Recently by Eric Peters: The Hit List
Yeah, its almost that time of year again. In a matter of weeks, its gonna be cold. And a few more weeks after that, its gonna start snowing, sleeting and freezing. Maybe it already is snowing where you are.
Are you ready?
After years of dealing with winter in the Northeast and dealing with DC area drivers in winter Ive come up with the following roster of survival tips. Maybe theyll be useful to you, too:
Prepare your vehicle
Check and replace the wiper blades if they are more than three months old; top off the windshield washer jar with fresh fluid. If theres heavy snow out and especially if your car does not have snow tires lower the air pressure in your tires by 5-10 psi or so. This will give you much better traction. Just be sure to remember to pump the tires back up to the normal recommended pressure when the snow clears. And if your car is fitted out with high-performance summer tires stay home. Or drive something else.
Know your vehicle
More precisely, know its built-in limits. Some layouts for example, rear-drive sports cars and sport sedans, 2WD trucks and SUVs are much worse in winter driving environments than others. They break traction on slippery surfaces with much less provocation especially 2WD trucks, which are very light in the tail. And because of their low-to-the-ground design, sporty cars tend to get mired in even a couple of inches of freshly deposited snow even if theyre all-wheel-drive.
Such cars should, ideally, be left in the garage when severe weather hits. But if you have to drive, drive with added caution and full awareness that you are starting out with a car thats not at its best in the snow.
Know yourself
As Clint Eastwood once put it, A man has got to know his limitations. Some people are just better drivers than others just as some people are better athletes, or mathematicians or cooks. Not a value judgment; just a reality check. If your visions not so great under ideal conditions, maybe you should try to avoid driving in a white-out snowstorm. If youre terrified of skids and havent been trained to recover control, ice on the road can be very intimidating and especially dangerous. And not just to you, but to everyone else around you. Bad weather driving especially in extreme bad weather requires more skill than ordinary A to B driving under ideal conditions. Be honest with yourself. If you know deep down you probably shouldnt be out there, then you probably shouldnt be out there.
Keep the fuel tank full
A full gas tank adds weight which gives you more traction, especially in a RWD car or 2WD truck/SUV. Also, a full tank means youll have power (and heat) even if you get stuck in a monster traffic jam caused by bad weather or have to park by the side of the road for an extended period of time. Running out of gas in a blizzard is no fun. By topping off the tank before bad weather rolls in, youll avoid that scenario. In addition, keeping the gas tank topped off helps prevent condensation build-up in the tank water in your gas which can lead to hard starting and rough running.
Maintain momentum
The best race drivers are the smoothest drivers and this is just as true of making progress in bad weather. Accelerate gradually, without mashing the pedal (which will usually cause the drive wheels to slip and slide). Ease into the brakes gently to slow down in a controlled, smooth fashion; dont stomp on the pedal. Anticipate rather than react. And under certain circumstances, its best and safest to keep moving rather than come to a full stop and risk getting stuck. And getting others stuck, too. For example, if youre facing a snow-covered hill, avoid stopping at all costs. If you stop mid-way up, odds are good youll get stuck; you may even slide back down, too. And into a ditch or someone else car. Keep on the throttle; its ok if the car drifts left-right a little so long as its still under your control. Maintain. You can do it!
And finally
Be prepared to ditch
Part of driving in snow/ice is the reality that you may have to go off road. As you drive, look around you and be thinking about where youd want to point the car if you had to run off the road in order to avoid piling into traffic ahead of you that suddenly slowed down. Its better, for example, to slide into a relatively soft median strip than slam into a telephone pole. Packed snow has more give than a fixed object such as an oak tree or bridge abutment. Beware of water rivers, ponds, etc. If you have to leave the road, you do not want to go there. Hitting almost anything else is preferable to taking a Slurpee swim.