More drivers asking to have their vehicles boosted due to frigid temperatures, says towing company

A towing company owner on P.E.I. says he's gotten more calls for help this winter due to frigid temperatures that have been lingering longer than usual.

Nick Haddad, the owner of Nick's Towing in Charlottetown, said many people have been getting their vehicles stuck, and others are needing a boost because of dead or reluctant batteries.

"Towing gets really busy when it's really cold out. There's boosts non-stop, day and night. And with the heavy snowfall and the heavy wind, it just keeps you going all day and all night, too," he said. 

From Sunday morning until Tuesday morning, different parts of the Island were hit with varying levels and types of precipitation. RCMP serving the province said they had responded to 14 vehicle collisions between noon on Monday and 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, with no serious injuries being reported.

Haddad said when one of his employees answers a call from someone whose vehicle needs help getting started, the first step is to ensure it is indeed a boost that they need. Then a booster pack is used to get the motor to turn over, and the driver is advised to get their battery checked.

"The colder it gets, the more calls we get," he said. 

'The phone rings non-stop'

On a regular day, Haddad said he could get 20 to 25 calls daily, but since Monday night, he said he's received 40 to 50 calls if not more.

The phone rings "non-stop" during a typical snowstorm, he added.

"You kind of have to answer three lines at once, and you gotta know where to send people when your phone is ringing non-stop," Haddad said. "You try and prioritize the emergency ones first, and then, once they're all handled, you kind of work on the non-emergency ones."

They could be there for hours if nobody can get to them... Stay home until they start plowing the roads.— Nick Haddad, owner of Nick's Towing

He said the wait times for assistance on Monday night averaged out to within 45 minutes, but the wait can be up to two hours for those stuck in more rural areas of the province. 

If there is a lot of snow, Haddad said people shouldn't be out on the roads in the first place.

"They could be there for hours if nobody can get to them," he said, advising drivers: "Stay home until they start plowing the roads."

Safety taken into consideration

When responding to calls, Haddad said he and his colleagues also need to consider their own safety.

"When you can't see and the visibility's zero, like I said earlier, some of the roads you can't even get down because the snow's blowing that hard, and you've got some drifts that are five, six, seven feet high. So it's almost, you know, safer not to go, get ourselves stuck…

"If it's too windy or visibility's zero, we kind of wait it out until the weather gets a little nicer. That's all you can do."