Timing is everything
The key to avoiding gridlock misery is to plan when you will travel wisely. It sounds obvious, but you should avoid peak times as much as possible. That’s Friday afternoon and Saturday and Sunday daytime. Travelling early in the morning or late at night means you should miss the worst of the traffic.
Take the road less travelled
Main roads should also be avoided if possible, such as the M25 and M1 motorways. Of course sometimes this is impossible, but even a longer route on quieter roads might mean your journey is quicker than taking a shorter route with heavily congested roads. Use a route planner to see if your journey can be done avoiding popular roads.
Technology is your friend
Download a sat nav app that offers live traffic updates to avoid running into long queues. There are plenty available which are free to download, but we recommend Waze as one of the best. You can learn about how Waze works here.
Plan to be bored
Long journeys can be boring, especially for passengers. Make sure you have downloaded any music, podcasts or audiobooks before leaving, and ensure that smartphones and tablets are fully charged. Remember to pack charging cables to keep things running on the go, you down want a meltdown from the back seats if the battery runs out before they catch the end of the film.
Stay fresh
It can be very tiring, spending hours at a time in a car. Plan for breaks along your route and make sure you factor in how much time they will add to your journey. Get out of the car, have a walk around, and make sure kids stretch their legs too. It will wake everyone up and stave off cabin fever.
Stay refreshed
Dehydration and hunger can be very dangerous for drivers, so pack plenty of fluids and snacks in the car. And remember that hungry and thirsty passengers are grumpy passengers, so they will need feeding and watering too. Especially youngsters.
Plan for the unexpected
Hopefully you won’t be involved in an incident or breakdown on your trip, but unfortunately there’s no guarantee of that. In your car you should always have a raincoat, high-vis jacket, phone with charger, spare wheel and tools to change it.
Make sure your car is up to the job
You can mitigate much of the risk of a breakdown by making sure your car is prepared for a long slog. Make sure engine oil and coolant is topped up, all of your lights work and your tyres are in good condition and pumped to the right pressure.
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Keyword: Bank holiday survival guide: tips for drivers