Driving in cold, wintery weather can be dangerous

NORTH TEXAS - An arctic blast will move into North Texas in the coming days but AAA Texas urges drivers to prepare now for the possibility of wintery weather.

The number one roadside call AAA Texas receives is dead batteries especially with prolonged freezing temperatures. They urge you to make sure your car battery is good to go and check on it if it's more than three years old.

Drivers should also make sure you check your windshield wipers and the belts and hoses under the hood too—they can take a beating from the cold temperatures.

• Keep cold weather gear in your car such as an ice scraper or de-icer, extra water, food, flashlight and medications. Also keep a blanket in your car in case you happen to get stranded.
• Keep at least a half tank of gas in your vehicle at all times.
• Never warm up your vehicle in an enclosed area such as a garage—it can expose you to carbon monoxide and other deadly gases.
• Make sure your tires are properly inflated and have plenty of tread.

"If you have the original tires on the vehicle you can look at the driver's door jam, don't go off what's on the tire's side wall," said AAA Texas Spokesman Daniel Armbruster. "If your tires are not the factory tires than you need to contact the tire manufacturer to look at what the actual air pressure should be because your vehicle is going to be programmed, even if you have a digital tire monitor it will programmed for the factory tires, not for the upgraded tires."

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If you can, try to keep your vehicle indoors overnight, but do not keep your car running inside.

"Parking your vehicle in a garage or in an enclosed space where it's not out in the elements is ideal but certainly that's not an option for everyone and can cause wear and tear on your vehicle when it's out in the elements especially when you have prolonged freezing temperatures," added Armbruster.

Also, if your vehicle needs repairs or if you need to get a mechanic to look over everything, the best course of action is to do it now and not wait for the freezing temperatures to arrive.