Winter Driving Advice – 7 Tips For a Safe Ride
Where I live, on the west coast of Finland, winter just arrived with the first real batch of snow. This means slow traffic as many vehicles haven’t been switched to snow tires this early in the season.
I was doing a 60 mile trip yesterday, mostly on smaller rural roads where the snow is not spoiled by salt and heavy traffic, and I though to myself:
It’s not really dangerous or difficult to drive on slippery roads as long as you know what to do and when, you just have to adopt a different style of driving and you’ll be as safe as on dry summer roads. The danger is if you apply a summer driving style to winter roads.
Rule #1: Slow Down
Don’t expect to reach the same speeds on a winter road as you do in the summer. Plan you trip to take longer and if you drive for long in dark, limited visibility conditions up north plan for more resting time.
Rule #2: Be Really Soft on The Pedals
Keeping your car on the road requires that the wheels have grip, that they are rolling at speed you are travelling.
When you break or accelerate too much the wheels will lock and lose all grip.
With no grip your car will slide straight forward and in the direction the road is slanted, down a ditch.
Accelerate and break like you had an egg under the pedal, really softly, and you’ll have a lot more grip to play with.
Rule #3: Keep Your Distance and Slow Down in Time
One of the most common accidents at winter is to drive into the car in front of you when it’s breaking and you notice too late.
The only way to avoid these accidents is to keep a good distance of 100-600 feet to the car in front of you. If the car in front of you slows down, you should slow down in time so you can keep the distance.
Always slow down when you come to a crossing, even if you don’t see any other cars near. This way if there’s a surprise you will still be able to stop.
Rule #4: Break Safely
If you lose control when breaking it’s usually because you locked the wheels of your car by breaking too much. If you find yourself sliding for a ditch or slowly starting a spin just release the breaks for a second or two to regain control and then continue breaking..
Sometimes the only way to avoid a accident is to not break at all and instead steer clear of the obstacle. This method do require some practise though as the instinct is to push the break pedal as hard as you can.
If you car has an automatic braking system (ABS) it will take care of releasing the breaks for you, letting you steer and break at the same time. There might be times though, on really slippery wet snow, when the ABS system won’t be able to fully control the car. In that case just release the breaks yourself to regain control. Read more about your ABS system in your cars manual.
Rule #5: Accelerate Safely
You car can either steer or accelerate. If the road is dry there is enough grip for both acceleration and steering at the same time, but as the road gets icy you need to choose one.
When you go through a corner, don’t accelerate as you need the grip to stay on the road. If you need to accelerate and the bend is light you can do it slowly, but if you lose grip stop the acceleration.
Remember that a rear wheel car with the wheels spinning will tend to go into a dangerous spin while a front wheel drive car will go straight ahead with the wheels spinning.
You’re car might have a traction control system (TCS) that will make sure you don’t lose grip while accelerating. You will find more information in your cars manual.
Rule #6: Use Good Snow Tires
If your snow season is longer than a month you would do well getting snow tires. They will shorten your breaking distance and help you keep control of the car on slippery surfaces.
You may also want to check your local laws and regulations in case snow tires are mandatory, and if snow tires with studs are allowed or not.
Rule #7: Practice and Learn
If you have a safe place to practice ice driving, do it! Nothing can prepare your for an emergency like trying to break and avoid an obstacle on a slippery surface.