Two groundhogs, Punxsutawney Phil and Connecticut's Chuckles are in agreement. Winter has only six weeks longer to bedevil us. Maybe they've been living in a cave or something, but it sure feels as if winter's going to last forever. To that end, AAA Southern New England has some tips for driving on snow and ice-covered roads. But take heart. Before long I'll be giving you tips about making sure your car doesn't overheat.
Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Applying the gas slowly to accelerate is the best way to get traction and avoid skids. And don't try to get moving in a hurry. Take time to slow for a stoplight because it takes longer to stop on ice-covered roads.
Drive slowly. From accelerating to stopping and turning, nothing happens quickly on snow or ice-covered roadways. On dry pavement you should put three to four seconds of length between you and the car in front of you. But that distance should be increased to about 10 seconds on wet pavement, as the increased margin of safety will provide longer distance needed if you have to stop.
Know your brakes. Whether or not you have antilock brakes, the best way to stop is "threshold breaking." Here's what that means. You keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake.
Don't stop if you can avoid it. There's a big difference in the amount of inertia needed to start moving from a full stop versus getting moving while still rolling. Try and slow down enough to keep rolling until a traffic light changes.
Don't zoom up hills, as applying extra gas on snow-covered roads will only set your wheels spinning. Try to get a little motion going before you reach the hill and let that carry you to the top. As you reach the crest of the hill, reduce speed and proceed down hill as slowly as possible.
Don't stop going up a hill. There's nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Get some motion going on a flat roadway before you take on the hill.
If you really don't have to go out, make like a groundhog and hide until spring.
Has the recent spate of winter weather prevented you from driving, or are you getting bolder with each weather event? Let me know.
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