By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The extreme Arctic temperatures and winter weather conditions have wreaked havoc on vehicles in the past week.
"AAA is obviously known for our roadside service, roadside assistance," said Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas. "Many people have been using it this week. Our call volume is double what it was."
AAA Kansas reports that its emergency roadside assistance towing and battery service crews responded to 1,313 rescue calls during the week of Feb. 8-14, a 101% increase from the week of Feb. 1-7.
"It's been really busy," Steward said. "We're trying to get out as quickly as possible to help everybody who needs assistance on the roadside. We don't want to have people stuck out there too long in these cold temperatures."
Of those 1,313 service calls, 999, or 76% were for dead car batteries or other cold weather engine failures that required the vehicle to be towed.
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