Car

Practicalities Getting There Car Practicalities 

Timing

Long journeys are far more of a penance that even 20 years ago because of the safety awareness which means everyone is strapped firmly into just one position. For this reason if no other you need to factor into your route regular stops with time for the children to get out and move around. Alternatively drive during children's sleeping times.

One idea is to start very early in the morning, packing the car before transferring the children into it. You can set out before they are fully awake, and drive until a late breakfast and stretch stop.

You can then time-table in breaks at whatever intervals seem suitable for your age group. Do persuade children to visit the lavatories on every stop so you don't have to make extra unscheduled stops.

Route

Motorways have the advantage of offering a smooth ride - so less likelihood of motion sickness - but they are a lot more boring. In addition, though service stops have an increasing range of facilities and entertainment for children, this second can make it hideously difficult trying to lever them back into the car again for another bout of boredom.

Particularly if you have children who will enjoy map reading, alternative routes though slower may prove better value and you can research good places to stop en route.

What to Take

If you are potty training, though not vital, a potty is likely to keep both child and carer better protected from urine splashes on roadside stops. Contents obviously have to be disposed of and if you think this would be embarrassing on the spot you could invest in one of the travel potties on the market.

Also useful would be something to provide shade from side windows. A draped muslin is not elegant but is sufficient. Alternatively there are the purpose-designed sunscreens. Note that some suppliers do not recommend them for certain rear windows because they can affect visibility.

A map where you can mark the progress in pen, makes this appear more tangible for younger children.

Safety

Naturally age-appropriate seats and restraints will be needed. If you will only need something for a short while you could think about borrowing or hiring. [Suppliers - Hire]

Different countries have different regulations about how children must be protected. The following is an extract from the AA's useful booklet on Driving in Europe.

Child seat regulations in European countries

Austria	Under 12s and 1.5 metres in height must not travel in the front or rear seat unless using a suitable restraint system.
Belgium	Children under 3 must not travel in the front unless using a suitable restraint system. Children over 3 and under 12 must not travel in front or rear seats unless using seat belts or restraint system appropriate to the size and weight of the child.
Bulgaria	Children under 12 must not travel in the front seats.
Croatia	Children under 12 must not travel in the front seats.
Czech Republic	Children under 12 or under 1.5 metres high must not travel in the front seats.
Denmark	Children under 3 travelling as front or rear passengers must be secured in a child restraint system appropriate to size. Over 3 they may use seat belts combined with booster cushion if appropriate.
Finland	Any person under 1.5 metres tall must not travel in the front seat unless using a suitable restraint system.
France	Children under 10 must not travel in the front with the exception of babies up to 9 months and less than 9kg in rear facing restraint system appropriate to age and weight. Children under 10 seated in the rear must use child seat or restraint if fitted. Note: under no circumstances should a rear facing restraint be used in a front seat with an airbag.
Germany	Children under 12 and/or 1.5 metres in height must not travel in the front or rear seat unless using a suitable restraint system if fitted.
Greece	Children under 10 must not travel in the front seat.
Hungary	Children under 1.5 metres in height using suitable restraint system permitted to travel in the front seat provided there is no airbag for that seat.
Italy	Children under 4 must not travel in the front or rear seats unless using a suitable restraint system. Children between 4 and 12 may only travel in front seat if using such equipment.
Luxembourg	Children under 12 and/or 1.5 metres in height must not travel in the front seat unless using a suitable restraint system. Children seated in the rear must use child seat or restraint if fitted.
Netherlands	Children under 12 and/or 1.5 metres in height must not travel in the front seat unless using a suitable restraint system (a child of 10 and eg 1.6 metres in height may sit in the front wearing normal seat belt.)
Norway	Children under 4 must not travel in the front unless using rear facing child seat. Under no circumstances should a rear facing restraint be used in a front seat with an airbag.
Poland	Children under 10 must not travel in the front seats.
Portugal	Children under 3 must not travel in the front unless in an approved child seat; children over 3 and under 12 must use approved restraint system unless the car is a two-seater.
Romania	Children under 12 are not permitted to travel as front seat passengers.
Slovakia	Children under 12 or any person under 1.5 metres tall must not travel in the front seat unless using a suitable restraint system.
Slovenia	Children under 12 must not travel in the front seats.
Spain	Children under 12 must not travel in the front seat unless using a suitable restraint system.
Sweden	Children of 7 or under must not travel in a vehicle unless using a suitable restraint system.
Switzerland	Children under 7 cannot travel as front seat passengers unless using suitable restraint system; children between 7 and 12 must use seat belts or restraint systems appropriate to size when travelling as front or rear passengers.
Turkey	No restriction on the ages of front seat passengers.

Note that where a specifically approved seat is mentioned, this may be a special model. For example in a front seat in France for children up to the age of 10 years a specially approved fitted backwards facing seat is permitted.

An aid in looking for the safest route is a new generation of road atlases available from the AA. These include a risk assessment for 800 major roads to help motorists increase awareness of potential danger. The information is presented in colour coding: motorways for example are black for high risk and green for low. The research was designed to show the safety in relations to the amount of traffic carried, in order to give the most accurate picture of risk.

Similar research is being carried out on roads in other European countries for similar road maps. The atlas, incidentally, reveals that motorways are the safest group of roads.

Working off Spare Energy

It is helpful if you can end the day with a swim. This will generally make everyone feel better, especially if they have it to look forward to during the tedium. Booking ahead is the best way of guaranteeing this.

An alternative, especially if you have children bursting with early morning energy, is to try to burn some of it off before leaving, again potentially with a swim or alternatively with something like an intensive frisbee game or if it's likely to be windy, a pocket kite or two.

More Information

The AA
Norfolk House, Priestley Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG24 9NW
tel: 0990 448866

A membership organisation with member only information services such as a European route service but also:
AA Roadwatch (0900) 3 444 900, 60p a minute

Provides traffic information on specific motorways and A roads, general national traffic information, and weather information. At 60p a minute there are pre-recorded information lines on FRench Motorway Tolls (09003) 401 884, price and availability of fuel in Europe 09003 401 883, advice and road conditions to and from Disneyland Paris (09003) 401 400, and weather reports ont he Channel and northern France (09003) 401 361.

For more general road directions visit the web site and access the Motoring and Travel portal, enter your Continental arrival port or airport and your destination, indicate if you want to avoid toll motorways, directions give total distance, distances between interchanges and estimate how long each stage should take.

French Autoroute Information
On the radio on 107.7FM for traffic conditions
tel: +33 8 3668 1077 at around 25p a minute.