November 17, 2007 by Simon
Winter is here and where I live in Finland we have
just had our first snow with many drivers on slippery
roads on plain summer tires.
Yesterday I was doing a 60 mile trip on smaller
rural roads where the snow had not been melted
away by heavy traffic and salt, summer tires
still on, and I thought 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.
Rule #1: Slow down
Whatever you do you can never reach the same speed
on a slippery road as on a dry one. Always plan
for lower speeds and longer travel times.
Rule #2: Be really soft on the pedals
Normally your car is rolling on four wheels, this
makes it possible to steer it in different directions
with your steering wheel.
On slippery roads if you press the gas pedal hard
to accelerate, or if you try to break aggressively
your wheels will lock.
This turns your car into an object sliding in stead
of rolling on the ice, you will have no control
over it and it will go straight forward, or if
the road is slanted it will slide off the road
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 solution is to always maintain a good distance
to the car in front, 50-300feet depending on your
speed. 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. If there’s a
surprise you will still be able to stop or turn
if you go slow enough.
Rule #4: Break safely
If you lose control when breaking you will have to
quickly and temporarily release the breaks, get
control, steer the car in the right direction
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.
If your car is equipped with automatic breaking
system (ABS) it’s often better to just break and
let the car maintain control. But if it’s really
slippery even your ABS might lose control and in
that case do as above, stop breaking for a second
or two and then when you’re in control try breaking
again. Read more about your ABS system in your
cars manual.
Rule #5: Accelerate safely
Basically your car can either steer or accelerate. On
dry roads there is enough grip to both steer and
accelerate at the same time, but not on snow and ice.
Never accelerate when the road is turning, you need
your grip to handle the turn. If you have to accelerate
do it slowly and if you lose grip pull back a little
on the accelerator until you regain control of your car.
When accelerating too aggressively a rear wheel drive
car will lose grip at the read with the risk of spinning
around while a fron wheel drive car will lose grip in
front and unable to turn it will go traight where it’s
heading.
In case you’re car is equipped with a traction control
system (TCS) it will help you maintain control during
acceleration. You will find more information in your
cars manual.
Rule #6: Use good winter tires
If you have snow and ice for over a month during
winter, consider getting good 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, or
if snow tires with spikes are not allowed at all.
You can get good snow tires at a great price
from The Tire Rack, they have a good selection
of tires, wheels, brakes, suspension and other
peformance products
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
slippery surface.
In another blog post from this fall I teach how
to save gas during winter, read that post for simple
ways to save gas when it’s cold.
To learn your true gas mileage try the free gas
calculator we have at milesgallon.com
