Cerro Gordo County Sheriff says check your vehicle before heading out on vacation

MASON CITY — In about a month, schools will start their new school year, and that means plenty of families will be heading out on vacation in the coming weeks. If those trips are by car, you need to make sure your vehicle is in the best condition.

Cerro Gordo County Sheriff David Hepperly says a quick and simple check of your car can give you peace of mind as you head out.  “The most important thing is for vacations, you want to make sure your vehicle is road worthy, especially the long trips. You want to make sure when you are heading out that your vehicle is road worthy, all the equipment is working properly, and that just makes it safer for everyone, most importantly the people in your vehicle.”

Hepperly says one of the biggest issues they see on the road is people driving with poor tires.   “It’s amazing some of the accidents that we investigate just the poor condition of some of the vehicles. The number one thing is people just need to be mindful, it’s a safety factor for themselves and the other people operating on the road also. A lot of times we run into vehicles in very poor condition and that leads to during the investigation we can tell that’s a key part of why the accident happened.”

It’s also important to make sure you check ahead for road construction, which you can do by heading to 511ia.org.