How To Stay Safe While Driving in Snow: A Winter Guide

E very year, 116,800 people are wounded in accidents related to the snow. If you live in a cold area where it snows quite a few inches, you need to know how to stay safe while driving in the snow. Use the following winter guide to stay safe if you drive after it has snowed or when it is snowing.

Do Not Go Out Unnecessarily

It's probably the best idea to abstain from unnecessarily venturing outside if it's snowing. It doesn't matter whether or not you can drive well during bad weather conditions, you should still only go out when absolutely necessary. Do you really need to get snacks from the grocery store? Probably not. Make do with what you have at home, and if you can't, ask yourself if you would go out in pouring rain without an umbrella to get what you want. If your answer is no, it probably isn't necessary to get it.

Drive Slowly

If you do have to go out, be careful with your speed. Drive as slow as possible, because slow and steady wins the race. Do keep in mind to slow down so you can account for the low traction that occurs when one drives on wet roads or snow. The slower you drive the easier it will be for you to brake, thus reducing your chances of slipping the car and having an accident.

Brake Properly

Braking is one of the most important parts of safely driving in the snow. Regardless of whether or not you have antilock brakes, keep your heel on the floor of the car. Using your foot's ball, apply a lot of steady and firm pressure on your brake pedal. This will ensure timely braking so you don't crash into other cars or things around you.

Decelerate and Accelerate Slowly

If you want to avoid skidding, be sure to slowly apply gas so that you can regain traction that you've lost due to the snow. The worst thing you can possibly do in the snow is trying to be fast, so please do not hurry as you move. Do take your time and slow down at a stoplight if you see one. Do not forget that it takes a longer time to decrease your speed on ice than it does on a normal, dry road.

Slow Down Instead of Stopping

If you can avoid it, try not to stop anywhere. It's going to take a lot of power to start your engine once your vehicle stops as compared to the power it'd take to speed up if you're slowed down. If you see a traffic light on the stop, try to slow down a bit earlier than when you reach the light, so that by the time your car gets to the traffic light, it isn't on stop anymore and you can simply speed away (but not too fast!).

Increase Your Following Distance

If you're driving behind another car, make sure that you increase your car's following distance by five or six seconds, so that you have an additional margin of safety if you need to stop. A longer distance will give you a long time to slow down, which you will need because cars take longer to slow down when the road is wet.

Do Not Stop on a Hill

Getting your vehicle's inertia to get going once you've stopped is hard enough, but when you add a hill and a wet road to the equation, it gets worse. Try your best to not stop if you are going up on an elevating height, only slow down if need be but try to keep a constant speed.

Do Not Apply Extra Gas on a Hill

Powering up on a road that is covered with slow will not do you any good, it will only get your wheels to spin. It won't take you forward. Inertia will take you forward, so try to get a bit of inertia before you climb up a hill and allow that inertia to help you move up to the top of the hill. As you arrive at the top of the hill, lower your speed, and drive down at a low speed too.

If you must go out during icy weather, know how to stay safe while driving in snow. Not only will it help you drive better and keep your car in better shape, but it will also likely save your life and save you from being stranded in the middle of nowhere.