This nightmare of a road trip happened to me and it will help to illustrate some of the worst things that can happen and how you can avoid them on your next road trip.

It was a sunny, early summer Saturday when my buddy Dave and I started our trip to South Carolina. Dave's 1980 Mustang had been overheating, but we drove it around the day before and it was fine, so we assumed it would make the trip.

Tip 1: If your car has been acting up, have a mechanic check it out. Just in case, check on your AAA subscription, or make sure you have towing on your car insurance.

We got about 60 miles from home when the car overheated. We put water in the radiator and let the car cool down. We had been sitting in some traffic, so we hoped the car would be fine when we got on the open road. We drove for another two hours until we heard a grinding noise. We had a flat tire.

Tip 2: Before you leave home, check to make sure you have everything you need to change a tire.

Luckily, we had all that we needed to change the tire. However, Dave only had one of those small, temporary spares, so, after we changed the tire, we set out to find the nearest place to buy a full size tire. We found a repair shop quickly and they put a new tire on for us.

We were getting ready to leave the shop when Dave threw the temporary spare in the trunk and slammed the lid with the car keys still in the trunk. Oops. We had to call a locksmith, who came out after about an hour. Cha Ching! The locksmith charged us $125 for coming out and picking the lock.

Tip 3: Its not a bad idea to bring a second set of keys.

We drove roughly seven incident-free hours until, shortly after midnight, we saw a huge line of police cars coming up behind us chasing a black Dodge Daytona. As the Daytona passed us, he clipped the right front side of Dave's Mustang! Since we didn't have much experience in getting hit by cars fleeing the police, we kept driving. After about 20 minutes, we saw the line of police cars and the Daytona down in a ditch. We got out and talked to a police officer. He filled out a police report and, with our newly dented front quarter panel, we went on our way.

Tip 4: Make sure you have your car insurance card before you leave. If you are involved in an incident and you know you'll need to get your insurance company involved, use your cell phone and call them immediately. You might need a police report, information about your location, description of the scene, etc.

Finally, after all that, we made it to Clemson University. Mission accomplished; we got our stuff and headed home. Luckily, the trip home trip went much smoother!

Good luck on your next road trip!

Learn more about this author, R. William Weiss.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Travel experiences: Road trip horror stories?
We want to hear your view. Write now!