Ahead of a busy weekend with holiday travel, CHP Bakersfield reminds drivers of safety tips to ensure you can get to your destination safely. In the extreme heat, they say extra water is a must.
- Video shows local California Highway Patrol sharing safety reminders for the busy and hot travel weekend.
- Before heading out, make sure to check your car's fluid levels and tire pressure, and pop an emergency go-bag in the backseat.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
You may have heard of winterizing your vehicles, but what about summer-izing them? Here in Bakersfield and other areas of Kern County, the winter months aren't our biggest concern, but rather our very hot summers. Ahead of a very busy weekend for holiday travel, it's important to make sure your car is ready to hit the road safely.
AAA projects around 60 million people will travel by car nationwide this week, and here in Kern County, we have another factor to consider: excessive heat during the latest heat wave.
I spoke with CHP Bakersfield’s public information officer Tomas Martinez. He says that in the summer, the heat can drive up calls for service.
“Their vehicles [are] overheating. Make sure your fluid levels are good. Your coolant, your oil pressure and your tire pressure as well," Martinez said. "A lot of times we do have those tire blowouts in the heat just because of the tire friction heating up against the concrete asphalt. Those tires that aren’t properly inflated do tend to have more tire blowouts in the area.”
After checking your fluid levels, tire pressure and filling up on gas, Martinez recommends packing a go-bag. In this extreme heat, he suggests bringing extra food and water. If you're heading out after commuter traffic, he advises bringing other essential items.
“If you do travel at a later time, make sure you’re taking flashlights, maybe some flares if you have some and also some jumper cables in case your battery dies,” Martinez said.
If you do have to stop or pull over during this hot weather, Martinez suggests finding a shady spot off of the freeway to do so. From now until Sunday, CHP is on a maximum enforcement period locally and across the state.
“During this time, we’ll have all available CHP officers here in the Bakersfield area as well as statewide out there," Martinez said. "[We’re] trying to make sure that commuters are getting to their destination safely, as well as looking for those impaired drivers. We don’t want those impaired drivers to one, injure themself and also maybe injure someone else. We’re out there looking for the safety of everybody.”
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