Lonnie's Auto Service Center

One way to avoid a turkey of a Thanksgiving road trip is to make sure the vehicle you will be driving is running well. A 10-minute pre-trip check is a quick and easy way to help avoid the inconvenience of a breakdown many miles away from home, says the non-profit Car Care Council.

Longer days during summer months make dreams of long road trips finally realizable. While long drives get you where you are going, they can be fatiguing.

If you've ever driven west on Interstate 80 through Nebraska, you've seen one of the flattest and emptiest roads in America ... and you probably had some time to ponder life's most important questions. For example, why is the highway called "I-80," anyway? And why do some interstate names have one, two or three digits?

Shorter days, fatigue, compromised night vision, rush hour, and impaired drivers are some of the risks we face when driving at night. These risks become especially pronounced moving into the weekend, with fatal crashes peaking on Saturday nights, according to NSC analysis of NHTSA data.

The last thing any driver needs is a vehicle that breaks down in cold, harsh winter weather. The Car Care Council recommends that car owners follow its Fall Car Care Month checklist and inspect their vehicles before the temperatures drop and severe weather hits.