1,000 Roadside Assistance Calls Expected This Bank Holiday

With festivals taking place all over the country, such as ‘Bloom’ and the ‘Cat Laugh’s Comedy Festival’, thousands of cars will be taking to the national roads and motorways for the June Bank Holiday Weekend.

With the extra traffic volumes, Mondial Assistance Ireland, a roadside assistance provider and member of the Allianz Group, is expecting to deal with around 1,000 calls for breakdown assistance on Irish roads this weekend.

According to the Sandyford-based company, some of the most common reasons for assistance requests are punctures or driver errors, such as flat batteries, overheating, running out of fuel and drivers filling their diesel vehicles with petrol.

Worryingly, Mondial Assistance are seeing an increase in more serious faults, often due to smaller ones being left to develop, such as engine coolant leaks that lead to engine overheating. The company are asking motorists to be aware that many roadside assistance or warranty schemes exclude repairs, if the fault is due to a lack of maintenance.

Martin Lyons, Director General Manager at Mondial Assistance Ireland explains: “Some drivers might be tempted to ignore the warning signals, such as flashing lights on the dashboard or having to turn the ignition three or four times before the engine starts. But these indicators are all early warning signals that something is wrong. We would encourage motorists to quickly address any problems which might arise, rather than being tempted to ignore them for as long as possible. This will radically reduce the risk of inconvenience due to a breakdown and reduce the financial burden of repair.”

(BMcN/GK)