03/09/2016
5 Tips For Driving Safely At Night continues.....
1. Imagine driving along the highway just as the rain is beginning to fall. If you make good time and don't stop, you should be safe at home in just a couple more hours. Unfortunately, a couple of tractor trailers have jackknifed across the roadway up ahead, causing traffic to back up for miles. The rain intensifies, wetting over to turn road surfaces into a skating rink. Despite a frantic response involving emergency crews and the trafick officers, you become one of many people stuck, in freezing temperatures, in their cars, for more than 20 hours. Mayhem ensues.
Does this sound like a treatment for a melodramatic, made-for-TV movie? Such a thing could never really happen, right? Actually, this exact scenario plays out in many places along Mombasa-Nairobi highway. It offers a pretty stark example of why every driver would be wise to keep a roadside emergency kit stashed in the back of his or her vehicle.
While today's cars and SUVs are more reliable than ever, you can still easily become stranded night or day. You never know when a belt will break, a tire will deflate or an act of nature will delay you from reaching your destination. An emergency kit won't keep you safe through the entire Apocalypse, but it can provide some warmth and sustenance for a few hours or even days, until help can arrive.
For between kshs 2500 and kshs 4000, you can pop into your local auto supply store or auto warehouse store and purchase a pre-assembled kit. Otherwise, you can piece one together on your own. Here are a few of the necessities you ought to have:
a. Jumper cables or battery re-charging device
b. Quart of oil
c. Bottled water (which can double as engine coolant)
d. Emergency roadside reflecting triangles
e. Blanket
f. 5lt Plastic jerrican
g. "Multi-tool" handheld miniature toolkit
h. Tire sealant
I. Bittings & snack bars
j. First aid kit with assortment of bandages
k. Flashlight and batteries
l. Nylon bag to keep everything contained and tidy
m. And naturally, you'd want to check your kit every six months or so to consume and replace perishables and check batteries.
m. A jacket to keep warm in cold weather.
As you've read in the preceding pages, responsible drivers have good reason to fear things that go bump in the night. When darkness falls, you take a bigger risk when getting behind the wheel, plain and simple.
Fortunately, you can take preventive measures like getting plenty of rest, avoiding food and drink that will impair your driving and wearing a seatbelt, to dramatically boost your odds of nighttime driving survival.
Be safe.
