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VERIFY: Does adding sandbags in a trunk help increase traction?

The answer? It depends on the type of vehicle you drive.

QUESTION: Does adding sandbags in a trunk help increase traction?

ANSWER: If your car has front-wheel drive, the sandbags will not help increase traction. If you have rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive, it will slightly increase traction.

PROCESS: CBS19 fact checkers spoke with Justin Pettway, a diesel and gas technician at All Tune and Lube in Tyler, Tex. Pettway told CBS19 putting sandbags in your trunk will only help increase traction if your car has rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive.

"Not if you have a front-wheel drive," said Pettway. "If you have a four-wheel drive then sure, front-wheel drive it's not going to matter where you put them because you have all the weight of the engine up front and sandbags don't weigh half of what an engine weighs."

He said for the sandbags to make a difference, you would need enough of them to weigh more than a few hundred pounds.

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