Hampshire road safety expert gives his advice this 'Manic Monday'
The AA says they're expecting around 22 million people to use the roads today
A Hampshire road safety expert's giving his advice on how to keep safe on the roads this 'Manic Monday'.
'Manic Monday' is the first working day of the year for many and is predicted to be one of the worst for breakdowns according to the AA.
It comes after cars have sat idle on driveways over the Christmas period, with many batteries running flat or taking longer to start.
Rob Heard MBE, a Hampshire road safety and former Road Safety Sergeant for Hampshire and Thames Valley Police, said: "Unfortunately, a lot of people have left their cars parked up over the Christmas period and when they come back to getting into their vehicles to get back to work, they find the batteries may be flat.
"Or they might find when they do get going, the roads might be icy and slippery.
"We'll also end up with a lot more vehicles on the road, and with so many people trying to get to places, it can build up frustration, too.
"It can be quite a stressful time for many."
The AA estimates around 22 million people will be travelling on our roads.
They say last year, the first working Monday (6 January) saw 27% more breakdown requests compared to Monday 3 February.
On an average day, around one in five breakdowns are due to starting problems, but on the first day back to work, The AA anticipates this to rise to one in three.
Mr Heard is sharing his advice if you do breakdown.
He said: "If you do breakdown, remember that heat is not likely to be working in your vehicle.
"So what we'd recommend is to make sure you've got a blanket, maybe some dry shoes because we are going to get some snow.
"Maybe if you're getting out to walk around and you get back into the vehicle, you're going to need a dry set of socks and shoes.
"If you are getting out and about, we'd always suggest you're using fluorescent bibs or something like that to be much brighter to be seen.
"Make sure you've got a mobile phone charger because quite often we'll go out and rely on the car to charge, but sometimes just having aa backup is better because we rely on that so much to help us to call for assistance."
He's telling us what to do ahead of getting in the car.
He said: "We'd recommend checking your battery just to make sure it is fully charged.
"Go out and start the car and warm it up a bit, move it around a little bit and drive around the environment where you are, just to get it warmed up and working properly.
"Batteries only tend to last around five years in maximum length.
"What we do find is that many people will use those batteries over and over again many years, and as soon as the cold comes, that's the time where if we've got our vehicle sat up and not moving often, the batteries will be killed as a result.
"We can also be making sure that our windscreen fluid is topped up.
"I would really recommend you don't just put water in it because if you suddenly have to use it, especially with all the extra salt on the roads at the moment, and it can be quite slippery.
"We might get that coming onto the windscreen and we need to clear it, but if we've just got water, it's going to freeze against the windscreen.
"Make sure you've got some sort of setting or buy fluid from a garage."
Mr Heard's also advising us to check our tyres to ensure they'll manage on icy roads, and to check our bulbs are working correctly.