Winter is here and where I live, in Finland, we have just had our first snow with many drivers navigating icy roads on plain summer tires. I was doing a 50 mile trip yesterday, mostly on small rural roads where the snow is not yet spoiled by salt and heavy traffic, and I thought to myself: It’s not really that 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 driving style and you’ll be as safe as on dry summer roads. The danger is when 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 long hours in dark, limited visibility conditions up north plan some more stops to rest.
Rule #2: Be 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 traveling and the car will go where you point the front wheels. When you break or accelerate too much the wheels will lock and lose grip. This turns your car into an object sliding in stead of rolling on the ice, you will have no control over it. It will go straight forward, or if the road is slanted it will slide off the road. 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. 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: Safe Breaking
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 practice 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 the ABS system in your cars users guide.
Rule #5: Safe Acceleration
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! 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. Remember that a rear wheel drive 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. Your 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. I recommend studs if allowed as they are the only way to get some grip on wet ice.
Rule #7: Practice and Learn
If you have a safe place to practice ice driving, do it! Actually trying out how quickly you can stop your vehicle on ice will prepare you for an emergency and give you the gut feeling on how fast you can safely drive on a snow road.
Simon Byholm is the CEO and founder of MilesGallon.com a site dedicated to improving your fuel economy by giving you gas saving tips and providing free automotive calculators.