In this age of cell phones and easy accessibility, it’s easy to forget that you still need to carry certain items with you at all times when traveling in your car. You truly never know what can happen, so you need to be as prepared as possible in the event of an emergency – and in all weather conditions. We strongly suggest you put together a roadside safety kit containing, at the very least, the following items:

• Jumper Cables – This may seem like a given, but you would be surprised by how many people do not carry them in their vehicles. So, don’t find yourself stranded with a dead battery and dependent on passersby having the necessary equipment to get you started again.
• Water – Always keep a few water pouches or water bottles with you in your vehicle. You may think you won’t want to drink it after it sits in your car for a long time, but you will be grateful to have any water at all if you are broken down with no help for any extended period of time.
• Protein Bars – Just as you will need water, you will need something to eat.
• Flashlight – If your car isn’t working, there is a good chance the lights in your car won’t be working either. Since it is dark outside nearly half of the time, you definitely want to have a flashlight, with fresh batteries, at all times.
• Extra Batteries – Because that flashlight will do you no good if the batteries die and you have no replacements. 🙂
• Blanket – Always keep a good, heavy blanket in your car. Pick a blanket you would want to have if you had to spend the night in your car on the side of the road with no heater on the coldest night of the year. Leave it in your car all year because you may not remember to put it back after the summertime.
• First Aid Kit – Many emergencies will involve an accident and possible injuries, so you want to be prepared to take care of yourself, your passengers, and possibly people in another vehicle until help arrives, if necessary.
• Flares – People run off embankments and such every single day and find themselves stranded at the bottom of a steep hill or buried in thick foliage (and who knows what else!). If you have a flare, you will be able to make your location known to passersby, so they can either help you or notify authorities.
• Gloves – Having both a pair of latex gloves and a pair of work gloves in your vehicle could prove helpful in an emergency. If you find yourself having to treat someone with your first aid kit, you will want latex gloves to protect yourself from communicable diseases and the person you are treating from infection. If your car breaks down, you will want work gloves to be able to work on it without injuring your hands.
• Toolkit – Some basic tools will always be useful in either fixing your car or surviving until help arrives. At least keep some pliers, along with a Philips head and flat head screwdriver, in your kit.

Hopefully you will never find yourself stranded on the side of the road (or worse), but if you do, your roadside toolkit will really be beneficial until help arrives or you can get yourself going again.