Keep a grip on winter driving hazards

By Staff Sgt. Ashley Williams

75th Security Forces Squadron

November 24, 2010

Winter is the most difficult driving season. Not only do you have snow and ice to deal with, but there are fewer hours of daylight as well.

As winter weather arrives, make sure your vehicle is in good condition. Make sure you have good snow tires and put them on early to avoid preventable accidents -- you don't want to get caught without them in the first snowfall. Never combine radial and non-radial tires on the same vehicle. On front-wheel drive cars, it's best to put snow tires or "all-season" tires on all four wheels, not just the front.

If you must drive, clear the ice and snow from your vehicle, all windows and windshield wipers. Be sure the windshield washer reservoir is adequately filled with a freeze-resistant cleaning solution.

Drive slowly. Even if your vehicle has good traction in ice and snow, other drivers will be traveling cautiously. Don't disrupt the flow of traffic by driving faster than everyone else.

In a rear-wheel drive vehicle, you can usually feel a loss of traction or the beginning of a skid. There may be no such warning in a front-wheel drive, however. Front-wheel drives do handle better in ice and snow, but they do not have flawless traction, and skids can occur unexpectedly. Don't let the better feel and handling of a front-wheel drive car cause you to drive faster than you should.

Despite a popular misconception, the best approach to recovering from a skid is the same for both front and rear-wheel drive vehicles. If your rear wheels start to skid:

Turn the steering wheel in the direction you want the front wheels to go. If your rear wheels are sliding left, steer left. If they're sliding right, steer right.
If your rear wheels start sliding the other way as you recover, ease the steering wheel toward that side. You might have to steer left and right a few times to get your vehicle completely under control.
If your car has an anti-lock braking system (ABS), keep your foot on the pedal. If not, pump the pedal gently, pumping more rapidly as your car slows down. Braking hard with non-anti-lock brakes will make the skid worse.

If your front wheels skid:

Take your foot off the gas and shift to neutral, but don't try to steer immediately.

Topics: Hilltop Times, winter driving

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