I have many great memories with my parents and sister growing up when we took road trips and went camping as a family. We had so much fun and I enjoyed not having to do any normal chores around the house. It was nice just not to be at school or at home. We saw trains, (as my father loves trains) sang songs, roasted hotdogs and marshmallows, we also visited friends and family, but we mostly went camping! I can't wait until my children are older and we can take them camping. I am not ready to take my almost two year old and almost four year old camping, just yet. My main fear is them getting hurt or me not being able to occupy two toddlers for a few days in a row or more.
Below are my Top Ten Tips for staying safe with your family while on the road.
My Top Ten Tips for keeping your family safe on the Road are:
1) Never drive a vehicle of any kind when there is a crack in the windshield. With many insurance companies, there is no deductible for the repair. Call Safelite AutoGlass and have them come out to where ever you are and repair the crack for you! An added benefit is that by offering repairs as an alternative to replacement, Safelite AutoGlass saves approximately 35,000 tons of CO2 during windshield production each year, enough to fill the Empire State Building approximately 19 times. In addition, it saves the number of damaged windshields being sent to the landfill by approximately 12,500 tons annually.
My husband, two children and I went on a month long road trip from Tennessee to California. We drove first though from here to Arizona to visit my mother-in-law. On our way to her house, we had a small crack in our windshield that just kept getting longer, and bigger. The crack was in the middle of the windshield right at the edge where the gasket was holding it in place. The crack in the windshield of our truck went from being a small half inch crack, into eight inches or more, so there was no way that it could have been repaired by Safelite AutoGlass. It was a very scary thing for me for us to drive with the windshield with an ever-growing crack right in the middle of it, but we weren't very far from our destination in Arizona when we noticed it. The following morning we called a windshield repair person. It took a few hours, but we were pleased and relieved when the windshield of our couple month old Truck was fixed again.
2) Always keep a pair of ten to twelve feet long jumper cables and a good First Aid Kit in your vehicle when traveling.
3) Make sure to take along your cell phone chargers in your vehicle and keep your cell phones charged at all times. They might come in handy if you ever need to call for help.
4) Take a case or more of bottled water with you. We used it for drinking and washing our children's hands if they needed it along the way. Sometimes you end up eating in the car, and you need something to wash their hands if they get sticky. You might even need it if your vehicle starts to overheat.
5) Keep road flares in your vehicle when traveling, and even when you aren't. This way people can see you and your vehicle in the middle of the night.
6) Have someone that you call every few hours and let them know your location. This way if something happens and you don't check in with them in a certain amount of time, they know to call the local police or highway patrol to look out for you, or to file missing persons reports.
7) Keep your spare tire filled and ready to go in case you need to change a flat tire on the road.
8) Bring along one or two flashlights with new batteries inside. You might need them to change that flat tire.
9) Take along some extra snacks, food, coats, and one blanket for each person in the vehicle. You might get stuck somewhere for a few hours or more, and the snacks might come in handy when you get hungry. It could get cold and you and your family would need to bundle up with the coats and blankets to keep warm.
10) Spare Cash, $100.00 or more hidden in your vehicle somewhere that only you and your spouse or partner knows where it's hidden. Say you are parked at a gas station and someone robs you at gun point and takes your wallet and makes you clean out your pockets, you will have the extra cash to buy gas or food, or whatever else you and your family might need.
I hope that whatever you and your family do this summer that you have fun and stay safe. These safety tips are based on my own experiences of taking many road trips with my parents and sisters, and also with my husband and children. You can never be too careful. I always say it's better to over pack, then under pack when taking a road trip.
“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Safelite blogging program, for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”
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