Guidelines for Participants
These Guidelines were created to
capture information useful to Club Members to make Club Trips safe
and fun. They may be particularly useful to newer Members or as a
reminder to all. The Guidelines will be continuously improved and
your feedback and suggestions are encouraged to make them clearer,
simpler and more useful.
General
Comments
Safety is the prime concern. Obey all
traffic laws (e.g., speed limits, driving under the influence,
distracted driving.) Drive defensively.
Punctuality. Show up on time. Follow
the trip route. Maintain the planned trip time schedule.
Contact the Trip Leader(s) if problems
come up at the last minute and you can’t make the trip.
Prior
to Trip
Ensure that you have a full tank of gas
and air in the tires. Always a good idea to bring a cell phone/GPS
and current map.
Consider getting a Florida Sunpass for
your car. Trip planning emphasis is always on scenic roads, back
roads. However once in a while a toll road might be thrown in
(Sunpass can help with caravaning.) And plans can always change.
Day
of Trip
Check in with Trip Leader when you
arrive at departure meeting point.
Directions. You will typically receive
written directions which may include the name, street address and
phone number of venues and restaurants. In addition, this paper
typically includes the names and cell phone numbers of group leaders
and group sweepers (see Caravaning below.)
Participants Meeting. The Trip Leader
will typically ask folks to gather to review last minute important
info. Please participate and listen carefully.
Turn on your lights (for safety) once
we start out on the trip.
Caravaning
We try and drive as a caravan whenever
possible because it’s fun and there’s safety in numbers. A leader
(first car) and a sweeper (last car) will be assigned. Larger numbers
of participants may be organized into multiple groups (e.g., 10 cars
each) with each group having its own leader and sweeper. They will
typically be communicating via radio to ensure group is intact.
All participants should follow the car
in front of them as closely as possible without tailgating. A rule of
thumb is two second’s travel time (distance of 3 to 5 car lengths)
between you and the car in front. If you are not this close,
gradually increase your speed until you close up the gap. Racing to
catch up with cars in front of you does not help cars behind you.
All participants should also be
monitoring via their rear mirror or their navigator how close the
following car is to them. If the following car is dropping back, the
leading car should gradually slow down until the following car
catches up.
Turns are typically where we can lose
people. Whenever making a turn use your turn signal and please make
sure the car behind you can see your car. Participants should monitor
their rearview mirror to make sure the car following actually makes
the turn. In case the car following misses the turn (goes straight
instead of turning for example) the participant should slow down and
promptly call the leader via cell phone to let him/her know the car
missed the turn. The leader will communicate with sweeper via radio
and they will decide appropriate course of action.
Right turn on red: Depending on the
specific situation, the leader may choose to wait until a green light
to keep the group together.
Two lanes merging into one: The leader
may choose to radio the sweeper that this will be occurring. The
sweeper may choose to pull into the continuing lane early, to signal
upcoming situation.
The leader and sweeper will work
together to reconnect the group after turns, stop lights and stop
signs. The leader may decide to safely pull over to the side of the
road to allow the group to reform; but not on a major highway.
If problems or unplanned/unexpected
events occur, contact the sweeper via your cell phone. The sweeper
may subsequently contact the leader to address situation.
If a car gets into trouble, nobody in
the caravan stops except for the sweeper. The sweeper will ensure
that everything is all right and contact the leader.
If necessary,
the leader will guide the rest of group to a suitable stopping place.
At
the Restaurant
Any major problems with restaurant
food/service, please consider letting the trip leader know. They have
probably been communicating with restaurant Management and might be
able to help get issue addressed.
If trip schedule requires leaving the
restaurant as a group, please expedite calculating the tip/paying the
bill to keep trip on schedule.
Return
Home
We typically do not caravan back to The
Villages and participants are free to do as they wish.
Last
but Certainly Not Least
Thank your volunteer trip leader(s) and
caravan group leaders/sweepers for their time and effort in making
the trip possible and a success.
Seriously consider volunteering to lead
a future Club trip. It’s both challenging and fun. We need a steady
stream of volunteers to keep the good times rolling. Contact Jim
Krysiak or George Nagle for additional information, encouragement and
help in planning /leading trips.
3/1/17