WINNIPEG – Many drivers are calling for help Monday morning because their cars won’t start after a frigid weekend.
“It feels like déjà-vu from December,” said Liz Peters, CAA Manitoba’s communications manager. “So many people’s batteries are kaput.”
People are calling for boosts for their batteries and for tows, Peters said.
The wait for a tow was six to eight hours on Sunday and Peters expects they’ll receive more calls Monday.
“That’s when everybody’s calling,” she said.
People don’t drive as much on the weekend, so their cars don’t warm up during extreme cold, Peters explained.
The low Saturday was -37 C, just 0.8 degrees above the record for that date. Only Dec. 31 and Jan. 5 were colder this winter. The wind chill bottomed out at -50 on Saturday at the Richardson International Airport, Environment Canada temperature data show.
An unusual number of people needed tows over the weekend because their batteries couldn’t be brought back to life, Peters said.
A battery that has died needs recharging with a trickle charger, she said. It can take two or three hours to recharge a battery by driving, but plugging into a trickle charger will also bring it back, she explained.
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