Safe Winter Driving Tips - How to Drive in Bad Winter Weather

Ok here is the most obvious safe driving tip for Snow or Ice covered roadways. Stay at home! Don't put yourself and your vehicle in danger if you don't have to. Unless it's an emergency or you just have to drive to get to work then stay at home. Plan ahead, if they call for snow or ice, stock up on groceries and or medicine you need, and stay at home.

If you know you will have to drive on bad highways, plan ahead. Make sure your vehicle is in good condition for winter driving. Make sure you have antifreeze in the car. Also all fluids need to be checked. Any belts need to be checked, really important if you have one belt for anything. You don't want that breaking and stranding you on the side the road on a cold snowy day. Also brakes and tires need to be in good shape. If you live in an area that has lots of snow, go ahead and get some winter tires that do better in snowy conditions. Also make sure you have plenty of gas.

Make yourself aware of road conditions. Have on hand a website and or phone number to check local driving conditions. It will save you a lot of trouble if you know in advance that a road you need to go on is closed. Also make sure if you have a cell phone that is is fully charged. Put extra warm clothes in the car. Don't wear a lot of clothes while driving that can restrict your movements. Put a thermos of hot coffee or coco in the car and some food; in case you run off the road or something and have to wait several hours for help to arrive.

A winter emergency kit is a great thing to have. Put it in the trunk of the car and leave it there. Some items to have in it are a space blanket, ice scraper, a shovel, a bag of sand to pour under tires for traction. Other items would be a tow rope or chain, booster cables, flashlight and batteries (fresh) bottled water, a first aid kid and matches.

If you do go off the road and can't get out of the ditch or whatever, be aware of your surroundings. If it's a busy road and other cars are sliding, it may be best to get out of your car if it's not so cold that it would be dangerous. If you slid another car can in the same place and slide into you. If you get out of the car, go behind it and get a safe distance from the road. Don't stand in front of it, as it can be knocked into you by another car. Keep an eye on traffic to see if you need to get out of the way of another sliding car.

The most important thing to know about driving on slick roads is keeping a steady speed. Not too fast or too slow. If you have to brake or speed up it can make you skid. Keep a big following distance behind any cars in front of you. Run your emergency flasher lights in low visibility conditions. You want to make sure you're seen by fellow motorists.

If you start to skid, don't panic, and don't stomp on the brakes as this will make a skid worse. If the rear end of the car slides turn the wheel in the same direction the back of the car is skidding in, this will straighten out the car. Turn away from the skid and you risk spinning the car all the way around in the road. And always take you foot off the gas if your skidding.
If you're driving uphill try very hard not to stop, it's difficult to get started again, and you may well slid backwards down the hill. And be very careful on bridges and overpasses as they get slick before the rest of the road does. The day or days after a winter storm can be just as dangerous. Black ice where the road looks dry but is slick, can catch you off guard. If you see a place with a lot of trees next to the road, it will probably still be icy as the sun does not get to those shaded areas, as well to thaw them out.

But once again the best thing to do in winter weather is keep at home. If your one of these guys who loves to get out and play in the snow and watch wrecks, stay at home and watch it on TV.