Travel safety
These holidays, before you bundle your family into that car headed for the beach, take a moment to ensure their safety first, writes Sandra Coetzee
THE NIGHT BEFORE YOU LEAVE Make it an early night before you set off so you can be nice and fresh. Don’t drink alcohol or eat anything heavy. If you’re on any medication, make sure it’s not something that will impair your focus.
Make a card with all travel companions’ names and important personal information; keep one in the car and one in your wallet. This card is your (and your family’s) voice if you lose consciousness following an accident. It can be of immense help to the medics on the accident scene and later in hospital as well. Also ensure you have emergency numbers at hand so that you’re able to THE DEATH TOLL on our roads is a shocker and is becoming worse every year. Road accidents are the biggest cause of childhood deaths in children under five and a quarter of people dying on our roads are children, every year.
According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation, there are more than 700 000 accidents on our roads every year.
The World Health Organisation reports that the road death toll for South African children is twice as high as for the rest of the world. One can speculate about the reasons endlessly, but rather read further about how you can keep your family safe during the holidays.
A WEEK BEFORE YOU LEAVE
Check your car’s tyres, brakes and shocks. Also make sure everything is in order with your spare tyre and that you have everything you need to change it. If you need new tyres, invest in Runonflats. With these tyres, you can drive an additional 80km with a flat tyre at 80km/hour. In most cases, it’s more than enough to get you to safety or to a place where you can get help.
When last did you weigh your kids to see if they’re still in the right car seat for their size and weight? Do it now and buy a new seat if it turns out your child has outgrown hers. The chairs need to be correctly fitted, of course.
Study your route, and plan where you can stop every two hours to stretch your legs. It’s usually also easier to travel with children if you leave early in the morning, take a good long break over lunch and do another shift in the late afternoon. Think carefully if considering driving through the night as you’ll be sleepy and according to a study by the AA and BP, one in every 15 drivers on our roads at night is intoxicated.
You’ll never regret buying sun shields for the back passenger windows. A child sitting in the sun for hours will whine and complain until you all go crazy. Also take a couple of towels to cover the car seats when you’re parked somewhere. The sun bakes those seats to a crisp, and it’s no fun having to literally sit in the hot seat after taking a break. make quick calls when necessary. Save an ICE number on your phone (it stands for “in case of emergency”) and make sure it’s the number of someone who’s not also in the vehicle. You can phone the police countrywide on 10111 or Netcare’s medical emergency services on 082 911. ON THE DAY • Your first priority remains the comfort and safety of your passengers. Car seats need to be in place before you start loading the rest of your baggage. • Pack the things you want to keep at hand during the trip – refreshments, nappy bag or medicine and entertainment for the kids – last. • There should be nothing loose at the driver’s feet, also not on their lap. • Pack the biggest, heaviest items at the very bottom of the boot, to ensure the vehicle’s centre of gravity remains as low as possible. It makes for easier handling of the loaded vehicle. The heavy items should also be as far forward as possible in the boot. • Don’t pack luggage in the passenger cabin. There should be as few loose things as possible in the car, because if the driver suddenly needs to hit the brakes, these loose things become missiles that can hurt the passengers in the car. • If you need to fill your station wagon’s boot to the top to fit everything, make sure you use a net to prevent the luggage
from slipping forward during a crash or when you have to brake hard. Try not to pack higher than the seats. Use a trailer or a roof rack if the boot is too full. Stick to the weight limit. • If your dog is coming along, it’s safer to transport him in a cage and not loose in the vehicle.
ON THE WAY • The car does not move before
everyone has their seatbelt on. Mande Toubkin of Netcare says almost half of all South Africans don’t wear seatbelts while it’s such a simple measure that can save your life. “It’s upsetting to see how many parents don’t strap in their kids. It’s been scientifically proven that it can protect your children. In my opinion it’s negligent not to strap in your children,” Mande says. • Be aware that you need to handle your vehicle differently when it’s fully loaded. So adapt your driving style: Drive more carefully and maintain a greater distance between your car and others on the road. • Respect solid white lines that indicate that you’re not allowed to overtake. Incompetent overtaking is a major cause of accidents. • Take soft toys along that your kids can play with during the trip. Sharp and heavy toys are dangerous in the car. Music can make the road feel a lot shorter. Watching videos can also work, but some children become nauseous when they watch in the car. • Don’t allow your children to distract you. As a driver, your full concentration should be on the road. If you go at 100km/hour and look back to shout at the kids for just three seconds, you drove 100 metres blindly! • If there’s a crisis on the back seat, like a child vomiting, pull over. Go off the road as far as you can to the left. Switch on your hazards. If you have to get out, only do so on the left. Keep the children safely away from the road.
Make up your mind not to speak on your cellphone during the trip. • Avoid reckless drivers like road hogs, speed freaks, tired drivers, unroadworthy vehicles and drunken drivers as they tend to cause accidents. • Take turns if you’re two drivers. • Keep the vehicle cool inside and talk to each other to stay awake. YB
PACK THE THINGS YOU WANT TO KEEP AT HAND DURING THE TRIP LAST