January and February are typically the worst driving months of the year. While we haven't really seen much snow in our area yet, there's plenty of winter left! With weather being a factor in 1 out of 4 accidents, drive with caution and follow these ten tips.
1. Stay at home. Unless it’s necessary, avoid going out if you can. Remember, even if you can drive cautiously in the snow, not everyone else does.
2. Avoid using cruise control driving in wintry conditions. Roads can have sudden slippery spots and a touch of your brakes to deactivate the cruise control may cause loss of control.
3. While most 4x4 vehicles handle better in the slow then cars, they are usually heavier, which means they take longer to stop.
4. The normal following distance for perfect weather is 3-4 seconds; in the snow your distance should be increased to 8-10 seconds.
5. Stay back at least 200 feet from salt trucks and snows plows and don't pass them on the right.
6. Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Applying the gas slowly to accelerate works best to regain traction and avoid skids. Don’t move in a hurry and take extra time to slow down.
7. Because air is continuously flowing underneath bridges, they freeze first. Drive over them with added caution.
8. Don’t stop if you can avoid it. If you can slow down enough to keep coasting until you have to stop - do it.
9. Don’t power up hills. Get your inertia on the flat surface before heading up the hill. As you reach the top, reduce your speed and drive down the hill slowly.
10. Don’t stop when going up a hill. Before going up the hill, make sure you get enough inertia that will give you traction to make it to the top.
Be safe and leave plenty of time to get to where you need to go!