Long Car Journeys And Children

**Collaborative post**

Long car journeys are something we do a lot now, we head to Cornwall at least twice a year to stay with Paul’s Auntie and now the children are older we don’t limit our drives to just a few hours as we used to – with our holiday to Devon taking 6 hours recently due to all the bank holiday traffic.

The kids used to bicker a lot in the car on long journeys but now they are older they are far easier to entertain, and need to stop for toilet breaks less – in fact it’s often us adults who need those breaks long before the kids do. I do plan our provisions carefully for those long journeys, packing a box of toys in between the kids in the back of the car, packing a lunchbox for them both with enough snacks to last and drinks, and of course ensuring their tablets are fully charged and they have chargers in the car. I download shows and films onto their tablets and they have their favourite games on them too.

I have always found that the longer the journey the more stressed us parents get – whether as a passenger or as a driver! Concentrating on the road needs to be our number one priority however children obviously don’t understand that and still require our attention no matter what their ages.

On the lead up to a long journey I like to plan ahead and firstly prepare the car – wash it if there is time and make sure the car seats are fitted properly, fill with petrol, check the oil, top up the water in the washers, check the tyre tread and the tyre pressure, and also make sure I have the correct tyres on for the season i.e summer or winter tyres or an easier option are would be all season tyres. If you are unsure whether you need new tyres or not just yet you can pop into a garage and get them to do a quick check for you, if needed you can usually have them changed there and there, with many garages around you’ll find one in your area such as Fife Autocentre in Sterling.

It may seem a little over the top to some people but the safety of my children come first above everything else. I would NEVER forgive myself if I were to have an accident (especially one at speed on the motorway) knowing I was too rushed to do the proper checks on my car first – after all, you wouldn’t go out and leave your front door and windows wide open would you?

For the sake of 10 minutes I then at least know I am transporting my children as safely as possible, of course, I also have the CarGenie fitted into my car which tells us if there is a fault with the car – only the other day I received a message on my phone saying my car was in an accident and asking if I needed assistance – Paul was driving home from work so I called him in a panic but it turns out he had to do an emergency stop but there was no accident and was rather surprised to hear I knew that had happened.

Of course, if the kid’s safety weren’t enough the fact that it is a legal requirement is another reason it should be top of everyone’s to-do list. The law states the minimum legal tyre tread depth for cars in the UK and Europe is 1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the tyre. Worn tyres can come with a £2,500 fine and 3 points on your licence – 4 wore tyres could cost you £10,000 and your licence – that’s certainly not something I would like to risk having had a clean licence since I started driving at the age of 18.

Once the car is ready I make sure I pack ready for the kids so they won’t get bored on the journey.