Scheduled maintenance - Thursday, July 12 at 5:00 PM EDT
We expect this update to take about an hour. Access to this website will be unavailable during this time.
Driving in winter weather - snow, ice, wet and cold - creates a great challenge for vehicles and drivers. Keeping your vehicle in good technical repair reduces your overall chances for any mishap or disaster while driving - particularly in winter weather. To prepare your vehicle for winter driving give it a complete checkup. Look for the following:
The traction between tires and roadway determines how well a vehicle rides, turns and stops, and is crucial for safe driving in winter. Proper tire selection is very important.
A well-stocked winter driving kit helps to handle any emergency. It should include:
Experts agree that during a skid it is important to reduce the forward motion of the vehicle in order to stop faster.
Many resources that promote putting your car in neutral describe the following technique:
Others promote leaving the vehicle in gear, but do not apply the gas during the skid. At the end of the skid, it may be necessary to gently accelerate or you may need to avoid an obstacle.
Using winter tires and driving at a reduced speed are more important factors that influence a vehicle's stopping distance
If the emergency does not require slamming the brakes as hard as possible, squeeze braking (also known as threshold braking) along with declutching (manual shift) will do the job most efficiently.
Also use heel-and-toe method, but do not remove your foot from the brake pedal until the vehicle comes to a complete stop.