INQUIRER Sports

IT?S going to be a long drive to your hometown, if you plan to leave along with about a million other motorists this long Holy Week break. Your patience will be tested, along with a number of your city and highway driving skills. So how do you arrive at your destination after a full day of driving looking and feeling like you?ve just been behind the wheel for five minutes?

We asked veterans of ?long drives? their two cents? worth of driving tips:

1 Drive early in the morning. JP Tuason, president of Tuason Racing School says, right off the bat. JP, who also teaches the basics of safe driving to corporate enrollees in his school, adds, ?Leaving early puts less stress on the vehicle. There is less traffic and visibility on the road gets better as you get tired.?

2 Don?t stay behind the wheel too long. Stop and rest or stretch at regular intervals. A good benchmark is to take a 10-minute break after every two hours of driving. JP says taking a break re-focuses your concentration while driving.

3 Do your homework?finalize maintenance procedures. Visit a dealer early for preventive maintenance service, advises Vitaliano Mamawal, Toyota Motor Philippines vice president for customer relations. Joseph Bautista of Isuzu Philippines, warns that owners should get their service appointments early, as every other motorist would most likely get their appointments at this time as well.

4 Wear light, and re-hydrate. Keep your travel outfits as cool as possible. Bring plenty of drinking water in the car. Use sunglasses and sun block. And since you?ll be traveling during the Holy Week, expect to come across processions of the ?Stations of the Cross? on the country roads, so keep your cool, and try to smile as you wait.

5 Use the maps, and do the research. It?s always better to research on the route you?ll be taking, Bautista stresses. ?You?ll especially want to know if you?ll be traveling on roads undergoing major construction. The Department of Public Works and Highways can provide the latest conditions of major roads in the Philippines.?

6 Estimate your travel time. This way, you?ll have an idea when you?ll be at certain points on your trip. This will help you to plan rest and meal stops. It will also help you plan to avoid traveling through a major city or area of road construction during rush hours, said Bautista.

7 Clean it up. A dirty, messy car adds to the stress of driving. Get your car cleaned. Put in some car fresheners, and take out the unnecessary knick-knacks.

8 Don?t forget the motion sickness meds. It should be in your first aid kit.

9 Prepare for some on-road entertainment. If your car comes with audio/video entertainment systems, put in games and CDs of music and/or audio books.

10 Get all your papers in order. Check your plates, registration and insurance information to make sure they are all valid. Be sure to place your insurance company?s emergency contact number in your car.

11 Those who can, must. Sure, you can drive solo for that 500-km trip, but if you?re driving with someone who can share the driving load, it would be so much easier for you and for the other passengers who may appreciate a rested driver behind the wheels. Needless, to say, their driver?s licenses must also be in order.

12 Peace of mind comes with insurance. So, be insured first?you and your car?before embarking on that long trip, reminds Bautista.