Many people like going on road trips. You can move happily along at your own pace, and you’re in your own vehicle that you’re comfortable driving. You can stop and check out any roadside attraction that interests you.
When you’re on a road trip, you might feel free and easy. You’re away from your normal surroundings, so you may want to let your hair down a little. You might act differently than you would when you’re at home.
There is nothing necessarily wrong with this, except that you should remember your actions always have consequences, even if you’re hundreds or thousands of miles from home. With that in mind, let’s look at some actions that you should never take while you’re on a road trip, or you might very well regret them.
You Should Never Leave an Accident Scene
Your actions after an accident matter, and that’s true if you’re far from home or two blocks from your house. If you’re on a road trip, maybe you get in a fender bender. You don’t think you’re hurt, and the other vehicle’s passengers seem fine as well.
You might decide you want to leave the accident scene without waiting for the police to arrive or exchanging insurance information. Maybe if you just tapped the other vehicle, you don’t want to go through the bother of calling your insurance company, answering the responding officer’s questions, and so forth.
Although you might find these actions tedious for a minor accident, you still need to go through them. If you decide to leave without going through the proper steps, that can come back to haunt you, especially if the other driver took down your license plate number. The police might arrest you later if they catch up with you.
Don’t Pick Up Hitchhikers
If you see a hitchhiker on the roadside with their thumb out, you might decide to pick them up. If you’re far from home, and you feel like having an adventure, you might feel like it’s not such a bad idea.
If you pick up a hitchhiker, it might be fine, or it could turn into a dangerous situation in an instant. You don’t know the first thing about this person.
They might have a weapon and decide to rob you. They might try to sexually assault you. You don’t know if this individual is fresh out of a psychiatric facility.
Even if you see a car pulled over with mechanical issues, it’s best not to pick up the driver and passengers. If you like, you can stop to see what the trouble is. You can use a smartphone to call the police for them, or you can head to the next rest area and use a phone there to call for help for the stranded vehicle.
Don’t Drink and Drive
If you’re on a road trip, you could be in a vacation mindset. You might feel like you can do things that won’t have the same consequences they would if you were at home.
That’s why you might decide to pop open a beer while you’re driving or maybe take a couple of nips from a bottle. You might feel like that won’t do any harm.
In reality, drinking and driving is just as dangerous when you’re on a road trip as when you’re in your home town. Drinking and driving while in unfamiliar territory might even be worse. That’s because you don’t know your surroundings, and making a traffic error is easier than usual.
If you get a DUI while far from home, you also have to deal with the justice system there. You might need to come all the way back for a court appearance. You’ll have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles again so that you can pay a fine or argue against getting your license suspended. It isn’t worth it.
Don’t Purchase Recreational Drugs from People You Meet
Maybe you meet some interesting people at a truck stop. You hit it off, and your new friends might mention they have some substances for sale. You’re in vacation mode, and you feel like buying something from them might not be a poor idea.
Buying illegal drugs is never a smart move, and just because you’re traveling, that doesn’t mean the risk is any less. You don’t know these people, and you don’t know if they’re going to try to rob you as soon as you pull your wallet out.