Tips for Winter Driving

Road hazards are something that exist year-round in Cape May County, but with the winter season approaching, a shift in the type of hazards have begun to occur. Hazards such as pedestrians and summer traffic have departed us, and black ice, snow and cold rain have replaced them. But have no fear. Avoiding these hazardous conditions isn’t difficult. There are several easy techniques that most major insurance companies as well as The Weather Channel list in their guide to safe driving in hazardous conditions, and they’re relatively simple to follow.
First and foremost, you need to ensure that your vehicle is prepared for wet weather driving conditions. Regularly checking your headlights, windshield wipers, and tires are essential in ensuring your safety.
Be sure your headlights are functioning properly, and that your windshield wipers aren’t leaving streaks or missing portions of your windshield. Also, be sure that your tires are fully inflated and have adequate tread. While the idea that if you can see Abe Lincoln’s head on the penny when you stick it between your treads means that you need new tires may be an old wise tale, it’s pretty accurate. The better your tread, the better you can control your vehicle.
Not surprisingly, rainy or wet weather conditions require a slower speed than normally traveled at. With rain or wet roadways, puddles can form on the roadway, causing slick road conditions and the potential for hydroplaning. By reducing your speed, more of your tires’ tread is making contact with the surface, increasing your traction.
Increased stopping distances are required in wet weather, so the lower your speed, the easier it will be for you to make a sudden stop if needed. Even following a period of rain, engine oil and other liquids absorbs by the road come to surface, creating a slick condition that requires increased stopping distance.
Skidding is also a serious issue while driving on wet roadways. If you begin to skid, don’t lock your brakes up, but rather ease off the gas and on the brake to prevent a sudden momentum change and loss of even more control of your vehicle. Turn the wheel in the direction of the skid and slow your vehicle until you regain control.
Finally, puddles of water on roadways can create quite the driving hazards. Judging the depth of sitting water is a difficult task, and cars can handle only a small depth of water before serious issues arise for both the vehicle and its occupants. A good rule to follow is that if you can’t tell a puddle’s depth from simply looking at it, don’t drive through it.
Lastly, if heavy rain and winds are making visibility so little that you can barely see the lights of the vehicle in front of you, it doesn’t hurt to pull over and wait for the storm to break. Wherever you’re traveling to probably isn’t worth your life, unless you’re headed to the emergency room, in which case you should be in an ambulance anyway.
Of course black ice is a hazard as well, as it can sneak up on drivers without warning, and snow doesn’t need to be present for black ice to become an issue. Black ice occurs when wet surfaces freeze over or refreeze after prior melting periods, although it doesn’t appear as a wet spot on the road by rather as a darker portion of the pavement.
Striking black ice can be a scary situation for any driver, but a few simple steps can be taken to prevent a major accident. First and foremost, take your foot off the gas pedal when you begin to lose control on what you believe is black ice. Contrary to some belief, speeding up won’t make you get over the black ice any quicker or regain control. If you’re sliding on the ice, your tires are moving too quickly to regain traction. Begin coasting to reduce your speed.
At the same time, don’t slam on your brakes. Locking up your brakes won’t stop your slide, and you’ll lose even more control of your vehicle. Fight the natural instinct to slam on the brakes, instead gently tapping them a series of times to slowly bring your speed down.
Following these suggestions may seem minor, but the easy tips could save you hundreds in repairs and an insurmountable value of potential emotional damage. Stay safe.
Knoll, 21, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at beyondtheflamescmc@gmail.com. He is a student at Rowan University.