Johnsburg schools are about to open and that means you have work to do getting your brood ready for another school year. Don't let an automotive breakdown disrupt your already busy schedule.

Whether you have a toddler heading to Ringwood School Primary Center, James C Bush Elementary School, Johnsburg Junior High School or Johnsburg High School, this is the time of year that you’ll be heading out to do all that back-to-school shopping. In fact, with new clothes, backpacks, pens, folders and whatnot, you’re liable to be rather busy.

When you’re busy, so is your vehicle. And if you have a young athlete in the family, a member of the school band, or an aspiring thespian, you may have additional shopping to do getting your boy or girl ready for the Johnsburg school year ahead.

All that running around, along with the customary trips you make to work, to the grocery store, to the salon and other stops you make along the way, add up quickly. It’s going to be hectic out there, isn’t it?

What would happen to your frantic schedule if the car broke down? You’re on your way to Walmart for school supplies and the engine coughs. Then it starts running rough. Then it dies and you, hopefully, are able to coast over onto the shoulder of Route 31.

Maybe you’re heading out of town to a store that has the fashions your child just must wear when they walk down the halls of Johnsburg High School? Suddenly, you feel a thump below the car, the volume of the engine increases substantially, and you hear something dragging under the car. You’ve dropped a muffler, and you’ll need to stop on the side of the road.

What if your brakes fail? Hopefully, the worst that will happen is you’ll be stuck on the side of the road again (and not in an accident). Maybe your brakes will simply start making a crazy scraping noise.

What if your car’s engine overheats. The engine light comes on and you see smoke coming out from under the hood. This is another way you could find your travels interrupted.

Whatever might happen to your vehicle, no doubt, you’d rather avoid it. And, most likely, you can.

To avoid the extreme frustration of a breakdown during the busy back-to-school season, you’ll want to know that your vehicle is ready for the frenzied activity that will have you running. The solution is proper maintenance.

Have the oil changed, if it’s due, and/or otherwise have it checked out to make sure everything is in good operating condition. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”