I grew up in a tiny village in North Yorkshire. We use to love the snow, it was seen as a challenge to get your rubbish old car up the hills out of the village. I n ever saw snow as a nightmare, I saw it as a learning opportunity. It made me a much better driver.
I can’t drive in the snow where I live (if it snows at all) because my car is front wheel drive, has old all season tires, and my town is all hills. Just to get to the store, I’d have to go up probably 4 steep hills, and down each of them, too. It’s just safer to stay home. Also, disassembled cardboard boxes work as a cheap, quick, and easy cover for windows. Just lay a few over the front and rear, then use painting tape (which won’t damage your car) to hold the side ones up. It looks stupid, but not as stupid as your neighbor running their defrost in the morning.
Good advice Natalia. Our family car is also front wheel drive, so if the conditions are terrible, we tend to park forwards on the drive and reverse out 😂
Leave yourself enough stopping distance. A lot of good advice here in this article, but I think that line is the best. You can be a very capable driver and do fine going left, right and straight ahead without any sliding, but misjudging the distance it can take to stop your car on ice is very easy to do. Drive safely everyone.
On ice the best stopping distance is almost equal to the distance your vehicle can coast. Learned that in MB Canada. Main highways are usually good but the smaller paved roads are skating rinks.
Hi Jess! This article is very important at this time of year! I particularly like your advice about how to handle your car when sliding and safe driving distances. It’s really all about driving for conditions is it not? I do have a question. Here in the Philadelphia area, we pre treat our roads with a liquid chemical even before the snow comes (lines on the roads can be seen to let you know) Do you do anything like that where you live? The cost of salting and pre-treating roads is costly. If you don’t have snow routinely in the winter. Do you have snow often?, I can see why you might not have this option, Great article :)
Hi Karen thank you for your feedback! Here in the UK we grit and salt the roads. We don’t get snow very often here, we may get some snow in the winter here and there but nothing like the recent snowfall we’ve had :)
never dump water on your windscreen, not a good trick as the water will build up and freeze elsewhere. We use winter window spray it has de icer stuff in it. Also whenever you can't stop release the breaks and steer into some snow on the side of the road. Being a bit stuck is much better then having a crash. I call this the snow break lol. An old bank card works great for a scraper I use my license card in hard times, and a soft broom for snow.
Comments (21)
I grew up in a tiny village in North Yorkshire. We use to love the snow, it was seen as a challenge to get your rubbish old car up the hills out of the village. I n ever saw snow as a nightmare, I saw it as a learning opportunity. It made me a much better driver.
I can’t drive in the snow where I live (if it snows at all) because my car is front wheel drive, has old all season tires, and my town is all hills. Just to get to the store, I’d have to go up probably 4 steep hills, and down each of them, too. It’s just safer to stay home. Also, disassembled cardboard boxes work as a cheap, quick, and easy cover for windows. Just lay a few over the front and rear, then use painting tape (which won’t damage your car) to hold the side ones up. It looks stupid, but not as stupid as your neighbor running their defrost in the morning.
Good advice Natalia. Our family car is also front wheel drive, so if the conditions are terrible, we tend to park forwards on the drive and reverse out 😂
That’s what I do too, or what I would do if it weren’t 60 degrees during the day.
Leave yourself enough stopping distance. A lot of good advice here in this article, but I think that line is the best. You can be a very capable driver and do fine going left, right and straight ahead without any sliding, but misjudging the distance it can take to stop your car on ice is very easy to do. Drive safely everyone.
On ice the best stopping distance is almost equal to the distance your vehicle can coast. Learned that in MB Canada. Main highways are usually good but the smaller paved roads are skating rinks.
Hi Jess! This article is very important at this time of year! I particularly like your advice about how to handle your car when sliding and safe driving distances. It’s really all about driving for conditions is it not? I do have a question. Here in the Philadelphia area, we pre treat our roads with a liquid chemical even before the snow comes (lines on the roads can be seen to let you know) Do you do anything like that where you live? The cost of salting and pre-treating roads is costly. If you don’t have snow routinely in the winter. Do you have snow often?, I can see why you might not have this option, Great article :)
Hi Karen thank you for your feedback! Here in the UK we grit and salt the roads. We don’t get snow very often here, we may get some snow in the winter here and there but nothing like the recent snowfall we’ve had :)
How fun then to have this snowy memory ❄️❄️
never dump water on your windscreen, not a good trick as the water will build up and freeze elsewhere. We use winter window spray it has de icer stuff in it. Also whenever you can't stop release the breaks and steer into some snow on the side of the road. Being a bit stuck is much better then having a crash. I call this the snow break lol. An old bank card works great for a scraper I use my license card in hard times, and a soft broom for snow.
I’ve done the bank card thing myself when I don’t have my scraper handy :) lol
they almost work better I find lol. but my licence is getting to the point where it needs replacing. a bit worn down over the last 3 seasons lol