Tips for avoiding car trouble as the bitter cold grips North Texas
NORTH TEXAS — The frigid temperatures in North Texas this week can cause a variety of car problems, from dead batteries to flat tires.
Roadside safety services crews with the North Texas Tollway Authority spent Monday rescuing stranded drivers.
They patrol NTTA's 1,200 lane miles 365 days a year, 24/7 to keep people safe and to keep traffic moving, but the dangerous cold brings a new set of challenges.
"We get a lot of people who don't realize that in the colder temps, their air pressure goes down and, they're riding on basically flat tires, and then they end up having incidents with their tires," said Kareem Williams, a roadside safety services manager.
He helped change the tire of a woman whose tire blew out.
"Oh, she was crying actually," Williams said. "She was very scared. It is not fun sitting on a side of a road with cars going by you at 70 miles an hour. It will scare anybody."
That's why Williams said if you do have to pull over on the highway, go to the right shoulder. Activate your hazards, stay in your vehicle with your seatbelt on, and call 911 if you feel it's an emergency.
"And we will dispatch somebody out to help you because you are not safe on a shoulder," said Williams. "You are not safe on the side of the road at all."
Williams expects to see an increase in calls like this in the coming days.
"Please, please, please make sure you have enough fuel to get where you're going because with these temperatures it doesn't take long before your car becomes an ice box and it becomes a dangerous situation for you," he said.
Patrol crews say it's a good idea to put extra clothes or blankets in your car if you're going to be driving this week. If you do get stranded on the side of the road without heat, you can use those to stay warm.
If you run into trouble on any of NTTA's highways, you can call #999 for free roadside help.
"There's a lot of thankless jobs out there, but this is not one of them," Williams said. "This is a job where we get a thank you every single day and we enjoy it. That's why we're out here."