When you’re traveling, you may unknowingly be open to accepting more risk into your life than you normally would. While this can be a great way to experience things like outdoor adventure or trying new foods, being riskier isn’t something you really want to mess around with when it comes to your safety.Three tips for staying safe as a pedestrian when you travel.Take a look at my top tips of being a safe pedestrian while traveling.
If you’re like the most travelers, you enjoy spending your time exploring new cities or areas on foot. This can allow you to see more of the area and really get up close and personal with the region. But while you’re walking about, it’s still important that you ensure you’re being safe. To help with this, here are three tips for being a safe pedestrian while traveling to another country.
Limit Your Distractions
Although you mainly hear advice to drivers about not being distracted on the road, this is equally important for pedestrians. If you’re not paying attention to where you’re walking or what is going on around you, be it the traffic or others that are sharing the road with you, you could put yourself at risk for getting hurt. So according to AAA Exchange, it’s a good idea to put down your phone and take off any headphones when you’re walking the streets. This will allow you to see what’s going on around you and make any adjustment you need and let you hear in case someone honks or yells in your direction.
Don’t Jay Walk
While cutting across the street closest to your destination may help you save a few minutes, this time really isn’t worth your life if you get hit on your way across the street. According to State Farm, most injuries that happen to pedestrians will occur when they try to cross the street mid-block. Not only is this illegal in many areas, but it also put you in unnecessary danger. So rather than trying to dodge traffic when crossing the street, make sure you get yourself to a street corner. And if that street corner has a traffic light or crosswalk, that’s going to be even better for your physical safety.
Make Yourself Visible
To ensure that drivers don’t accidentally run into you or make moves that could put you in danger, Rose Flenorl, a contributor to FedEx.com, advises that you do your best to make yourself visible when on the street. To do this, wear bright colors that are easy to spot from far away. You could also wear reflective clothing so the lights of the cars bounce off of you and make it even that much easier for you to be seen.
If you have a trip coming up, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you stay safe as a pedestrian when visiting new cities or countries.
These are great tips. Every traveler will find this resource very helpful.