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Safe-T Buzz Tip: Driving on Snow and Ice With the holidays ahead, winter weather is sure to follow. The NTTA’s safety experts have offered tips for driving on treacherously slick roads. Of course, the best advice for driving in bad weather is not to drive at all, if you can avoid it.
“Never venture out until the sanding trucks have had a chance to do their work,” said Marty Legé, the NTTA’s director of system and incident management. “Allow yourself extra time to reach your destination.”
To stay safe, follow these tips:
- 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 lower gears to keep traction, especially on hills.
- Never use cruise control or overdrive on icy roads.
- Be especially careful on bridges and overpasses, 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.
- Do not pass 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 the vehicle’s 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 are sliding right, steer right.
- If your rear wheels start sliding the other way as you recover, ease the steering 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—this is normal.
If the vehicle’s front wheels skid:
- Take your foot off the gas and shift to neutral, but don’t try to steer immediately.
- As the vehicle slides sideways, they will slow the vehicle, and traction will return. As traction returns, steer in the direction you want to go. Then put the transmission in “drive” or release the clutch and accelerate gently.
If the vehicle gets 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 vehicle out.
- Pouring sand, kitty litter, or salt in the path of the wheels will improve traction.
- Try to rock the vehicle (check your owner’s manual first—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.
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