The Fourth of July means summer is here and this means children are out of school, and people are outside enjoying the sunshine. Now is the time to think about how to stay safe. Review family guidelines. After all most unsafe situations can be avoided by planning ahead and paying attention to your surroundings.

This is especially true when travelling by car and it is helpful to do an online search and to print out directions to your destination. Do not simply get off at an exit not knowing if the area has what you need but instead consider the area or how far down an unfamiliar road you may have to go. Pick exits that have places to eat, toilet, and buy gasoline that are right off the exit and well lit. With the advances in technology GPS systems are readily available in newer cars or can be rented with a car.

In addition to GPS systems, computers are extremely portable with the influx of net books, IPad or IPods, and smart phones which provide the user with an internet connection almost anywhere a cell phone works. No longer does anyone need to simply take a chance while traveling late at night and trying to find a safe place to sleep. Look online to book a hotel in advance and read reviews from companies like TripAdvisor, Orbitz, Priceline, and Hotwire. Take into account what is being written by patrons and do not take for granted that things have not changed from a previous visit.

Recently while traveling to Massachusetts we needed a one night stay at the end of our trip before flying out early the next morning. I had planned on returning to a hotel we had stayed at successfully the year before. Luckily I read recent reviews online before booking and discovered that the hotel due to its quiet and isolated area right off a highway had become a target for thieves to break into patron’s cars in the dark of the night.

Planning for an emergency is just as important at home as it is on the road. Know what to do, when to do it and practice for the day an emergency will happen. Then when an emergency happens everyone will respond instead of letting panic take over. Panic has no room in an emergency. When people panic people get hurt or die. Panic causes confusion. Practice allows for one to think through and respond to a situation.

When we are away from our home our family has a plan to always meet back at the car if separated. In addition, when we go into a mall, hotel, restaurant or movie theatre we always locate a second way to exit the facility, other than the way we entered. In the event of a fire or mass evacuation people instinctively will try to leave the way they came in. Knowing a second way out may save your life.