Winter Driving Tips
1) Road and Weather Conditions
Plan your journey carefully and check weather conditions before
you leave home. Listen out for any weather warnings and be prepared
to delay or even cancel your journey until conditions
improve.
2) Check your Vehicle
- Look after your car and keep it regularly serviced.
- Flat batteries account for one-in-five winter breakdowns – keep
yours fully charged and replace it if it’s unreliable. Most
batteries last around five years.
- Check tyre pressures and tread depths regularly to reduce the
chance of an accident on icy roads – you need at least 3mm depth in
bad conditions.
- Check anti-freeze in the radiator and replace if
necessary.
- Check windscreen wipers for wear and replace if necessary.
- Ensure there is plenty of fluid in the washer bottle to keep
windscreens clear of snow, ice and rain.
- Regularly clean lights and mirrors as dirty ones make it hard
to see or be seen, especially in the low winter sun at this time of
year.
3) Take an Emergency Kit
- Ice-scraper and de-icer
- Mobile phone, well charged
- Details of breakdown service membership if applicable
- Torch plus spare batteries
- Blanket and warm clothes
- Food and warm drinks
- Shovel and walking boots
- Jump Leads
- A First Aid Kit is essential.
4) Driving in ice and snow
- Check for snow on the roof of your vehicle before you drive off
(using a sweeping brush or broom is a handy way to clear it off)
and make sure that windows are clear of ice so that you have good
all-round vision.
- Drive on snow as it you are trying to walk on eggs without
breaking them. When on the flat stay in as high a gear as possible
as it will reduce the chances of accelerator movement leading to
loss of traction.
- When travelling downhill, use the lowest gear possible to
minimise the need for breaking, e.g. descend the hills in 2nd
or 3rd gear. This will hold a vehicles speed, thus breaking is
not required so much.
- Rather than start off in first gear, start in second and
do not apply the accelerator but instead slowly let out the clutch
as this will prevent wheel spin.
- Respect the weather: if snow is forecast, before you set off,
ask yourself if your journey is really necessary. If it is, ensure
that you have plenty of fuel, and if you can, put a shovel and some
matting in the boot. You may not need them, but together with a
vacuum flask and a warm coat, they can make all the difference if
you do get stuck.
- A mobile phone and membership of a breakdown service are both
godsends in bad weather conditions. If your journey has been
delayed due to the snow, do not try to make up time by driving
faster; find somewhere safe to pull over, ring ahead and then
concentrate on driving safely.
- Except in extreme cases, motorways are kept free of snow and
ice by gritter lorries. They same is not always true of slip roads
and hard shoulders, while bridges are particularly susceptible to
re-freezing after the initial snow has melted.
- Pay close attention to the road surface. If you keep to the
left hand lane when snow starts to settle, the weight of traffic
will tend to clear the surface. Likewise avoid the right hand lane
which will always be the first to become impassable.
- When snow or slush accumulates in ridges between lanes, avoid
putting your wheels on these unless you absolutely have
to.
- In winter watch out for black ice on the roads, which can look
like puddles of water.
- As a general rule, drop your speed and allow a greater stopping
distance when the weather conditions are deteriorating. Aim to use
your controls with extra smoothness when the road surface is
slippery. It takes ten times longer to stop in icy
weather.
- You'll find driving easier if you drop tyre pressures all round
by 2psi below normal.
5) If your Vehicle starts to Skid
Do not brake heavily – press the clutch and turn the steering
wheel into the direction of the skid. When the vehicle straightens,
steer along the road. Use the highest gear that you can to
help avoid wheel spin.
6) Driving in fog
Drive slowly and use dipped headlights so that other vehicles
can see you. If visibility is less than 100 metres use fog lights,
but switch them off when visibility improves so that drivers behind
are not dazzled !!
Above all, take your time,
take precautions and take care this winter!
Please do not become another
accident statistic on our roads this year.