Destined To Travel

Travel Safety: Watch Yourself when in a Car

When we travel we have to be conscious travel safety and of where we are and take appropriate precautions. Unless you come from a bad area you probably think nothing of riding in a car with the windows rolled down. That’s great if you are near home, but can be an invitation for others who have different ideas than you.

Here’s a travel safety example. On a recent trip to South Africa, being transferred from the airport to the overnight accommodations, we were stopped at a stoplight. There were many cars around and much activity. A young kid walked past the vehicle and I was about to tell my girlfriend to close her window, but he walked past the vehicle.

As it turned out, he walked from the back of the vehicle towards the front of the vehicle, and walked in front of another vehicle and disappeared – or so we thought. The next thing we know, the lady in the back seat is screaming no, no, no…. We turned around and saw that same guy. He had reached down into the vehicle, grabbed her cell phone from her hands (she had it out to coordinate our arrival with the accommodations), and she was fighting to keep it from him.

The window was only open wide enough for him to put his hand in, but that was apparently enough to do a lot of damage. Of course the element of surprise played a major part. When the lady was fighting with him, he was actually behind the window, closer towards the rear of the vehicle. She was fighting against the edge of the window and the guy. The sharp edge of the window made her hurt her arm and caused her to lose her grip.

When she lost her grip he had the phone in his hand and ran off. He quickly disappeared and there was nothing we could do. We did summon the cops, but the police were useless. That was a pure waste of time even calling them. The thief was long gone.

If you are traveling in a car in an unfamiliar place or country, it behooves you to keep your windows closed. You could always ask the driver (assuming a native of that country is driving) how safe it is to leave your windows down, but that could give you a false sense of security if he said it was ok, or he may not be telling you the truth.

So to be on the safe and cautious side as far as travel safety, remember open windows could be a big liability whenever you are riding through an unfamiliar (or maybe even familiar) city with the car window open. Yes the fresh air is nice, but use caution if in unfamiliar territory.