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Show Safety Tips for Holiday Trips Holiday trips and winter win-ter weather often make a deadly combination, according ac-cording to Darcie H. White, Vice President, ' U'tah Safety Council. "It's an unfortunate fact of life in this cli- mate that many holdiay trips coincide with our worst winter weather," White said. "We can expect ex-pect poor visibility and occasional slippery pavements pave-ments to put a damper on many holiday trips, particularly for motorists mo-torists who are not prepared." pre-pared." He urged motorists to take extra precautions before starting a trip at this time of year to help counteract winter weather. weath-er. "First of all, make sure your car is in A-one mechanical condition, paying particular attention atten-tion to the electrical system, sy-stem, brakes, tires, lights, heater-defroster and windshield wipers," White advised. As far as traction equipment is concerned, he said that at the minimum min-imum motorists should have good tires with good treads. "Adequate tread depth is important all the year round," the safety official said, "but even more so orvslippery pavements." pave-ments." Citing the National Safety Council's test findings, find-ings, he pointed out that conventional snow tires are helpful in providing traction for mild-to-medium snow and ice conditions, con-ditions, that studded tires offer still more help on icy surfaces, particularly when used on all four wheels, and that reinforced reinforc-ed tire chains are far more effective in deep snow and glare ice. "Whether you use regular re-gular snow tires or studded stud-ded tires, it makes good ' sense to carry a set of chains in the trunk along with a bucket of sand, a shovel, tow chain, booster cables, a blanket and flares or other types of emergency lighting equipment." White cautioned. cau-tioned. "By being prepared pre-pared for the worst, you can keep a simple breakdown break-down from becoming a tragedy." The safety official added add-ed that drivers should check all equipment having hav-ing to do with visibility headlights, tail - lights, turn signal indicators, defrosters, windshild wipers and washers. "Finally and perhaps of most importance," he concluded, "study your proposed route in advance, ad-vance, check on weather reports, get adequate rest before starting, and schedule sche-dule your driving so that you can stop every few hundred miles for a soft drink or coffee." |