Anchor: With thanksgiving now in the rear view mirror, the festive season is upon us and the roads are predicted to be more crowed than ever. N-C-C News’s Sam Carter tells us how you can avoid car trouble this holiday season.
Reporter: Last year more than 97 million people will travel more than fifty miles by car during the holiday season. Due to the number of travelers, AAA reports that this is one of their busiest times of year for providing assistance to stranded travelers but they say proper maintenance can prevent you from needing them.
Joe Roberts: So, they go to the store, they to their aunts house, their mothers house and for some reason they have a mechanical failure where that could have been avoided completely if their car was maintained properly.
Reporter: Triple-A of Western and Central New York says they experience there highest volume of road side assistance calls of the year from now to just after the New year. Fleet Supervisor Joe Roberts says there a few places people should focus.
Joe Roberts: Your gonna wanna have your brakes checked by a certified automotive technician to make sure you’re gonna be able to stop when you need to stop. Oil change is another big thing make sure you follow you follow your vehicles manufacturers recommendations for oil change frequency intervals etc. wiper blades that’s another very big item.
Reporter: When you get your breaks and your engine checked out Triple A recommends using a certified mechanic. But, if you want to check your tire tread Triple A says there is one thing you can do at home to make sure your tires are road worthy and it will only cost you a penny.”>
Reporter:To check your tire tread just turn a penny upside down and place it in the tread of your tires if you can see the top of honest Abe’s head it’s time for new tires. Triple A is telling people to get the maintenance done before it’s too late.
Roberts: Avoid the long lines the first day of snow everyone goes and tries to get winter tires put on. You want this done a head of time you wanna stay ahead of the crowd and make sure you’re going to be safe
Reporter: At least one local resident says, she acted early to ensure her safety this holiday season.
Ana Jones: I got snow tires in September and I got rust proofing.
Some of these accidents occurred because of lack of proper maintenance. Joe Roberts, the fleet supervisor for AAA of Western and Central New York in Syracuse, said accidents caused by lax maintenance make up most roadside assistance calls.
“I’d say between 50 and 75 percent of our calls come from improper care of the car,” Roberts said. “They go to the store, they go to their aunt’s house, their mother’s house and for some reason they have a mechanical failure that could have been avoided completely if their car was properly maintained.”
To prevent these accidents, AAA wants people to start focusing on maintenance. Roberts said there are a few key areas that people should focus on to make their cars safer.
“You’re going to want to have your breaks checked by a certified automotive technician to make sure you’re going to be able to stop when you need to stop,” he said. “Oil change is another big thing make sure you follow your vehicle’s manufacturer recommendations for oil change frequency intervals. Wiper blades, that’s another very big item.”
Another element that Roberts also stressed was tire tread. A simple trick that people can do to check if they that adequate tread on their tires is the penny test.
With the penny test, all someone must do is insert an upside-down penny in the tread of the tire. If you can see the top of Abraham Lincoln’s head it may be time to buy new tires.
AAA believes that people need to act quickly to avoid a rush if they want to make the proper adjustments to their automobiles.
“Avoid the long lines. The first day of snow everyone goes and tries to get winter tires put on,” Roberts said. “You want this done ahead of time. You want to stay ahead of the crowd and make sure you’re going to be safe.”
