Holiday Tips in Canada – How to Stay Safe on the Highways

There is a lot of activity on Canadian roads during the holiday seasons. People are moving from different cities and towns to visit friends and families in other cities and towns. The holiday is a time to stay safe so that you can have great moments with your family. This is why it is imperative to be very careful when on the road since the last thing you want is to get involved in an accident that may derail your holiday plan.

Whether you are a Canadian or a resident on a Canada ETA visa, it is your responsibility to stay safe on the road and also to ensure the safety of other road users. With that said, here is a look at some holiday driving tips you will find to be extremely valuable during this time of the years:

Ensure your car is ready

It is imperative to have a car in good condition for your holiday drives. This is a time of the year when the temperatures are very low and the car’s performance may be affected in a number of ways. This why you should do a thorough check of the car’s systems and ensure that everything is working just fine. Some of the things you will be looking at include the fluid levels.

In particular, ensure that the levels of coolants, brake fluids, windshield washer fluid, auto transmission fluid and the power steering fluids are all in good levels before you embark on any trip. You might find some of the levels are okay, but it won’t hurt to fill up everything. Sometimes it is good to be paranoid and avoid being sorry in the future.

Plan for the unknown

There is a cliché that you should hope for the worst and plan for the best. This saying has never been more relevant when you are planning for a trip on the Canadian roads during the holidays. One of the things you must have in your car is a winter survival kit. The Canadian winter can sometimes get out of hand and if you didn’t prepare for it adequately, you can get stranded by the roadside or hours waiting for help to come. Inside the winter survival kit, you should have essentials such as warm clothes, a shovel, ice scraper, energy bars and sand or salt, a car jack, jumper cable, and a cell phone charger.

You should also not forget to check that you have a spare tire in good condition. The last thing you would wish for is to have a flat tire only to check and see that you don’t have a spare tire. This is how to welcome a busload of frustrations on the roads while you drive during the holidays.

Have an idea of how to get help

Should you run into any troubles on the road when you are driving during the holidays, you will be in great luck if you know how to get help. In most cases, this calls for you to have the number of a roadside assistance service whom you can call for urgent rescue should things go wrong with your car. It is, however, very sad that most drivers in Canada don’t have such contacts, and they only realize their importance when they are stuck in the snow in winter. Take note that many of that roadside assistance are usually offered through auto insurance companies. Before you hit the road, just be sure that you have a number you can always call for help if you encounter any problems in the road.

Be a smart driver

It is a fact that all accidents caused on the roads are always a result of a negligent driver. You must strive at all times not to be this negligent driver and you must be smart enough to know how not to become a victim of such drivers. All you have to do is be very careful on the road, observing all the road signs and keeping your distance with the cars ahead. You should also learn to drive smoothly at speeds you can easily control the car in case of a skid.

Winter changes a lot the conditions of the road and if you are a careless driver, you may have higher chances of crushing the car if you drive at high speeds and you lose control. And finally, don’t forget to use your common sense when driving. Avoid all the petty mistakes that might make you put yourself or other road users in trouble.

Be careful when visiting malls

The holiday season turn mall parking lot into some of the most dangerous places as far as holiday driving is concerned. Since there is a lot going on, there is a lot of distracted drivers, struggles to get into free spaces and sometimes it is very chaotic to drive in and out of such places. What you ought to do is be extra careful and avoid the distraction or anything that might make you lose your concentration and risk your life as well as those of other road users.

Learn how to break on snowy conditions

You should know exactly how you must drive in a snowy condition. For example, how you lower the speed of the car or bring the car into a total stop is very important when you are driving on a snowy surface. In such conditions, it is recommended that you should first reduce the car’s speed to half, then pedal off the metal and brake gently and carefully. Don’t try sudden breaks, but instead, light pump the breaks as you would normally do under rainy conditions.

Never let your car run low on gas

This is the worst nightmare you can ever face when driving during the holiday season. Even if you were certain about your car’s consumption, you should never let the gas level indicator light up when driving under such conditions. It is recommended that for winter driving, your gas tank should be at least half tank full at all times.