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Video: Emergency Preparedness

CARS.COM — Be prepared. It’s the Boy Scouts’ motto – but it oughtta be the motorist motto, too. According to AAA, you’re likely to be one of the 1 in 3 drivers who face a breakdown or similar situation each year. And disasters come on all sorts of days, not just clear, blue-sky, 70-degree days with lots of people around.

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If you find yourself stranded on that proverbial “dark and stormy night,” you’ll thank your lucky stars you assembled this emergency-preparedness kit.

Here’s what should be in it:

  • A wheel wrench and car jack to change the tire if your car came with a spare
  • Battery jumper cables
  • A tool kit or multipurpose tool
  • A flashlight, along with backup batteries
  • Reflective triangles so oncoming cars can see you
  • A compass
  • A fully stocked first-aid kit
  • A blanket
  • Nonperishable food such as unsalted nuts and dried fruits
  • A car charger for your phone
  • A fire extinguisher
  • Duct tape because, of course
  • A rain poncho
  • Cold-weather tools including a snow brush, a small shovel, windshield fluid, warm clothing and cat litter to help with tire traction
  • And emergency contact numbers for family, roadside services and your insurance provider

If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, keeping a well-stocked emergency kit in your car … can save you a ton of stress.

Watch the video above and be sure to catch it Saturday morning on TV. Check for local airtimes here.

Assistant Managing Editor-News
Matt Schmitz

Former Assistant Managing Editor-News Matt Schmitz is a veteran Chicago journalist indulging his curiosity for all things auto while helping to inform car shoppers.

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