Preparing to drive in the snow is nerve stretching, to say the least, but one must do their daily chores. You have two straightforward options, to drive or not to drive as you can’t be stuck in the house for a long snowy season just because you are afraid of driving in the snow. Driving in snow can be fun if you follow our simple guide.
Before You Start your car engine for an adventurous journey in the snow, ask yourself, is my journey necessary or can be avoided? If it can’t be avoided, then plan your journey like a prudent and a professional driver and don’t panic at any stage.
Unlike the Normal Routine select the busiest road and route preferably gritted one. The snow doesn’t become hard and you can have a reasonable road grip. On busier roads, it is hard for snow to set up icy patches on the tarmac because of friction from tyres and in case, emergency services can easily access you and fellow motorists if you need them.
Drive Very Sensibly and be very gentle on the clutch and brakes. Apply the brakes when it is really necessary otherwise use acceleration to control your car.
Drive Using the Second Gear if you have a manual car, in the case of automatic do not cross the 25mph mark.
Try to Keep Your Engine Revs in the Ideal Zone and do not rev it very hard and do not try to overtake or shift
unnecessarly when you are on a snowy road, it can cause tyres to slip and your car can go out of control. Driving on a safe speed is very important in these conditions rather than depending on brakes and other equipment like cruise control, ABS etc. Old cars without ABS perform better in snow and give snowplough effect when wheel locked.
Keep Your Lights ON so You Can Be Seen by Others. When on the slope, use higher gears and let the engine help you keep slow by gently applying the brakes. Always maintain a big braking distance between you and the vehicle ahead.
Don’t Panic if you feel that your wheels have started to push across the road and you are not finding any grip, just leave the clutch and accelerator and focus on steering to keep your car straight. It will help the tyres to regain grip. If your car starts to slide back down an incline, turn the steering full clock and apply the handbrake. It will help you a lot by locking rear wheels.
Keep Dead Slow on the roundabout and turns and take wider turns to avoid sliding. Pay extra attention to road infrastructure. Usually, in the snow, road signs covered in snow and you can’t read them correctly.
Even After Observing All These Precautions, if you feel you can’t drive in the snow and there is no more grip or your vehicle facing any issues then try to move your car as far off the road as you easily can. It will safeguard your car and other drivers who are still able to continue their journey.
