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January 3, 2008

AAA keeps busy helping drivers start cars in the cold

If your car “almost” didn’t start, or you needed a jump to get going this morning, you’re not alone.

Temperatures were in the single digits for the first time this winter, and AAA is averaging about 900 calls per hour this morning.

Think of it as a chance to identify the weak batteries before they’re dead.

“If your battery barely made it today, or we had to come get you started, it’s a good time to make sure that that battery is strong enough to make it through the winter,” David Raposa, spokesman for AAA said this morning.

Make sure your dead batteries are disposed of properly – i.e. not in the trash can. The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation in Johnston takes the batteries for a $6 fee. Or better yet, take dead batteries to a scrap yard to be recycled – and make a few dollars.

Another tip: “There is always that great benefit of slowing down in any adverse condition.”

Intersections can be especially troublesome in the winter, according to Raposa. Roads are most slippery just when ice begins to melt, he said. The constant heat from idling cars ensures that icy intersections are among the more slippery spots on local roads.

So keep an eye open at stop signs, as well as shady areas that don’t look like they get a lot of sun.

“People need to be cognizant,” Raposa said, “That snow covered roads are not the only winter conditions they’ll need to react to.”

-- projo.com staff writer Brandie M. Jefferson

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 10:39 AM | Permalink

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