A Rough Start | Video

Van Tieu | 1/21/2013

It`s the season for car troubles, and with the extreme cold weather this morning, today was one of them.

Melissa Wetch was unable to move on with her day when her car battery lost the battle against the frigid air. "When I went out to my car, it just wouldn`t start! Just clicking noises!" she said. "It`s really cold. I`m excited for summer."

She wasn`t the only one. Towing companies have had a busy morning helping stalled drivers like Wetch to jump start her car, and her day. When cars don`t start, L&J Motors gets five to ten calls a day, but today, they got 30 calls before noon.

"Oh yeah, it`s been busy. It`s been cold. When the temperatures drop like it did, we plan to be busy. I got eight calls today since I started at 8:00 this morning," said Jeremy Christmann with L&J Motors.

For a North Dakota native like Christmann, jumping cars in the middle of January is to be expected, but he does have some prevention tips. "A block heater. Plug your car in, a garage is the best way to go, but not everyone can have a garage. A block heater is probably about the only thing you can do."

A safety tip: if you`re jumping a car in a garage, remember to back it out for ventilation, as carbon monoxide can be a silent killer.

That`s also a good reason to keep jumper cables and other winter driving tools in your car, you never know when it`ll happen.

COMMENT ON THIS STORY