subject: Five Tips For Safe Winter Driving [print this page] Winter is the time of year when many drivers around the country start to panic and become anxious about jumping in their car and making the journeys that they've made almost every week, without any problems, since last winter.
To some degree, it is understandable, sub-zero temperatures, icy mornings and snowy showers can all make for difficult driving conditions.
However, what you have to understand is that more often than not, the problems of winter driving can be almost completely removed if you plan and prepare, something which these five tips tell you how to do.
1. Consider buying a more suitable vehicle - if you've got a rear wheel drive car or even a heavy front wheel drive car, you're going to find it difficult driving in snowy and icy conditions unless.
The best option is to, for example, walk into Jeep dealers and choose a large, four wheel drive SUV. Buying a more suitable car from Jeep dealers may be an extreme way to go about solving the problem of winter driving, but it will make the whole experience a lot easier.
2. Have a safety pack in your car - you might live in a large town and work in another town only a few miles away, but if a snow storm hits and you get stuck in your car, you need to be sure that you're going to survive for a good few hours at least.
When winter comes around, put together a safety pack of blankets, a torch, food (that has a long sell by date, such as crisps or chocolate) and some bottled water and place it in an easily accessibly area of your car.
If the weather looks particularly bad one day and you have to drive in it, pack a flask as well - a hot drink will do wonders to warm you up should you get stuck.
3. Carry some emergency tools - during the winter months, you want to ensure that your car has a set of jump leads in, should your battery fail and you need a jump start; a shovel, so to be able to remove any snow from around your wheels in case you can't get moving; a snow scraper to clear any excess snow from your windscreen and windows; de-icer to aid with the last point and windscreen washer fluid so that you can top up in the middle of a journey if need be (driving in snowy conditions without enough washer fluid can be extremely hazardous).
4. Go back to how you used to drive - everyone has the knowledge of the way they drove when they were first learning and the safest way to drive in the snow is by following this knowledge.
By not accelerating harshly, use your gears and natural gradients of the road to slow down and manoeuvring firmly but slowly, you should be able to drive on any journey in the winter without risking skidding or sliding unnecessarily.
5. Learn how your car handles - if you have an open piece of land that you can practice on, whether it's a private piece of your own land or your work car park after everyone has gone home, try driving normally on it after it's snowed or if it's icy.
You're likely to slide around, but this is exactly what you're after, as after a few minutes of doing it, you'll begin to get a feel for how your car performs in the snow and ice, which is something that is extremely useful when you're actually out on the roads.
