RICHMOND, VA-(WTVR) When the white fluffy snow falls, the phones light up at AAA Mid- Atlantic.
For the tow truck drivers there has been no shortage of calls. They say when the weather gets this bad, what they like to stress to drivers is the importance of having a roadside emergency kit handy.
An emergency kit. A safe driving strategy.
AAA Mid Atlantic wants all drivers to be armed as winter weather rolls through. Not everyone has gotten the memo. The snow is making driving tricky for some. That means an extra busy day for AAA tow truck drivers like Mike Klevesahl. He always comes to the rescue.
"No matter how bad the roads are, if they're out there we try to get to them" Klevesahl said. By early afternoon Wednesday, that amounted to more than 576 emergency roadside calls across the Commonwealth, with hundreds more expected by the evening.
While hustling to each call, Mike has his own safety top of mind.
"Just watch all the side streets. I watch for people who come up on the stop signs and then get on their brakes. You have to use defensive driving. People will slide right through the intersection in front of you" Klevesahl said.
While Mike and other two truck drivers do their best to rescue the stranded, they say they need drivers to do their part of keep roads safe.
One way, AAA Mid Atlantic's Martha Meade says is to clear your vehicle completely before you head out.
"We've all been driving down the road when a huge chunk falls off from the car in front. That can be deadly. If it is ice, it can crack your windshield or cause someone to lose control. "
Meade also reminds drivers who may find themselves stranded that AAA's response time for pickup is always longer during a winter weather event.
"Normally we try to respond to a member's call within forty-five to fifty minutes. On a day like today, it could be several hours because of the volume of calls and having to drive slower with all the accidents and traffic" Klevesahl added
