How to arrive alive this festive season
The festive season is a time of fun and spending quality time with friends and family.
Most engage in road trips and also visit relatives in and around the country. Sadly, it is the time when lots of accidents happen all over our roads.
Here are 20 road safety tips during this year’s festive season:
• Obey the rules of the road and carry your driver’s licence with you.
• Plan the route to your holiday destination and allow yourself enough time to reach the destination.
• Make sure that your vehicle is in a roadworthy condition before departure.
• All lights and indicators, windscreens, windscreen wipers, brakes, steering, shock absorbers, exhaust system and tyres should be carefully examined for faults.
• Do not overload.
• Try to avoid driving after dark if possible.
• Have a good rest before you embark on your journey
• Take safety breaks every two hours or 200 kilometres.
• Rest, have an energy drink and continue once well rested.
• Do not drink and drive.
• Try to recognise potentially dangerous drivers on and pedestrians alongside the road and keep clear of them.
• Always wear your seat belt.
• Drive defensively.
• Stay within the speed limit at all times.
• Only overtake when it is safe to do so.
• Maintain at least a three-second following distance – this distance should be increased at night, in foggy or rainy conditions and when the road is wet.
• Expect others to not be as obedient to the law as yourself.
• Avoid distractions, such as texting and conversations on cell phones.
• Be courteous towards fellow road users – keep your temper and resist the temptation to retaliate.
