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What to do While You Wait

While the weather over the last couple days hasn’t felt like it, summer is indeed still here and with that comes a lot of potential for careless driving as people zip through the city en route to a lakeside destination or local festival.

This activity unfortunately can lead to car accidents, and with busy streets it can mean a wait for your tow.

If this does happen to you (and certainly we hope it doesn’t), there are things you should do in the interim:

1> Take photos of your damage. Having photographs that show the damage to your car and the location of your incident will help you if you have to make an Autopac claim. The more evidence you have the better.

2> Take out any necessities. It’s natural to panic, but be sure to remove anything from your car that you may need over the period when you won’t have it, including garage door openers, phone chargers etc.

3> Stay with your car. In worst-case scenarios you may have to go into a business to use their phone or be outside your vehicle if it has been in a severe accident; but you should stay in the vicinity (or inside) your automobile, rather than watching it from afar or thinking that you can duck into a coffee shop. Dr. Hook drivers get to the location of a crash as quickly as possible, so be sure to stay nearby.

Watch The Road, not the Phone

Part of driving in the modern era, or doing anything for that matter, is avoiding the temptation to look at your cell phone.

Whether you’re using it to stream music to your car speakers via Bluetooth, answering calls on speaker or using a map app to find our way to our destination.

Now all of these uses are, to an extent, practical and even necessary for travel in the summer; but having said that, the distracted driving factor isn’t worth the risk of having your phone open beside you.

Wherever possible, have a navigator with you who can handle your phone responsibilities. Yes, it’s hard to cut the virtual chord and we’ll eternally joke about backseat drivers, but we have with our cells but its so pertinent that you are properly driving with your eyes ahead on the action that lies ahead.

At the same time, don’t become dependent on others to guide you – if you’re worried about your ride mate falling asleep during your travels, be sure to have proper apps in place. Make sure your GPS has speech capabilities, that your music app is set with all of your playlists, and for your own sanity put your phone on ‘airplane’ mode. We know it’s hard to ignore the beep of a text or an incoming mail, so best is to completely shut off communication streams – it can wait.

Enjoy the summer weekend and drive responsibly.

Dr. Hook In the Community: Relay for Life

There is no other way to put it – cancer is one of, if not the most scary diseases that one can ever be diagnosed with. Over 200 different strains of cancer have been identified, ranging from prostate, to breast to skin cancer.

It perhaps comes as no surprise then that cancer research is a focus for so many Manitobans, and why the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life has become one of the primary fundraising events of the year.

As described on the Society’s website, Relay for Life ” is an inspirational, non-competitive, 12-hour overnight fundraising event that brings you and your community together to celebrate life and fight cancer. Relay has a festival-like atmosphere that your family, friends and co-workers can enjoy regardless of age or fitness level!”

Just how big is this event? 2012 saw more than $51 million raised across Canada by over 17,000 teams – a phenomenal number, no matter how you slice it.

Dr. Hook was pleased to provide our trucks to deliver gators to the Winnipeg Relay for Life, which took place on May 24. It’s satisfying to know that we played a part in making the event an enjoyable one for all participants, who all told raised in excess of $255,000!

We are extremely proud of our team and the help they gave to the Winnipeg Relay for Life event, and honoured to be given the opportunity to once again provide assistance for a Winnipeg community event.

Tow Your Camper With Caution

Ahh the serenity of summer. Nothing like a trip up Manitoba’s highways with a portion of home tugging behind.

Yes friends, it’s camper season. Our mini mobile homes are ready to get hitched up and tugged to your camp site for another summer of usage.

Of course, the last thing anyone wants is for an accident to strike. As much as it might be satirized in Hollywood, a detached camper that separates from your car or truck mid-haul is a major hazard on the road. Imagine, for example, getting detached on Highway 8 on one of the long stretches of one-lane road. Definitely something to avoid.

So before you load up and hitch up, keep these pieces of advice in mind:

1. Know Your Capacity – not all cars are created equal. There may be weight restrictions on how much your car can tow.

2. Know Your Hitch – Having a stabalizing bar as part of your hitch-up will help you avoid swaying. If you’re like many of us and have tossed the owner’s manual a long time ago, do a quick Google search for it to know what hitch will work best for your car or truck.

And if the worst happens, know that Dr. Hook is just a phone call away. Keep our toll-free number – 1-800-561-4665 – in your contacts list just in case you run into trouble.

We’re Ready This Easter Weekend

We’re in the midst of one of the most unique weeks in Winnipeg’s recent history.

Not only is it spring break for schools across Manitoba, but it’s also Good Friday and Easter weekend upcoming, not to mention Passover.

In combination, this means that traffic patterns are going to, quite literally, be all over the place. Our normal driving routines of 8:30 to work, 5:00 home will be almost non-existent as we go forward with an unusual set of paths – taking kids to the Museum, loading the family in the minivan to head to grandma’s… yep, it’s certainly not business as usual.

Add to this the recent snowfall and melt (hopefully the last for us!), and you’ve got a real mess on our streets and highways, even before the potential for accidents that can stall traffic and make you late for your various events.

At this point we do want to note to you that if you find yourself in an emergency and require roadside assistance from Dr. Hook, we will be available. We are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your needs.

We wish you and your family all the best during this season. Enjoy this time of year with your family.

Be Prepared in Case You get Stranded

Dr. Hook can help you when you have a flat tire. The realities of highway driving are fairly fierce, but they’re a reality for a reason.

As difficult as it is to digest, there always exists the possibility of being stranded – either from your engine conking out, a flat tire or another emergency situation.

Given Manitobans propensity for travel-by-road, it’s integral that you be prepared should an urgent situation come about. Here are a few tips:

1. Make sure you have an emergency kit in your car – At minimum, you should have blankets for warmth, a flashlight with fully-charged batteries, jumper cables, an air compressor, tow ropes, some non-perishable food and other pieces. A power generator isn’t a bad idea either.

2. Load up your phone with the right apps – Calling Dr. Hook is the first step to your roadside assistance (made even easier by our mobile site which you should bookmark!), but a GPS app will make it easier to find you as well. Google Maps, for example, can pinpoint your location pretty accurately, making it easier for you to convey information to us as to your location on a given highway.

The most important thing to do if you get stranded, as simple as it may sound, is to remain calm. Human nature is to panic, but that doesn’t do you any favours in the longrun.

For more information on Dr. Hook roadside assistance, contact us or click here to register for our roadside assistance program.

Dr. Hook In the Community

As a follow up to our series of “In the Community” blogs, we at Dr. Hook have put together a video montage of the events we’ve been proud to be a part of in the Winnipeg community.

Stay Safe this Holiday Season

Winnipeg is unquestionably in the holiday spirit. Whether it’s on the streets or in our homes, the festive season is vibrant and alive in our city.

With the celebration, however, unfortunately comes over-celebration, and that’s when we, unfortunately, have to do our job over Christmas and New Years.

The reality is that no matter how often and how repeated the word is spread by organizations like Operation Red Nose, drivers in Winnipeg aren’t always conscious of how many drinks they’ve had amidst their celebrations and their hazardous effects. They may think that the augment of a healthy serving of food for dinner that their tolerance is bolstered, or they may think that the difference between two and three drinks is minimal.
Combine this with what can undeniably described as treacherous conditions in our city then we have the recipe for disaster in Winnipeg. Single or multivehicle accidents are far too common and can not only ruin a time that should otherwise be peaceful.

It goes without saying that we strongly advise Winnipeg drivers to play it safe and maintain a low consumption of alcohol during the holiday season, but as we stated above there will always be people that don’t heed this word.

So instead, we’d like to remind all drivers in Winnipeg to be aware of the conditions around them. Getting to dinner or a club 15 minutes late won’t hurt you, but being sideswiped will. Don’t rush to get home because of your babysitter – the extra few dollars for them to stay while you drive slowly and carefully far outranks the price to have us come and haul your vehicle away from a crash.

From all of us to all of you, have a happy, healthy and safe holiday season.

Dr. Hook in the Community – Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade

When a call comes from the Winnipeg community, Dr. Hook Towing answers with enthusiasm. We consider it an honour to help organizations throughout our city with their charitable projects that help others. Over course of the next few blogs, we’ll be sharing with you the stories of organizations who we’re happy to support in Manitoba.

There may be no annual event in Winnipeg that is more anticipated by children of all ages than the Santa Claus Parade.

As one would expect, the Parade was attended by thousands of Winnipeg families, with fathers and sons, mothers and daughters and children and grandparents taking in the festivities.

Being part of the Santa Claus Parade was a unique honour for Dr. Hook. As you’ve seen over the last few weeks, we enjoy taking part in activities for the community, be they public or private events; but nothing compares to taking part in the parade. It warms our hearts to have had the opportunity to join with other Winnipeg businesses and organizations for this once-a-year occasion.

Fun Fact

Did you know that the Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade has been running for over a century? It’s true. The first Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade was held in 1909 and was put on by Eaton’s. Along with a parade in Montreal, it was the second in Canada, following the first Santa Clause Parade in Toronto in 1904.

Dr. Hook in the Community – Breast Cancer Awareness

Answering the call of duty is more than just an opportunity to help a Winnipegger in need of a tow – it also gives us the chance to give back to our community and loved ones.

Such an opportunity exists for us this month.

As you may already be aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer currently ranks #2 in leading causes of death amongst women in Canada, accounting for 5,100 passings in 2012 alone. It is also the number one incedence rank. (All statistics courtesy the Canadian Cancer Society.)

Dr. Hook is proud to be part of the fight against this deadly disease. In October, we will have our special pink Dr. Hook trucks on the road. Each time a Dr. Hook pink truck is sent out to assist someone in Winnipeg, a portion of its revenue will be donated to breast cancer research.

So be sure to look out for our special pink Dr. Hook trucks – each time you see it, know that our work is for a good cause.