Six Questions You Need To Ask Yourself Before Setting Of On A Journey In The Snow

No matter how good of a driver you are, driving in the snow can be completely unpredictable

. You might feel like you're driving perfectly fine but you could hit a patch of snow and be sent into a few seconds where your car is uncontrollable.

And then there are the scenarios of getting stuck in your car in the snow, both temporarily and for several hours.

The best way to ensure that you're ready for driving in the snow, irrelevant of whether you're going for a 10 minute journey or a 3 hour one, is to ask yourself the following five questions before you set off.

1. Have you chose the most appropriate car? - if you're tempted to head out in the car you've just bought from Maserati dealers, for example, as you might think slipping and sliding around is fun, try and refrain from doing so, especially if you've got a four wheel drive car at home.

In order of best suitability for the snow, generally speaking, four wheel drive cars come first, followed my front wheel drives and ending with rear wheel drives.

As a second option and in terms of transmission, manual should be chosen over automatic, where possible.

2. Is every fluid topped up? - from petrol right through to windscreen washer fluid, it's imperative that each fluid in your car is topped up fully.

And this isn't just for long journeys, either - it might only take you 30 minutes to drive to work normally, but if the snow is particularly bad, you could end up idling and crawling forward for hours, something which could use up all of your petrol, for instance.

3. Are your tyres and windows in the best condition? - the two things that you're going to rely on, you need to clear each window on your car before you set off and check that your tyres are not only correctly inflated, but have at least 3mm of tread left on them.

4. Have you got food, drink and extra layers? - should you breakdown, you need to ensure that you could survive in your car in the sub-zero temperatures relatively easily.

Pack some food and drink to keep you from becoming hungry or thirsty and have some extra layers to hand so that you don't get too cold, something which is easily possible if you're stuck for several hours.

5. Have you got the appropriate winter tools? - when travelling in the snow, it's advisable to have in your boot a shovel, jump leads, windscreen washer fluid and a scraper.

You might think that it's being over cautious, especially if you've got membership to a national breakdown service, but during times of extremely bad weather, it could take hours for them to reach you if you breakdown and therefore the best option could be to try and get back on your way yourself.

6. Is your mobile phone charged up? - going on the assumption that you're carrying a mobile phone with you (if you don't have one, it's recommended that you invest in even a cheap one for during the winter months), it's important that it's fully charged up before you set off.

If you breakdown and you can't get going again, the mobile phone will allow you to alert the most appropriate people, whether that's a national breakdown service or a family member.

by: Steve Carr

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