Hiring a car while travelling abroad this year? It can be a stressful experience.

As well as needing to adjust to unusual road habits, drivers need to make sure they know local law and familiarise themselves with the workings of their temporary vehicle.

Peter Rodger is chief examiner of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, the UK’s largest independent road safety charity.

Here are his top tips for drivers on how to use in-car entertainment in the safest ways possible at home or abroad, as it can be a possible distraction.

1. If you connect your iPod or phone to your car to listen to music, make sure you have connected the device before you set off. Avoid changing songs while driving as you will be forced to take your eyes off the road. In the US a new ‘two-second rule’ has been developed – any distraction that takes your eyes off the road for more than two seconds will affect your driving.

2. A multi-function steering wheel can be used to adjust the volume or change CDs – if you have this facility use it where possible as it will help reduce distraction. Having music playing too loudly can be a problem.

3. Avoid playing music that makes you drive faster – tunes with a strong, driving beat might make you speed up without realising it.

4. As children can get quickly bored on long journeys, a rear seat DVD player can keep them occupied – but make sure they have a set of headphones so the sound does not distract the driver.

5. Although a Bluetooth feature is available in most modern cars, we strongly advise you don’t use it to talk when you’re driving – research tells us this is a major distraction – and remember, in many countries it’s illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving.

6. If you have an interactive touch screen with an in-built satellite navigation system, programme all your destination details before you start your journey or while you have stopped safely, the same as you should for a portable satnav.

“The pace of development in the field of in-car entertainment has raced forward in recent years,” said Rodger.

“But it’s important to remember that the journey is why you are in the car, and the entertainment should be used to help you make it safely – and never become more important than driving.”