Get holiday-ready: expert tips to keep your car safe this festive season

As the festive season approaches, millions of South Africans are getting ready to hit the road for a long-awaited December break.

Co-founder of Naked Insurance, Ernest North says data shows a 25-30% spike in accidents over the festive season.

"Road deaths look the same, and the age-old saying of stopping every two hours really is important."

As far as vehicle safety, North says far too many of us are neglecting our car's tyres.

"We often check whether our oil levels and tyre pressure is fine, but not enough people look at the actual quality of their tyres."

North recommends the age-old hack of taking a match and checking whether it can fit within the tread of the tyre to establish if it needs replacing.

"Or go down to one of the tyre stores and ask them to do a check... it makes an enormous difference to the safety of you car."

Where possible, North suggests taking your car to a professional for a full 20-point check which covers things like tyre quality, break pads and oil levels.

"If you don't want to pay R400 to do the full check, the least you can do is check your wipers. I think South Africans are not realisitic enough about how hard it is to drive when we get these big storms."

North warns that failure to ensure the basic checks have been carried out can come back to bite you in the event of an accident.

"When there is an accident, one of the first things an insurer does is look for reasons or indicators that potentially the car had not been maintained well."

To listen to Ernest North in conversation with CapeTalk's Pippa Hudson, click the audio player below: