Driving
on
Snow or
Ice
Most of the time, those places where your tires meet the
road probably have good traction.
However, if there is snow or ice between your tires and the
road, you can have a very slippery situation. You’ll have a
lot less traction or “grip” and will need to be very careful.
A
What’s the worst time for this? “Wet ice.” Very cold snow
or ice can be slick and hard
to
drive on. But wet ice can be
even more trouble because it may offer the least traction of
all. You can get wet ice when
it’s
about freezing
(32
OF;
0
“C)
and freezing rain begins to fall. Try to avoid
driving on wet ice until salt and sand crews can get there.
Whatever the condition
--
smooth ice, packed, blowing
or loose snow
--
drive with caution.
Keep your traction control system on. It improves your
ability to accelerate when driving on a slippery road. Even
though your vehicle has a traction control system, you’ll
want to slow down and adjust your driving to the road
conditions. See “Traction Control System” in the Index.
Your anti-lock brakes improve your vehicle’s stability
when you make a hard stop on a slippery road. Even
though you have the anti-lock braking system, you’ll
want to begin stopping sooner than you would
on
dry
pavement. See “Anti-Lock”
in
the Index.
Allow greater following distance on any slippery road.
Watch for slippery spots. The road might be
fine
until
you hit a spot that’s covered with ice. On
an
otherwise
clear road, ice patches may appear
in
shaded areas
where the sun can’t reach: around clumps
of
trees,
behind buildings or under bridges. Sometimes the
surface
of
a curve or an overpass may remain icy when
the surrounding roads are clear.
If
you
see a patch of
ice ahead
of
you, brake before you are on it.
Try
not to
brake while you’re actually on the ice, and avoid
sudden steering maneuvers.
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