Safety Considerations When Taking a Road Trip to Spain During Winter
Winter is currently hitting the UK hard, making it a perfect time to take the ultimate road trip to Spain where the weather is a lot more friendlier. This over 2000km road trip is packed with adventure; you’ll start by driving to Dover where you’ll cross over to Calais via the Eurotunnel, head down through the centre of France while enjoying some of the country’s best sights, and ultimately end up in Spain where you can spend a few days enjoying the warm rays of the sun. However, as fun as the road trip sounds, there are various safety risks involved, and you need to take the necessary precautions to stay safe throughout your journey.
Research your destination’s safety
You need to find out what kind of safety risks you’ll face during your road trip before setting off so that you can plan for them. For example, you can find out the condition of the roads you’ll be using in your route and the weather conditions you can expect to face as you drive. You can also find out the kinds of vaccinations you’ll need to be safe. The UK National Travel Health Network and Centre advises anyone travelling to Spain to ensure that they are up to date with routine vaccination courses and boosters like the Diptheria-tetanus-polio vaccine and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Choose the right vehicle
You need to be careful when choosing the vehicle to take on this 2000 km road trip to Spain. First of all, the vehicle should be comfortable enough to drive for long hours without getting too tired. A tired driver has slow reactions and may even doze off while driving, putting every passenger and other road users at risk. You also need to choose a vehicle with great safety ratings and features. Clever features like blind spot monitoring, forward collision warning, and pedestrian detection systems can drastically reduce the chances of getting involved in an accident, especially if you are using the Spanish Autopistas where speed limits are high. Before choosing a vehicle, you can compare safety ratings of different vehicles to know how they stack up against each other.
Get travel insurance
Travel insurance is essential when you are taking a road trip to Spain. Although UK residents can still use their European Health Insurance Card in Spain, it should not be a substitute for travel insurance since it does not provide adequate coverage. If you’re injured or you fall ill during your road trip, travel insurance will protect you from hefty medical bills in both public and private hospitals, and it may also cover repatriation flights if it is medically necessary. Some policies may provide coverage against theft, loss, or damage to your property.
Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean you should hide at home the entire time. You can still enjoy road trips even during the winter, so long as you make safety your number one priority to ensure that you get to Spain and back to England safely.
