The Holidays Are Coming

By Author: Norris Rios
Total Articles: 572
Comment this article

There's a curious fact about the sexes. When it comes to long journeys, single men leap in the car and drive. It's a reflex to want a road trip to who knows where. But give the same journey to single women, and more will prefer an airplane or, if desperate, a train. The sexes come back together when they're married with 2.4 children because then the economics favor driving. Despite the fact gas is approach $4 a gallon again, it's still cheap to drive hundreds of miles than buy enough seats on public transport. The only time this gets the family veto is when the potential trip is from home in, say, Boston to a destination like Disney World. There are cheap family concessions on flights and the drive would take forever unless the kids ca be tuned into iPads and other gizmos to keep them occupied while parents drive in shifts. If you have a larger family, the economics switch back from flights to the vehicle anyway. But here's the thing. Are you going to spend some money on preventative maintenance so your vehicle stands a good chance of arriving in one piece? And while the adult drivers may be used to driving around the city, ...
... how experienced are they in a long haul down the I-95? You probably won't be surprised to learn how many vehicles have a breakdown while in motion. Equally, so many drivers lose concentration or fall asleep on a long drive.

This is not suggesting you should go the public transport route, but it's warning you to plan the journey carefully. Know your limits and be prepared to stop for rests, sleeping over if necessary. Let's deal with the insurance question. If you know this journey is going to be a strain and you take no precautions, this could make you negligent if the driver falls asleep at the wheel. Similarly, if you are doing the maximum down the I-95 and a tire bursts, think about who's going to be picking up the bills as your vehicle slews across the lanes. The test of negligence is foreseeability. If the reasonable person would foresee the risk and take precautions, you're at fault. So how good is your insurance cover? If all you have is the mandatory minimum, how many people did you injure and what damage did you cause? It could be your lucky day. It might only be several thousand. But if it's being counted in hundreds of thousands, all your assets could be at risk if you don't have adequate cover.

In the past, only a small percentage of people involved in traffic accidents sued each other. Now it's becoming much more routine where the driver at fault has money or assets. So before you set off, spend some money with a reliable mechanic to ensure your vehicle is safe. Then talk with your auto insurance company about topping up your liability cover. Given the increased level of risk, it may be worth buying an umbrella policy of up to $1 million just in case the worst happens. It would be a tragedy if not only people were injured but your lives were also ruined as a result of a holiday accident.