks of speeding and overloading to maximise on the business the travelling public brings.

Law enforcement agents must also be out in full force to enforce the law and ensure that traffic rules and regulations that govern safe usage of the road are always upheld.

All those caught offside must be brought to book, while vehicles that are not roadworthy must be impounded.

Those caught on the wrong of the law must never be allowed to get away with it after paying their way to get off the hook.

Motorists need to take it easy on the road.

It is essential to stop often to rest and stretch legs. Roadside stopovers must always be at safe, well-lit public places.

Children must always be in the company of adults when travelling and need to be taken good care of.

Carrying a first aid kit for unforeseen injuries and illnesses is a requisite as it always comes in handy. When one is in place, ensuring that the contents have not expired and are working properly is necessary.

Staying alert at all times while using the road, either as a motorist or pedestrian, is another useful safety tip for holiday trips. If unable to go behind the wheel for one reason or another, it is prudent to ask another person to drive.

There absolutely is no need to get carried away by drinking and driving when travelling. One must never drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Speed thrills, but kills.

Sticking to the speed limit on specific zones of the road is a safer way of travelling. Seat belts must be worn at all times We must never condone irresponsible behaviour and allow reckless situations that risk turning our roads into highways to hell because of the road carnages.

We must always keep it in mind that life continues after the festive holidays. Let us enjoy responsibly and be safe. Let us drive to arrive alive.

Kudos to Herbert, Victoria Chitepo Festival Kudos to the organisers of the Herbert, Victoria Chitepo Festival for coming up with an initiative that celebrates the legacy of the illustrious sons and daughters of Manicaland Province. This is a very good way of immortalising them.

That the programmes have been expanded to include youth training skills in various different trades is a welcome development as that will help mould entrepreneurial young people that can meaningfully contribute towards nation building in pursuit of Vision 2030. —