Are you planning a trip for the holiday? Maybe you’ve opted to skip the groping and full-body scan at the airport; you’ve decided to drive.

Good choice – you’ll save money and avoid the embarrassment. Of course, you’ll want to drive smart. In other words, you want to make sure you arrive in time for the opening of presents and the Christmas feast. There’s never a good time to find yourself stuck on the side of the road. Christmas Eve and Christmas, however, are particularly bad days for such an event.

First of all, you’re usually going somewhere special on a day such as that. Any other day, you might be late for work or miss an episode of Dancing With The Stars. But holidays, such as Christmas, only come once each year.

Second of all, though we’ve had a mild winter so far, the weather can turn. There’s word that the weather may have snowy plans for us already. Dangerous wind chills and deep snow drifts can make mechanical failures an adventure and, potentially, hazardous.

The third reason you don’t want to breakdown on a holiday is, just as you have holiday plans, the folks who work on cars, vans, SUVs and trucks, like to kickback with friends and enjoy the season, too. Finding an auto repair shop that can work on your car Christmas Day is unlikely, at best. Even finding a tow truck is problematic on a holiday.

The best answer is proper maintenance. If you take care of your vehicle, it’s more likely to take care of you, too. That’s not an absolute guarantee you won’t have a car problem but it does shift the odds strongly in your favor.

When a car has a breakdown, most of us assume it’s an unexpected event. Truth is, as with anything mechanical, if it’s not properly cared for, breakdowns are normal. A factory has a maintenance staff to look after its equipment because management knows machines will break. A non-functional machine is a liability for the company. No one is making money on the machine when it’s idle.

A vehicle is a machine that provides transportation. When a punch press at a factory breaks, no one has to call a tow truck and no one is stuck on the side of the road. When your car breaks, there’s a good chance your away from home and you will need a tow.

Denny Norton, the owner of Ringwood based Performance Unlimited, wishes you a happy and safe holiday season.