Winter driving part 4

Winter driving preparations

Welcome to the final part of the winter driving blog. We are giving you tips and advice during winter 2011, here we will look at the impact of snow and ice, hills and automatic cars…

Snow & Ice
Bringing your car to a stop in snow in ice takes considerably more stopping distance, as much as tem times more! Remember that gentle manoeuvres are crucial to safe stopping and don’t ever slam brakes on hard.

If your wheels spin in first gear, try second gear. Slowly easing the clutch should give you extra purchase with the road.

In dense, dangerous fog it’s a good idea to drive with the window down and the radio off. This will help you to hear traffic ahead of you and anticipate problems like speed bumps.
Wear comfortable shoes that have a good grip to avoid your foot slipping on the brake when you need it. Use a rug or an old blanket under the wheels to aid you when stuck in snow or ice.
Hills

Anticipate uphill and downhill situations and leave lots of room between cars in front. You should maintain a constant speed and by selecting the most suitable gear in advance will save you having to change up or down a gear on a hill.

Automatics
Let automatic cars do the work for you. Often they are programmed to avoid first gear in winter conditions by selecting ‘winter’ mode and which reduces wheel spin. In particularly bad weather choose ‘2’ which reduces the gear changes and makes you less reliant on the brakes. Consult your manual for more advice on getting the best from your automatic gearbox.
Stay safe this winter by reducing your speed, allow extra time for your journey and plan ahead.