Do you have any advice for driving in icy / snowy conditions?

Akira

Driving safely on icy roads:

Decrease your speed and leave yourself plenty of room to stop. You should allow at least three times more space than usual between you and the car in front of you.

Brake gently to avoid skidding. If your wheels start to lock up, ease off the brake.

Turn on your lights to increase your visibility to other motorists.
Keep your lights and windshield clean.

Use low gears to keep traction, especially on hills.

Don't use cruise control or overdrive on icy roads.

Be especially careful on bridges, overpasses and infrequently traveled roads, which will freeze first. Even at temperatures above freezing, if the conditions are wet, you might encounter ice in shady areas or on exposed roadways like bridges.

Don't pass snow plows and sanding trucks. The drivers have limited visibility, and you're likely to find the road in front of them worse than the road behind.

Don't assume your vehicle can handle all conditions. Even four-wheel and front-wheel drive vehicles can encounter trouble on winter roads.

If your rear wheels skid:

Take your foot off the accelerator.

Steer in the direction you want the front wheels to go. If your rear wheels are sliding left, steer left. If they're sliding right, steer right.

If your rear wheels start sliding the other way as you recover, ease the steering wheel toward that side. You might have to steer left and right a few times to get your vehicle completely under control.

If you have standard brakes, pump them gently.

If you have anti-lock brakes (ABS), do not pump the brakes. Apply steady pressure to the brakes. You will feel the brakes pulse â€” this is normal.

If your front wheels skid:

Take your foot off the gas and shift to neutral, but don't try to steer immediately.

As the wheels skid sideways, they will slow the vehicle and traction will return. As it does, steer in the direction you want to go. Then put the transmission in "drive" or release the clutch, and accelerate gently.

If you get stuck:

Do not spin your wheels. This will only dig you in deeper.
Turn your wheels from side to side a few times to push snow out of the way.

Use a light touch on the gas, to ease your car out.

Use a shovel to clear snow away from the wheels and the underside of the car.

Pour sand, kitty litter, gravel or salt in the path of the wheels, to help get traction.

Try rocking the vehicle. (Check your owner's manual first â€” it can damage the transmission on some vehicles.) Shift from forward to reverse, and back again. Each time you're in gear, give a light touch on the gas until the vehicle gets going.

ig6t4or9

No sudden moves. Accelerate, turn, and brake slowly.

Tom H

give yourself a lot of time to get moving, stopped and slow down for turns.if you skid let off the gas and gently turn into it.

korgrue

Yeah drive slower, and start to stop at least 2x earlier than you would on dry roads.

Also slow down a lot before making turns.

Murcie_LP640

All-wheel-drive and front-wheel-drive cars fare better in wintery weather than rear-wheel-drive, but other than that just gently apply the accelerator until you get some bite in the tyres and move off. Be gradual with your braking to prevent lock-up of the wheels and be gradual and controlled with your steering. All-in-all slow, precise driving is your best option to stay on the road in winter conditions.

Nathan M

Well drive slow. If you have winter tires you will have a significant amount of traction on snow but be careful, if there's ice underneath the snow braking distances can be extremely long.

So basically allow yourself braking distance drive slower and slow for turns.

GEE-MAN

drive slow keep away from steep hills and don't brake hard give ya self plenty of time .

ibuildfuru

1. Keep your speed down at least 10 mph less than normal conditions.

2. Keep your distance larger from cars in front of you. On the highway stay back from cars that tend to cluster together, giving yourself room all around in case you slide.

3. If you sense a slide, take your foot off the accelerator and move your steering wheel into the slide to keep your car from fish tailing the other way. When you feel the car get straight again, tap your accelerator lightly and you should straighten back out. NEVER step on the brakes, which will have you sliding more as the wheels lock on the ice.

4. Be aware of "black ice" which is when water from melting on the road during the day freezes at night, it looks like water but is actually a mini ice rink. This is why you should slow down even if the road doesn't seem caked with snow or white ice, if freeze-thaw conditions are going on and the road isn't well salted, you will find black ice.

5. Be careful when the temperatures drop below 0, oftentimes some salt mixes used by road crews will lose their ability to melt the ice as it just freezes back as quickly, this can make for tricky conditions.

6. Stay home in bad conditions unless you must go out and if you have to drive (like commuting) make sure you allow yourself and that your awaiting loved ones allow you ample time to get home safely, you won't make any appointments or dates if you are at the hospital.

After reading some others, I'd like to agree, 4 wheel drive or front wheel drive vehicles will not help you on ice or packed slick snow, you will slide anyway.

You can "test" the road conditions by tapping your brakes and seeing how you slide in an area where you have some sliding room. You can do this gently on the highway as well, of course, with caution.

I second also the advice about not charging in front of a plow in bad conditions. The driver may have to make a turn or adjustment you didn't anticipate and not see you sidling up along, the plow can often obstruct your view as it throws snow along the side and of course, you may end up losing control in conditions worse than what you left with a plow truck and a row of cars coming up behind you.

Also, if you commute a long distance everyday, have in the trunk of your vehicle during the winter:

- jumper cables
- a small bag of calcium chloride pellets with a scoop or can
- a functional spare tire
- a tire iron and functional jack
- road flares or reflective triangles
- an old blanket (good for throwing in front of an icy spot to get out of, throwing on the ground to kneel on to change a tire or god forbid, to wrap yourself in while you wait for help.
- a flashlight with functional batteries
- a portable snow shovel

If you have to dress up for work or another occasion, have a pair of warm boots in the car just in case you end up outside your vehicle. No use being hampered by or suffering frost bite due to fancy shoes.

well it would seem this is the only way of getting anywhere tomorrow- all transport is down!

I would advise sticking to well used roads as they are likely to be gritted where as side roads may not be or may become icy after later snow.

I would also advise driving very slowly- ignore the idoits who rev you, if they are in such a hurry they should have gotten up earlier!

And also look on the website for public transport in your area- I don't know where your from but it must be the UK as your asking about snow, well the London Transport site also has pages on it for roads and will give info on closed roads and congested roads.

MickeyT

Braking on ice(without ABS) - You can mimic the behaviour of ABS, it's usually called cadence braking or dab braking. Obviously as said you need to allow much more room to stop in. Very gently push the brake pedal, if it locks then immediately release it, wait maybe half a second and then repeat. You can keep 'dabbing' the pedal because so long as you release it immediately if any of the wheels lock then the wheels will turn again and you should (hopefully) regain control. Do your utmost to avoid having to brake and turn at the same time. Never brake hard. The best advice for driving in ice/snow has already been given - don't if you can avoid it.

Aston.M

Slow and steady.

Nathan

Yeah..
DON'T!!!

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