Bolton Advanced Motorists

Driving Tips

Your holiday survival guide for kids in cars
 
Kids and cars: Your holiday survival guide
The summer holidays have begun and families will soon be setting off to enjoy a week's UK holiday break. But before the camping, theme parks and beach picnics can begin you need to get in the car and travel for hours to get there.
That's when the real fun starts; the kids wiggling out of their seatbelts, bickering and asking "Are we there yet?"
But the journey doesn't have to be so stressful. The IAM have put together a few tips to help you when travelling on holiday with small children in the car.
Keep them occupied: Bored children tend to make more noise, distracting the driver.
Take with you some things to occupy the children such as pencils or books - and electronic games are great if the volume is muted! Petrol stations often supply children's activity packs for free so when you're filling up ask if they have any available. Have some easy to play games ready - who's the first to spot a yellow car?
Breaks: The Department for Transport recommends that drivers take a break every two hours; anything longer and children could become restless.
Strap them in: Children will need to be restrained in a suitable child restraint. More
information about child restraints can be found on www.dft.gov.uk
Safety child door locks: When driving down the motorway, the last thing you need is for your passenger door to fly open. Check your child locks prior to setting off.
Temperatures: Heat in cars can reach incredibly high levels and children have died from heat stroke in hot cars. Try to ensure the kids are kept cool. This will also prevent them from becoming restless and unhappy.
 
Reverse Your Fuel Bills
 
Did you know you can save up to £2 of fuel per week by simply reversing your car into a parking space, so you drive away forwards? As well as positioning your vehicle into a safer position to pull away, there are many benefits to both your vehicle, and your pocket.
New data from the IAM Motoring Trust shows it takes an average five year old car a minute and a half for the engine to warm up and the most efficient way to warm it up is by driving it. Reversing out of a space when the car's engine is cold uses around 20 to 25 times more petrol in the first few seconds than it does when warm. If you do this 10 to 12 times a week that adds up to a cost of about £100 a year, not to mention the increased wear on the car's engine.
Reverse parking is also usually safer and is advised in The Highway Code.
Reversing into somewhere you can see (a parking bay) rather than reversing out into somewhere you can't see (often a line of moving traffic) is much safer.
It is also easier to control a car going forwards than backwards when it is first started, and attempting a potentially high risk manoeuvre such as reversing when you have just entered a car and are not concentrating fully, is more dangerous.
From a security point of view, reversing close to an object such as a wall can make it more difficult for thieves to gain access and, if you need to leave a parking space quickly for personal security reasons, driving forward provides you with better acceleration and improved vision.
Many drivers find it helpful to lower the left (nearside) mirror to provide a guide to your lateral position. Another option, where all the parking spaces run in parallel rows, is to line your car up with the space in front and reverse back in a straight line. This should automatically position you in the centre of the space - but do remember to look where you are going!
 

 
Added 05/08/2008

 
 
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