Holiday Road Travel Tips and Interesting Driving Data

With Thanksgiving behind us and the continued busy road travels for the holidays in front of us, Zubie has some great holiday road travel tips: 

1. Make a list and check it twice! There are so many little details to remember for before going to a trip.  And these are in addition to the stress of finishing all your deliverables at work, making sure you’ve bought all of your gifts, pre-ordering your turkey, and all the other stress that the holidays bring.  As you plan your trip, create a check list which you can add to when you think of those fleeting to do’s – apps just as Evernote are a great way to capture it all.

2. Pack up the gifts (and everything else). In the vein of planning ahead, pack well in advance.  Designate a corner in your home for your holiday travel needs – as you are going through you day-to-day routine, start placing everything you’ll need in this area.  By packing ahead you have less of a chance to forget the gifts – nothing is worse than showing up empty handed to your family’s annual gift exchange!

3. Tune it up!  Before a drive in the winter, make sure your car is prepared. Are your snow tires on? Did you adjust your coolant level for winter?  Have you made sure your windshield wiper fluid contains antifreeze? To help you keep track of winterizing your car, Zubie monitors diagnostics (even when the car is at a standstill) and can alert you to any necessary maintenance well in advance of the trip.

4. Drive early or drive late – but check the weather! It’s well documented that holiday travel can be a nightmare.  In order to avoid gridlock and accidents, schedule your road time early in the morning or late at night depending on what’s best for your route.  If planning to travel at night, make sure you check the weather forecast so you don’t get stuck in a storm.

5. Keep it warm in the cold: Even the best kept up cars can break down or run out of gas. You have Zubie to help, but make sure you’re prepared for an emergency. Stow blankets, a radio, a flash light, and warm clothes in your car.

 

Additionally, check out Zubie’s top reasons to connect your car this holiday season. What is Zubie?  It is a portable device that fits into a car’s diagnostic port and logs driver actions as well as relays diagnostic data: everything from the specifics on what the heck “Throttle Position Control Malfunction” means to if your battery needs a charge.  And if you are traveling with family & friends, there’s no need to monitor other drivers – a Zubie connected car's location can be shared automatically via the app (available on Android and iPhone). Zubie's AlwaysSmart technology makes your car smart always, not just when you're in it. Beyond tracking overall driver behavior, Zubie is a great tool to make your holiday car travel safer and more stress-free.  With Zubie, cumbersome issues such as flat tires, dead batteries and low antifreeze levels will not be an issue during your holiday travels.  

 

Zubie found some interesting statistics from the recent Thanksgiving holiday travel weekend: 

·         Trips on Wednesday, also known as Thanksgiving travel day, were 14% longer than comparable weekdays

·         3pm to 4pm was the most popular time to be on the road on Thanksgiving Travel Day,  which also was the most congested time of day

·         Drivers looking for the quickest ride started out early – 4am saw the fewest cars on the road

·         Incidentally, 6AM to 7AM had the worst driving behavior in terms of acceleration and braking

·          Long distance drivers tended to leave at 5AM and their trips tended to be almost 60% longer than those who left in the afternoon.