Winter has actually hit everybody strong this year and that resulted in chaos on the roads everywhere. If you live in any of those places where winter causes numerous difficulties, you need to know how to adjust your driving to lower your risks for accident, and therefore for any serious injury.
As any experienced driver can tell you, first and maybe the most important thing you can do to prepare your vehicle for winter is to get winter tires. They are much softer compared to summer tires and they stick to the slippery surface much better. If you fail to do this, not even our tips for driving on snow and ice will help you much.
Accelerating and braking
When it comes to acceleration and braking, you have to be very gentle, if you press on the gas pedal or the brake pedal harder than you should, tires will lose traction.
If you do this while accelerating, you’ll just get stuck and you’ll have to dig your way out of the snow. If you brake hard, tires will lose traction and the ABS will activate, but the car will slide and it will take you lot longer to stop.
This will get much worse in case your car doesn’t have ABS because wheels will lock and it will slide like it’s on skis.
Even if you have ABS, you can do something which will shorten the braking distance – you can tap on the brake pedal. This will improve braking distance significantly. One of the most important things you need to pay attention to is braking when you approach intersection. You need to start braking much sooner because the surface is especially slippery in those areas due to constant braking by other drivers. Also if you drive manual, you can brake by lowering the gears.
Cornering
When you are cornering, make sure that you adjust your speed before you get to the corner, do not accelerate or use the brakes because the car will skid which could result in serious accident. Also do not make any sudden movements with steering wheel because that could also result in loss of traction. Always anticipate your next move, so if you see a car in front of you, even if it’s far away, start adjusting your speed right away, don’t wait to get close to it.
Few tips which could save your life
It is always smart to keep your tank full, so in case you get stuck somewhere you can keep warm for a while. Also, you should keep some canned food, some water, lighter and some blankets, just in case. Two more very useful things that could save your life are shovel and candle. Shovel will come in handy if you get stuck, while in the worst situation, candle will raise the temperature in the car noticeably, so you’ll be able to survive until the help arrives. Remember that tire chains or Autosock, could be essential in the worst possible situation.