AAA East Central has reported a significant increase in emergency roadside assistance calls following last week’s snowstorm, with calls doubling as motorists struggle to dig out from the snow. The club has fielded over 37,000 service calls across its territory, including West Virginia and Ohio, from Saturday to Thursday, marking an 80% increase compared to typical winter figures. Many of these requests have involved dead batteries.
Jim Garrity, director of public affairs for AAA East Central, said, “At this point we are in excess of 40,000 calls, and the majority of them have been dead batteries. Behind dead batteries, we’ve had a lot of people we’ve had to tow on the side of the road but also a lot of people we’ve had to extract from situations like people that may have slid off the road when the roads were slick.”
According to research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, about 46% of all crashes involving bad weather occur during the colder months. Garrity recommends several safety tips for motorists, including starting cars in well-ventilated areas to check for battery issues, slowing down, not tailgating, avoiding cruise control on slippery roads, and turning against skids. He also advises carrying an emergency winter weather kit and using AAA’s app for roadside assistance.
Comment with Bubbles
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
“It’s a very convenient way to call for roadside assistance and monitor the progress of that assistance,” Garrity said. “It’s a very unique situation that requires some serious consideration behind the wheel, so that you are keeping you and everyone around you safe.”