Safe Winter Driving Tips

"Mom, can I walk to the top of the driveway? You can pick me up there," said my 10 year old daughter on our way to school one morning. Our driveway is 1,000 feet long and straight uphill. As I recently told someone, I think the county engineers used a 2 year old's scribble drawing to establish the county's road map. There are so many turns, hills, and valleys on these roads that my kids have lost their fear of even the biggest roller coaster. In the past year, I have managed to clear a ditch, run a mailman off the road, put food on the table with the deer I hit and successfully mastered the art of parking between telephone poles and road signs. All of this done by a woman in a four wheel drive with a clean driving record for 20 years.

In my opinion, the biggest driving challenge is black ice. Most people don't even realize it is there, until it is too late. Fortunately, this lack of awareness can be fatal. At best, people will find themselves in a ditch, wondering what happened to the steering. To protect yourself, you must be able to spot the signs indicating that black ice may be present. If the road looks wet or there is a shimmer on the pavement with no logical reason, then you are most likely on black ice. When the wind is blowing steadily and the snow is not drifting like normal, black ice may have formed. If you tap your brakes and you don't feel anything happening, you could be on black ice. The best defense is always common sense. SLOW DOWN!! As a rule of thumb, you should drive 10 MPH slower than usual. If you feel yourself sliding, tap your brakes. Don't push the petal through the floor as this will just cause more problems. I know. How do you think I cleared that ditch. Did I mention I was on the other side of it, when the car finally stopped?

Which brings up a good point. There I was, stranded. On my way home from work at 3 AM on a back road with no houses around. Talk about learning the hard way. I sat for a second thinking about all the great advice I had heard through the years about winter driving. You know, what to have in the car. What to do when the unexpected happens. How to use the supplies you packed in the trunk. All those wonderful things that I just blew off. Then it hit me. If my children had not spent the night at their grandmother's, they would have been with me. Oh my gosh! What would I have done? Three little girls, probably in their PJ's,
alone on a dark, deserted road, in the middle of no-where. With nothing. It scared me to death. Almost as much as the tap on the window right then. After the initial scream, I realized it was a deputy sheriff. Boy was I glad to see him. Because of the road conditions that night, the county had beefed up patrol and he was just checking that area, knowing it was bad for black ice formation. I was so blessed.

After that, I was taking no chances. I did a safety check of my vehicle every winter. Better safe than sorry, as they say. The first thing I did was check my fluid levels in the car. The lower the level the higher the risk of fuel line freeze up. Next came the tires. I made sure the spare was aired up. I wanted to, also, make sure the air pressure was right in the other tires. Some people say if you lower the air pressure a little, you may actually get better traction. Personally, I do this. But I couldn't tell you how true it is. Another thing to remember is the tire chains, if you use them. Make sure you can get to them. Along with your jack. Don't forget a small shovel, also. You'd be surprised how well you can dig your way out of some things. After the car is taken care of, then I get my supplies ready. Here is my checklist.

Blankets-one for every one in the car. The kids sit on them to save space.
Change of clothes and if possible, shoes.
Something to eat-High protein is best. The girls like granola bars, so we take those a lot.
Something to drink-bottled water is best.
Paper Towels or Wet Wipes
Kitchen trash bags-if you have to walk, you can put these on between your shoes and socks to keep your feet dry.
Flashlight-you have to see where you are going, or came from as the case may be.
Emergency roadside kit-these even come with first aid kits now. They are great.
Sand-generally two bags work well for added weight. You can through some under the tires to build traction too.
And last but not least...
Cell phone-even if it is a prepaid disposable, it still calls 9-1-1

One last thing, if you are planning a road trip, or have a long commute to work, tell someone your route. Some of the roads we travel are well off the beaten path. If an accident occurs we could go into a ravine or gully at any time. No one would see us. With someone knowing your route and schedule, they have a starting point as to where and when to start looking.

Some of the roads, I won't use during deer season, either. Remember the deer I hit? Yeah. Well. Uhm. It was deer season. This hunter had shot this deer. It was trying to get away and.......well, so much for the deer and the front end of my car. So get familiar with the wildlife in your area. Know where the posted signs are for wildlife crossings. This is especially true if you are a new-comer to the region. There was an incident with a duck once too. But that is a whole 'nother story.