Your
Driving
and
the
Road
If
You’re Caught
in
a Blizzard
If you are stopped by heavy snow, you
could be in a serious situation. You should
probably stay with your vehicle unless
you know
for
sure that you are near help
and you can hike through the snow. Here
are some things to do to summon help and
keep yourself and your passengers safe:
Turn on your hazard flashers. Tie a red
cloth to your vehicle to alert police that
you’ve been stopped by the snow. Put on
extra clothing or wrap
a
blanket around
you. If you have no blankets or extra
clothing, make body insulators from
newspapers, burlap bags, rags, floor mats
-
anything you
can
wrap around yourself
or
tuck under your clothing to keep warm.
You can
run
the engine
to
keep warm, but
be careful.
Run your engine only as long as
you
must. This saves fuel. When
you
run the
engine, make it go a little faster than just
idle. That is, push the accelerator slightly.
This
uses less fuel for the heat that you
get and it keeps the battery charged. You
will need a well-charged battery to restart
the vehicle, and possibly for signaling
later on with your headlights. Let the
heater run for awhile.
Then, shut the engine off and close the
window almost all the way to preserve
the
heat. Start the engine again and
repeat this only when you feel really
uncomfortable from the cold. But
do
it as
little as possible. Preserve the fuel as long
3s
you can. To help keep warm, you can
get out of the vehicle and do some fairly
vigorous exercises every half hour or
so
until help comes.
.
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