AAA helping motorists stuck on the road during the extreme heat

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - The last thing you'd want to happen when you are out in the blistering heat is to have your car break down.

Right now, AAA Arizona says they're busier than ever, responding to more than 900 calls a day so far this week, which is 100 more than usual.

"The call volume that we're seeing today is simply because it is very hot outside," said AAA Arizona Spokesperson Michelle Donati.

AAA officials say many car break downs they're seeing in the heat are tires, batteries and over-heated engines.

"If you have a vehicle and there's any system or component of that vehicle that is already stressed, the triple digit temperatures can cause that to fail," said Donati.

The scraps of tires people see on streets are known to some as "Road Alligators".

"They look like the piece of an alligator's back. But you think of a system like battery failure," said Donati. "That's going to cause an inconvenience, but it might not be as dangerous as say blowing a tire on the freeway. That can be a really dangerous situation."

So if anything else, people should check their tires.