Road safety tips for summer and school holiday trips

Vehicle safety and maintenance for summer

Ensure your car is in top condition

Road trip safety checks, including car repairs and mainenance you shouldn't delay, are important before heading on summer holidays for several key reasons. The combination of higher temperatures, longer trips, and more frequent road travel during the summer months makes it essential that your vehicle is in top condition.

Check over your caravan or trailer

If you're planning to tow a boat or caravan, which may have been in storage or unused for some time, check that it is in top condition. Remember that towing a caravan or boat can change the way your car handles and you'll need to adjust your driving behaviour accordingly and plan regular breaks.

Double-check your car's towing capacity and make sure that it can handle towing your caravan or trailer. Learn how to use a ratchet strap and keep your load secure, whether it's on roof racks or in a trailer.

More: What to know before you tow

Get your car serviced

Cars are designed with safety standards in mind, and more new cars are including high-tech safety features like AEB systems. But the best way to ensure your car remains safe is to have regular car services at an accredited auto care centre, where mechanics can check your battery, brakes, tyres, oil and other service essentials.

Keep an eye on your last service sticker, which you will probably find in the upper right interior of your windscreen, and take your car to get serviced as soon as you reach the specified date or mileage, or whenever there is a problem with your car.

Understand how to perform basic car maintenance

Read our car maintenance tips to learn how to check your tyre pressure at petrol stations, check your car lights are working, top up your windscreen washer fluid, replace wiper inserts, and more.

You can also learn everything you need to know about car batteries, from how to avoid shortening your battery’s life to knowing when your car battery is failing. Tyre safety is another important, but often neglected, maintenance task. It's important to know when to buy new tyres, remembering that EVs have specific tyre needs.

Road safety tips for the school holidays

Minimise distractions

To help stay safe on the roads, remove distractions like mobile phones and other portable devices. Using them while driving is not only illegal but very dangerous.

If your device is safely mounted to your vehicle, there are limited circumstances where you may use it. These circumstances differ between full licence holders, and those on their L or P plates.

Mobile phone road rules for drivers with full licences

Those on their full licence may use a mounted device for music or navigation functions, so long as they are not entering text, scrolling, or viewing images, social media, websites, or videos. They can also use hands-free, voice controls that are set up on their device, or briefly touch the device to perform an action such as answering a phone call, adjusting navigation or changing a song or volume.

If you’re using your phone to navigate, consider downloading your directions before you set out, especially if you plan to drive in remote areas. Downloading your maps so you can use them offline means you can still navigate if you lose phone reception while driving.

Mobile phone road rules for L and P plate drivers

A driver on their L or P plates can only use a mounted device that was set up prior to driving. They cannot interact with the device in any way while driving – this means they cannot touch it or use hands-free voice controls. If they need to adjust or use the device in any way, they must pull over safely and park before doing so.

More: Understanding mobile phone road rules in Australia.

Avoid driving when tired and rest to manage fatigue

Fatigue is one of the leading causes of road trauma on Australian roads. The risk of crashing after five hours of sleep is 4.4 times compared to eight hours of sleep, according to the Transport Accident Commission. Furthermore, lack of sleep can be just as dangerous as drink drivin. The National Road Safety Partnership Program reports that driving after 17-19 hours without sleep is the same as driving with a BAC of around 0.05 per cent.

To avoid fatigue make sure you are well rested before embarking on a long trip. Plan to stop for 15 minutes every two hours and share the driving with another person if possible. During the school holidays, Driver Reviver stops operate across Victoria providing motorists a place to take a break and enjoy a hot drink and biscuit.

Fatigue can also be minimised by not driving at times you would usually be asleep (that is, late at night or early in the morning). Not driving at dawn or dusk also reduces your chance of encountering wildlife on the roads.

More: How fatigue impacts your driving

Be organised

Having your trip and car organised before departure can not only make your journey safer, but less stressful as well. That begins with packing your car.

Silvia Morris, Senior Instructor at RACV Drive School, says that packing your car in advance also means you’re likely to pack it safely.

"Trying to locate something in your car while you are driving is distracting and is a common cause of collisions," Morris says. "It can help to start packing your car the night before you leave so you can avoid jamming it all in at the last minute when you’re rushed. Pack the items you need easy access to last, like first aid kits and snacks.

"Loose objects can cause serious injuries in the event of sudden braking or a collision. If your car is packed with gear and has a heavier load this will affect how it handles around corners and means it will take longer to stop. You will need to slow down more before bends and leave bigger following distances behind other vehicles."

Safe car packing tips include:

• securing loose items in the boot or behind a cargo net, not in the cabin.
• not blocking your rear vision mirror by packing objects too high.
• packing heavy items low in the boot and as far forward as possible.
• knowing your vehicle’s weight limits and do not exceed them.
• if using roof racks, not exceeding the overhang limits.

Having your route and rest stops organised before leaving will also make your drive easier. This is particularly important if travelling through remote areas where fuel stops may be few and far between. If you drive an EV, knowing where the next charging station is can help you plan your route and avoid range anxiety.

Don’t rush

It's always better to take your time when driving than to rush. Even lowering your speed by a small amount can markedly improve your safety.

The Transport Accident Commission estimates that up to 95 lives could be saved each year, and 1,300 serious injuries prevented, if Victorian drivers reduced their average speed by 5km/h.

"Lowering your speed by 5km/h will not affect your travel time as much as most drivers seem to think it does, but it can significantly reduce your risk of a collision and help you and your family reach your holiday destination safely," Morris says.

Allow for plenty of rest, snack and toilet breaks during your trip. Be mindful that the more children you have, the more time you will usually need to allow for breaks.

Finally, have patience with your fellow drivers. Patience and empathy with your fellow motorists will lead to safer driving decisions. It also models good driving behaviour to any children in the car.

Car and road safety for babies and children

Children should be seated in the back seat in an appropriate baby or child car seat until they are tall enough to wear a seatbelt.

Babies under six months must use a rear-facing restraint; from six months to four years they must use either a rear or forward-facing restraint; from four to seven years they must use a forward-facing restraint or booster seat. They should continue to use the booster seat until they’ve outgrown it.

RACV accredited auto care centres can properly fit baby car seats and child restraints.

Read more: Australia’s safest child safety seats.

Properly secure your pet during a car ride

Pets are not currently required to be restrained inside your vehicle under the Victorian Road Rules, but keeping them restrained is far safer for both human and animal passengers. Consider using a pet carrier secured in the back seat, or a proper pet seatbelt. Dogs riding on a ute or trailer tray must be secured with a tether or crate to ensure they don’t fall from the vehicle in motion.

Teach your children about road safety

Any form of distraction can be dangerous while driving, and that includes passengers. Educating your children about safe driving behaviours helps ensures everyone arrives safely.

"Let your children know they can help keep your whole family safe by staying secured in their seat, keeping their seatbelts on, and not arguing, throwing things or distracting you while you’re driving," says Morris. "Offering children a reward is a great way to get them to help you reach your destination safely."

To prevent boredom, try playing safe car games on long road trips such as I-Spy, the Licence Plate Game or the Animal Game. You can even go one further and turn learning about road rules into a game, giving them points each time they’re able to identify safe behaviours from other road rules (e.g. a cyclist wearing a helmet, or drivers turning on their lights when visibility is low).

Keep an emergency kit in your car

Creating a car emergency kit can help you navigate unexpected situations on the road. Here are some of the most useful items to keep together in your car emergency kit:

• First aid kid – a basic first aid kit can help you solve many minor medical problems. Purchase a premade kit or make one yourself with bandages, dressing, alcohol wipes, disposable gloves, and so on.
  
• Device chargers – you’ll need a charged phone to call emergency services, roadside assistance or your car insurer for help after an incident. Keep a phone charger to top up your device/s if they run out.
  
• Spare tyre – while we don’t recommend changing a tyre yourself, keeping an inflated spare tyre in your boot will allow an Emergency Roadside Assistance expert to easily swap your flat tyre out.
  
• Water – carry at least an extra water bottle or two full of water in your car just in case you get stranded or need to top up a radiator.
  
• Car owner manual – always keep your car manual in your car, so you know how to properly troubleshoot car problems, perform basic car tasks, and answer roadside assistance questions about your car.
  

Know what to do in an accident or breakdown

Car accidents and breakdowns can be scary, especially if you haven’t experienced them before. Unfortunately, they are sometimes unavoidable – for example, you might hit a pothole you didn’t see and get a flat tyre. Learning what to do if your car breaks down and what to do in a car accident can help you handle the situation calmly. Make sure to keep your roadside assistance up to date for peace of mind.