Car Smarts® Vacation Tips for Your Family Driving Trips
By Lauren Fix, the Car Coach™
What to do before hitting the road:
- Check the air in the tires
- Check the fluids in your car
- Replace your wiper blades
- If there is a "check engine" light - have it checked immediately
- Use the Internet to check for weather/construction updates
- Always carry an emergency safety kit
- Use the latest in GPS units to not get lost
- Use a hands free device when driving and talking on a cell phone, if necessary
- Travel when the roads have fewer cars or at night
Carry these items in your trunk in a box or duffel bag
- Jumper cables, I prefer a self-enclosed
- Flashlight with new batteries
- Tire inflation product -- just in case
- First aid kit
- Flare and safety triangle
- Protein bars - in case you are stuck and waiting for help
- Bottled water
- Blanket
- Road service card
- Maps
- Paper towels
- Glass cleaner
- Extra washer fluid
- Work Gloves & rain poncho
- Basic tools
Teens and tweens are going to want iPods and different music than younger children so expect to bring a bag for each child.
Most of all, keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road and have a safe summer!
About Lauren Fix:
Lauren Fix has appeared numerous times on Oprah, TODAY, The View, CNN, FOX News, ABC 20/20, Headlines News, MSNBC, TBS Makeover and a Movie Inside Edition, The Early Show, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, The Weather Channel, ESPN, Discovery, Speed, B. Smith Style and National Public Radio. Lauren can be seen and heard from coast-to-coast.
A highly credible automotive and lifestyle expert, Lauren Fix provides solid information on safety, and a wide range of automotive topics and issues. Her motivational speeches as the "Carma Coach" will help you "read the road signs" and find the "vehicle" that gets you "where you want to go".
She toured with O Magazine for "Oprah's 2005 Live Your Best Life Tour" presenting motivational inspiration, consumer information and automotive advice. Lauren is listed in The Yearbook of Experts, Authorities and Spokespersons since 1998. Lauren Fix is the host and automotive expert for Talk 2 DIY Automotive, a show on Scripps Do-It-Yourself Network (DIY), aired for 4 years.
Lauren's two syndicated segments called: The Car Coach® covers car care tips and His Turn-Her Turn™ car reviews from a male and female perspective. Lauren is the automotive editor of yourlifemagazine.com and previous editor-in-chief for carzen.com, contributing content to USA Today, Good Housekeeping, Woman's World, Redbook, Self, In Touch Weekly, Seventeen, Essence, Marie Claire, Prevention, Motor Trend, Truck Trend, Hot Rod and Car Craft to name a few.
Lauren is also the author of Driving Ambitions: A Complete Guide to Amateur Auto Racing and the award winning "Lauren's Guide To Loving Your Car!" with St. Martins Press. She is working on her fourth book with her daughter, Shelby.
Lauren is the spokesperson for the "Be Car Care Aware" program, a consumer education campaign promoting the benefits of regular vehicle care, maintenance and repair and Midas for their media outreach programs.
Lauren is an alpha-mom, her degree in management/marketing plus sales and marketing to design experience makes Lauren a hands-on expert that offers consumers education and personal experience that makes autos easier to understand. She is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) since 1980 and ASE Certified technician.
Lauren owns Automotive Aspects Inc., a consulting firm that provides media consulting, broadcast messaging strategy services and motivational seminars. Lauren Fix has a high "trust factor" and can connect with viewers everywhere.
Lauren has earned many awards including: 2008 Women of the Year -- Aftermarket Automotive, "40 Under 40 Business Award," '00 Car Care Council Communications Award, '02 Women of the Year, Business Advisory Board of NY, '03 International Automotive Media Award-Public Service, '04 Top 25 Women Who Mean Business Award; '04 Northwood University Automotive Aftermarket Management Award, honored with the Best Business to Consumer Public Relations Efforts Award for '05 and'06 as well as a Stevie Award for Best Marketing Campaign of 2006, 2008 Automotive Woman Of The Year and inducted into the National Women and Transportation Hall of Fame.
Lauren is currently working on two TV pilots, a book, speaking events and a line of products.
For more information, visit www.laurenfix.com
