Posts Tagged ‘winter driving tips’

Tips And Reminders When Driving During Winter Season

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Winter driving can be hazardous and demanding. Wind, snow, snow and blizzard conditions improve the normal dangers of traveling. There is a lot you can do ahead of the winter driving period and during a storm to safeguard yourself and your family. Extra Wide Calf Boots

 

Ahead of winter arrives, get your car inspected to be certain it is ready to the road conditions. You can do this yourself or go to a qualified auto technician. Check the battery, wipers and fluid, thermostat, brakes, ignition technique, antifreeze, exhaust system, lamps, oil level, heating unit and defrosters. Make sure things are in good working order to keep a person safe throughout the winter.

 

Check your tires to be certain they are road set. Install tires which might be appropriate for the driving a car conditions. In moderate amounts of snow, all weather radials will do the job nicely. If you live in a weather where you experience plenty of snow, consider excellent skiing conditions tires. These get better tread to deal with snow and ice.

 

Prepare a crisis kit to keep at the back of your car. This will make sure that you are prepared in the event that you will get stuck in the excellent skiing conditions. Things to include in your kit:

 

Ice scraper

Small broom

Tiny shovel

Kitty kitten or a bag involving sand (to give traction force if you get stuck inside snow or ice)

Blankets or a sleeping bag

Flashlight with batteries

Flares or perhaps warning triangles

Plastic hand bags

First aid kit

Tool kit

Jumper cables

Bright cloth to use as a flag

Help sign for back window

Extra cap and gloves

Water and food to sustain you if you get stuck

A magazine, Bible or Prayer Charge cards to keep you busy and calm in the event you get stuck.

Charged cell phone (usually carry this, specially in the winter)

 

Keep your gas tank at least half full at all times. This adds weight to the car and may ensure that you won’t run out of gasoline in the event you get stuck.

 

Traveling in the Snow

Take notice of the weather forecasts and also road conditions in the winter months months. If the weather is bad, stay home if at all possible. If you must head out, travel in the daylight. You are more likely to seek help if you get stuck throughout the day. Never warm up your automobile in the garage. This produces carbon monoxide, which is poisonous and can kill anyone.

 

When driving, always wear your seatbelt. Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from the glare of the sun reflecting off of the snow. Know your automobile and how it manages in the snow. Characteristics like traction control and also antilock brakes can be useful within bad weather conditions. Recognize how these work and if your car is new, apply driving it in a very snow covered parking zone before venturing out on the path.

 

Take it slow, especially in frozen conditions. Don’t tailgate and ensure to allow a safe distance between vehicles. Try everything slowly, stopping, quickly moving and turning. Keep plenty of time and space to maneuver. Sliding as well as skidding usually happen whenever turning, stopping as well as accelerating. Going extra slow will ensure your own safety.

 

If the awareness is low, slow even more. Consider getting away from highways and driving a car even slower. This will take you out of the way of large trucks that can cause accidents. Use only your current low beams, as the high beams will certainly reflect back off the snow and won’t enhance your visibility. Turn on your current hazard lights to be sure other drivers see you.

 

In the event your car becomes stuck, don’t get out. Set up the hood and tie your towel to the antennae. This will make an individual more visible in order to emergency vehicles along with other drivers. Keep the house windows, air grill and also tail pipe free from snow. Wrap up within blankets and huddle on top of passengers to stay comfortable. Run the heat regarding fifteen minutes each hour to maintain from freezing. Move your body around to be warm.

 

Keeping your car clean throughout the winter is important. Salt on the roads is important regarding safety, but can wreak havoc on the finish. If left on for too long periods, it can cause rusting. Wash your vehicle once a week to remove salt as well as wax to protect the particular paint. Salt in addition leaves a covering on your headlights that may impair their functioning. This will make you a smaller amount visible to other automobiles. New Lite Headlight Cleaner and Restorer will return the lighting to like new issue.

Safe Winter Driving – 7 Tips For a Safe Ride

Friday, February 5th, 2010

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.

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:

There’s really no added danger driving in snow conditions. You just need to have a sound understanding of how the car handles on a slippery surface and adjust your driving style accordingly. The danger is if you apply a summer driving style to winter 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

To keep your car on the road you need grip. When the tires have grip they roll at the speed you’re travelling and the car will go where you point the front wheels.

On slippery roads if you press the gas pedal hard to accelerate, or if you try to break aggressively your wheels will lock and they lose 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 solution is to always maintain a good distance to the car in front, 100-600 feet depending on your speed and read conditions. Keep the distance big enough that you will be able to stop in case the car in front breaks.

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..

Many times you can avoid an accident or reduce the damage by releasing the breaks and steering clear of the obstacle you are about to hit, maybe hitting a snow wall or some bushes instead. This method do require some practise though as the instinct is to push the break pedal as hard as you can.

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. 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 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 front wheel drive car will lose grip in front and unable to turn it will go straight where it’s heading.

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 have a much more stable handling on winter roads and reduces the breaking distance significantly.

Check your local laws and regulations to see if snow tires are mandatory and if you are allowed to use tires with studs.

Rule #7: Practice and Learn

The best way to learn winter driving is to find a safe place where you can practise breaking and sliding! Actually trying out how quickly you can stop your vehicle will prepare you for an emergency and give you the gut feeling on how fast you can safely drive on a snow road.

You can find more tips for safe and fuel efficient driving at the fuel economy tips blog at MilesGallon.com