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Show . I Drivers Warned of Holiday Driving Hazards Christmas trips, slippery slip-pery pavements, and poor visibility can add up to a real triple threat to drivers, according to Fred Montmorency, President Pre-sident of the Utah Safety Council. "Unfortunately, Christmas Chri-stmas so often coincides with the first heavy winter win-ter storms of the season sea-son and neither drivers nor their cars and equipment equip-ment are ready for traveling in this kind of weather," the safety official of-ficial said. Getting your car ready for winter driving is obviously ob-viously the first step, he pointed out. "Make sure your car is in first class mechanical condition, paying particular attention at-tention to those items that affect traction and vision, such as brakes, tires, lights, defroster and windshield wipers. "Good tires with good treads are important all year round, but even more so when pavements are slippery. Snow tires can be a real help for pulling through snow. Studded snow tires, particularly par-ticularly when used on all four wheels, are still better bet-ter for added traction on icy pavements. For severe se-vere snow and ice conditions, con-ditions, however, reinforced rein-forced tire chains are far more effective so be sure they are in the trunk of your car and ready for use before starting out on a winter trip," Montmorency advised. The other added hazard so often associated with winter weather -- Door visibility -- results from longer hours of darkness, rain, snow, frost, sleet and fog, he said. He urged drivers to clear the entire en-tire windshield -- not just a peephole -- and the side and rear windows win-dows as well, pointing out that good visibility to the side and rear is essential essen-tial in today's heavy traffic. traf-fic. "Replace streaking windshield wipers and make sure you have an adequate supply of antifreeze anti-freeze solution in your windshield washers before be-fore starting out on a Christmas trip." Montmorency Mont-morency warned. Finally, he urged drivers to check with the weather bureau, state police po-lice or local motor club before starting out on an extended trip. "If the weather is already bad and reports indicate that more of the same is on the way, it's foolhardy to start out and subject yourself and your family to the possibility of a serious accident," he concluded. |