Winter Car Emergency Kit

How To Equip Your Car For Winter Weather

When driving in the St. Louis Metropolitan area during the winter months, it’s important for drivers to be prepared with a winter car emergency kit built for every situation. The worst case scenario you’ll most likely run into is getting stuck in traffic or perhaps your vehicle slides off the roadway and you have to wait several hours for help to arrive.

Whatever the occurrence may be, you’ll be better prepared to deal with it if you have the following items in your car:

• at least a half tank of gas
• cell phone and emergency charger
• flashlight with extra batteries
• first aid kit
• ice and snow scraper
• battery jumper cables
• road flares
• a brightly covered cloth to use as a flag
• necessary medications
• bottled water
• blankets and/or sleeping bags
• a loud whistle
• non-perishable food items
• extra mittens, socks, warm caps, rain gear, etc.
• a small sack of sand or kitty litter to use for traction under your wheels
• small shovel

If you’re driving in a more rural area, you may have to survive for several days until help arrives.

If so, you should pack these additional items in your winter car emergency kit:

• a small candle and matches/lighter to melt snow for drinking water
• a metal container to hold the snow
• a large plastic garbage bag
• toilet paper and other personal hygiene items

(List provided by the Missouri Department of Transportation)