Brits across the nation are scraping off the frost from their cars this morning as icy conditions take hold, but it’s not just the windscreens that are causing concern. For those braving the roads to get to work, the treacherous ice presents a real hazard.
Thankfully, @autotraderuk has come to the rescue with essential “top tips for winter driving to make sure you’re setting off safely,” including vital advice on handling skids.
If you can avoid driving and use public transport or work remotely, that might be the safer option. However, if travel is unavoidable, knowing how to manage your car in these conditions is crucial.
Auto Trader cautions drivers that when facing snowy or icy roads, they should “leave a stopping distance that is at least 10 times greater than normal,” ensuring enough space to come to a safe stop.
They also advise against using brakes on ice as much as possible since regular tyres struggle for grip. Instead, they suggest “change gears” to slow down the vehicle.
However, if you do find yourself in a situation where “your car starts skidding on icy roads,” they say under no circumstances should you “take your hands off the steering wheel”. What they do recommend, however, is to “steer your car in the direction of the skid to correct it”.
Icy Road Safety shares that “the higher the speed, the more difficult it is to correct a slide,” so it’s important to alter your speeds to suit the conditions you’re driving in.
The experts also echo that braking is the worst thing that you can do when travelling on an icy road, sharing that “braking can not only trigger a slide, it will make a slide worse” as the wheels need to be turning “freely” for slide correction to work.
They also follow Auto Trader’s advice regarding correcting the slide: “If the back of your car slides to the right, turn the wheel to the right. ” As the car “straightens out,” you should also “straighten the steering wheel” accordingly.
Icy Road Safety also shared that it’s important not to panic when this happens and to avoid overcorrecting the vehicle. This is because “overcorrecting can send the car rotating faster than a steering can counter, and the car will spin out.”