Your Road Trip to Paradise
By Tara Roberts

There are just two words that come to mind when the topic of a beach vacation comes up – road trip! For many high school seniors and college students, a summer trip is a welcomed change of pace after those long winter months. Temperatures are beginning to climb, the sun is shining a little brighter and the warm climate of the south is calling loudly.

When embarking on that much deserved vacation, sometimes just getting there is as much fun as being there. If you decide to make the trip by car there are some precautions to take to ensure the trip is both safe and fun.

Reliable transportation:

• Check your car’s fluid levels – radiator, brake fluid and washer fluid
• Change the oil if you have gone more than 3,000 miles since the last change
• Check the tire pressure and tread wear

Before leaving:

• Have your route mapped out, let someone know where you are going, and how you are getting there
• Have a safety kit in your car – flares, water, blanket, tire gauge, jumper cables, quart of oil, flashlight and air compressor
• Have a way to get help in an emergency – cell phone, auto club card, or in-vehicle safety system

On the road:

• Know the traffic laws and obey them – some states outlaw radar detectors and fines can be steep. Speed limits on the interstate, highways, and back roads can also change from state to state, and town to town – watch for posted speed limit signs
• Keep your seat belt buckled if you are driving or riding in the front passenger seat – it is the law in most states
• Invest in a hands-free cell phone attachment. Better yet, do not talk while driving.  Hand the phone to someone else or pull off the road so you can concentrate on driving.
• Travel with someone to share the driving duties and to take over if you get sleepy
• Give yourself plenty of time to arrive at your destination
• Pull off at a rest stop and take a short nap if you get tired
• Driving drowsy
• Get a full night’s sleep before leaving for your trip. Staying up 24 hours straight can produce the same affect on a person as being legally drunk, impairing reflexes, judgment and decision-making.

Check out the following facts about driving tired:

• A significant number of non-alcohol related accidents are attributed to sleep deprivation – of these crashes, a high percentage result in serious injury or death with most being single-vehicle accidents occurring at a high rate of speed.
• Males aged 16-29 are at the highest risk for driving sleep impaired.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year. This results in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses.
• Rolling down the window or playing the radio loudly does not help keep you stay awake.
• Set a limit on how far you drive in one day, taking breaks every couple of hours to get out of the car and stretch your legs. Limit your driving distance to 300 to 400 miles each day.

Signs that you are driving sleep-impaired:

• You continually yawn
• You cannot remember driving the last few miles
• You hit the rumble strip or drive onto the shoulder
• You have difficulty keeping your eyes open and your head up
• You keep missing road signs or turns
• You have trouble concentrating
• You drift out of your lane or tailgate

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