Obtaining Travel Safety Advice Before Driving Abroad

Staying safe while driving abroad is one of the foremost aspects of travelling overseas on most people’s minds. Knowing that you’ll be safe when you’re in a country you’re unfamiliar with often takes precedence over most other concerns about driving abroad. The trick is to fully research the area that you’re travelling to and then obtain the best safety advice you can before leaving. Doing so can be easy and yet can save you a lot of hassle later on.

Government Travel Advice

One of the best places to obtain safety advice on travelling abroad is from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website.

• FCO Website for Travel Advice by Country

The government website has a variety of excellent ways to check on travel safety for the area you’re planning to visit. You can search by country and find out specific current threats to that area. You can also search by map or region to ensure that if you’re planning travelling through a number of areas, you are aware of any current potentially dangerous situations. As well as this, the FCO website has a box on the right hand side of the page that will advise you of any highly sensitive areas at present and can tell you exactly which countries they advise avoiding at the moment. It is handily designed in red and amber so that you know anything under red is a no go zone unless it is absolutely essential.

Different Levels of Travel Warning

The FCO currently have a few different levels of travel advice warnings.

• Countries the FCO advises against all travel to
• Countries the FCO advises against all travel to parts of
• Countries the FCO advises against all but essential travel to
• Countries the FCO advises against all but essential travel to parts of

There are a number of different reasons that countries make it onto the FCO site. Some may be particularly volatile, while others may be in the middle of storm season so hurricanes are likely. Wherever you’re planning to travel, especially outside of Europe, it’s worthwhile checking the FCO site before you leave.

Other Ways of Getting Travel Safety Advice

There are a number of other independent websites that provide up to date travel safety advice for travellers. Simply do a search in a reliable search engine such as Google for ‘travel safety advice’ and you will be presented with a number of great sites that can help. These sites not only provide you with information on up to date terrorist threats, but also with new legislation regarding road and travel rules.

You can also speak to your local RAC or AA representative for safety advice before you travel. They should be able to provide you with plenty of information about certain areas or countries. The radio is also a great way of keeping up to date when you’re travelling, so try and find an English speaking station wherever you go and keep that tuned in. It’ll warn you of any travel safety issues that you’re likely to face and should help you avoid them.

Consulates and Embassies

Many countries will have up to date information for travellers at their consulates or embassies. Keeping a note of the address or phone number of these places before you travel is handy as you may need them when you’re out on the road. They’ll be able to alert you to any potentially dangerous areas and will want to ensure your safety as a UK citizen.