3 Ways To Be A Better Passenger On A Road Trip

If you’ve ever been on a road trip before, you know how grueling it can be to be trapped in a car with other people for an extended period of time. Even if you love the people you’re traveling with, it’s easy to get on each other’s nerves or slowly become less and less considerate the longer you’re in the car together.

So to help ensure that you don’t wind up distracting the driver of your car to the point where you end up putting yourself and others in danger of getting into a car accident and sustaining injuries that would derail your trip, here are three ways you can be a better passenger when taking a road trip:

Make It Easy For The Driver To See Around You

While everyone in the car is likely excited to be taking this road trip together, the most important person in the car and the one who should be given the most consideration during your travels is the driver. Since the driver is the one who’s responsible for keeping everyone safe on the road, the passengers should strive to do everything in their power to make this job as easy as possible. As part of this, Josh Max, a contributor to AutoBlog.com, shares that everyone in the car should make it as easy as possible for their driver to see. This means moving your head or body out of the way of blind spots and keeping your bags or other belongings out of the windows so they’re not blocking any vision.

Help The Driver Stay Alert

Another job that the passengers on a road trip should take on is that of keeping the driver awake and alert. According to Geico.com, it’s generally considered taboo for the passenger of a car to fall asleep while the driver is driving, especially if there are only two people in the car or the conditions aren’t ideal, like bad weather or it being nighttime. So rather than taking a nap as the passenger, try to stay awake and alert yourself so you can help the driver be on top of their game as they steer the vehicle down the road.

Be Smart About Phone Safety

While we all know that it’s unsafe for someone driving a car to be on their phone, people still do this all the time. So to help keep everyone in your car and around you on the road safe, Jason Friedman, a contributor to DriveSafer.com, suggests that the passengers of the car take responsibility for the phone of the driver. If he or she needs something or receives a message, make sure the driver either waits until they’re off the road before checking out their phone or gives you permission to take care of whatever they need.

If you’ll be heading out with your friends or family for a road trip soon, consider using the tips mentioned above to show you how to be a helpful and considerate passenger.