Survival Strategies for Summer Travel

While we can't solve any sharing wars that erupt in the backseat or limit the number of rest stops, we can recommend strategies for making summer vacation travel memorable for the right reasons:

Have wings on different days. If you suffer from motion sickness, avoiding greasy, salty, and spicy foods on the day you're traveling may help you avoid feeling "green" while en route. (In fact, cut the greasy food altogether and your partner will love you for it -- honest.) Your stomach might also feel better if you limit dairy. Definitely rule out alcohol and smoking since they'll make symptoms worse.

Make backseat drivers (and riders) buckle up. Not only for their health, but also because beltless backseaters turn into projectiles in an accident, increasing the speed at which heads and chests heave forward during head-on collisions. Translation: More-severe head and chest injuries.

Be open (and closed) at the right times. When your vehicle has been sitting in the sun, the air quality inside of it could be hazardous due to unhealthy organic compounds released by car components. Crack the windows and doors for a minute before you get in, and lower the windows as you hit the open road. Just close them again in heavy traffic to reduce your exposure to car emissions.

Don't use your fingers to Twitter or dial! Driving while phoning makes your crash risk four times higher than when you're not on a call. Cell-phone headsets don't necessarily make driving and gabbing any safer, because talking on the phone and Twittering in your car interfere with your visual attention (and you need all the attention you can get in order to drive safely, even if you've been driving for years).