Winter Driving
Staying Safe On And Off The Roads This Winter
December’s here and with it we had the first big chill of the Winter with more hazardous winter driving conditions thrown in for good measure. One thing we all know for sure is that winter driving conditions are more challenging for drivers and harder on vehicles, so it’s always worth putting together a reminder of useful winter driving tips that might just help you out during your Winter journeys and prepare you for more to come between now and the Spring.
It’s Cold Outside, I feel the Winter…
There’s a chill in the air… and there’s no secret untold about winter driving, it’s mostly just common sense and maybe a bit of preparation, but staying safe begins before you start journey.
Keep an eye on the forecasts
You expect a bit of bad weather this time of year, but most of the time the forecasters get it right, so if there’s a cold snap in the offing, you can get yourself prepared for winter driving well in advance.
Check your Fluids, Tyres and Battery
You know how we’re all supposed to check our vehicles before we set off on any journey and hardly anyone actually does? Yeah we know! But when the freezing weather hits (or before), get it done. The oil is a given, but the antifreeze and especially the window washer fluid could do with a check. In particular, upping the concentration of the washer fluid vs water will serve you well as it’ll help prevent your bottle and water jets freezing.
We’ll include fuel in the fluids section – if you habitually run to nearly empty before topping up, consider keeping at least a quarter of a tank at all times, that way you’re not going to get caught short and those inevitable traffic delays (which are more likely when it’s dark, cold and wet), where you have to keep your vehicle running to stay warm/ready won’t cause you anxiety.
Tyres are the only part of your vehicle touching the roads and in winter traction can be massively reduced. If your tyre treads are getting a bit low, consider changing them early, maybe even opt for specialised winter tyres – legal minimum tread doesn’t provide the same level of grip as a new tyre and for winter driving, you definitely need as much traction as you can get. Also consider the age and condition of the tyre. Rubber perishes and as you know, the cold makes everything more brittle. Cracked or aged tyres are more likely to fail in the cold, so inspect for signs of wear or deterioration. Lastly, make sure all your tyres are properly inflated.
Amongst the biggest cause of breakdowns in the winter is a failed battery. The cold is exceptionally unkind to batteries in general and vehicle batteries in particular. If your car has been a bit slower to turn over in the mornings during the autumn, winter is probably where it’s going to let you down completely. Batteries have shelf-life, so if it’s been a while since you last changed your battery and it’s starting to give warning signs like more laboured start-ups etc, consider a new one or at least get it tested.
If you get stranded with a dead battery and have to call out a breakdown service, they’ll always have a new battery to sell you, but while certain companies have been called out for selling and fitting new batteries at the roadside for massively inflated prices and pledged not to do that anymore, it’s always better to shop around for a new battery before it fails than be potentially overcharged (pun intended) at the roadside.
If you have an electric car, now might be a good time, if you haven’t already, to investigate the timed pre-conditioning settings many EV’s have in order to get the most useful range in the cold (and have your EV warmed up, defrosted and ready to drive before you even open your front door). Imagine the smugness of sauntering over to your automatically defrosted, preheated car, unplugging the charger and driving off while your neighbours are still scraping ice off their windscreens. Yep, that’s a boss move right there!
Keep your Vehicle Clean
If the gritters have been out, the road is covered in a layer of rock salt to keep surface ice under control. Drive on salted roads and you’ll have a ready salted car or van. Modern vehicles don’t rust as readily as older ones used to, but you don’t want a layer of salt and grit sat on your bodywork for any longer than it needs to be there, so wash it off as soon as you can.
Modern cars often come with a variety of sensors and cameras, maybe even a radar, so a quick wipe over before you set off will keep all these driver aids performing properly.
Cleanliness also looks after your license – if your numberplate gets so grimy as to be illegible, that’s an offence you could get pulled over for, potentially, points and a fine could follow. Similarly, headlights and tail-lights need to be kept clear.
The Morning Defrost
If you know it’s going to be frosty in the morning, a cover over your windscreen placed the night before might well save you some scraping, but in any case, plan to get up earlier and leave earlier in order to allow for defrosting time and longer journey times. If you have a garage, maybe consider putting your vehicle in it overnight!
If you don’t already have some de-icing spray and/or a scraper (or have them at the back of the garage) now might be a good time to make sure you have them to hand. A torch and a first aid kit are always good to have. Additionally, keeping a blanket in the boot is never bad advice and using the glovebox for its stated purpose (along with a hat and scarf) is likely to be welcome should you need them. We’ll get to it later, but if you have some old footmats or an old rug/carpet section, throw that in the boot too. Jump leads and a shovel are handy to have, both for yourself or to help out a stranded fellow motorist and feel like a hero!
Don’t be a ‘Tank Commander’ – When you clear the snow or ice from your windows, make sure you clear the WHOLE screen, not just a little icehole to peer through. It’s dangerous and could see you getting pulled over, getting points and getting a fine.
Similarly, if there’s snow on the roof or your bonnet, clear it off. If you brake, snow from the roof could end up over the windscreen, if you accelerate, the same thing could happen with snow from your bonnet. Also, it can fly off in chunks causing problems for the vehicles behind you.
As tempting as it might be to expedite defrosting your windscreen with water from the kettle, be VERY wary. Modern windscreens get heat treated as part of the manufactuirng process, but even so, a sudden change when a sub-zero temperature windscreen meets with near boiling water has a fair chance to cause the glass to shatter. It’s also not all that kind on your paintwork. You might be able to get away with warm water from the tap, but it’s far safer to crank the heater up, set it to windows only and either get scraping, or use the can of defroster spray.
On the subject of convenience, also don’t be tempted to switch your car on for defrosting and then leave it unattended while it warms up and clears its own windscreen. Thieves know that people do this and on frosty morning will be on the lookout for unattended vehicles left running. If your vehicle gets stolen this way, your insurance won’t cover it, so just don’t do it. Mmmmkay?
Car struggling to start? (remember what we said about the battery?) Turn off everything – the heater, the lights, wipers, or anything else that draws power and try again. If there’s still no start, don’t try again straight away, give it thirty seconds between attempts. If the battery is clearly not up to starting the engine it might be time to flag down someone with another vehicle and break out those jump leads!
How are your wipers? If your windscreen is frosty, take a moment to lift and drop your wiper blades in order to unstick them. Switching the wipers on while driving only to discover they’re still frozen to the screen could leave you unable to clear your windcreen right when you need to as well as possibly blowing a fuse (or worse) as the motors try unsuccessfully to operate. Check the condition of your blades too, if they’ve been leaving streaks when it’s raining, they’ll do the same with snow, ice, salt and grime – streaks, which when combined with the low winter sun could, at certain angles, leave you temporarily unable to see through your screen.
Driving In Winter Conditions
‘Drive to the conditions’ – it’s a mantra we’re used to hearing, but there are so many people out there who don’t seem to have heard it, or just choose to ignore this advice.
We said it before, set off earlier in anticipation of longer journey times. Presume your tyres will have less grip and drive accordingly. This means accelerating less aggressively and braking more smoothly. During winter driving, leave more distance between you and the vehicle in front. Your stopping distance is likely to be much greater, so that extra space in which to slow down will come in handy should you need to stop suddenly and prevent you from having to exchange insurance details, or worse.
While main roads and motorways are the most likely to have been treated to mitigate icy conditions, you can’t 100% count on that so an abundance of caution will serve you well. Country roads and back roads are the most likely to be left untreated and so called ‘black ice’ could be anywhere. Avoid such roads if you can, but if you can’t take them slow.
In all cases, give yourself lots of time for any change in speed or direction. Sudden acceleration, sudden braking or quick turns increase the risk of breaking your tyres grip on the road, so keep everything smooth and gentle.
When braking in a manual vehicle, make use of ‘engine braking’ – actively changing down your gears to help you slow down. If you’re in an automatic which has a mode for winter, do make sure you use it!
If you find yourself sliding though, don’t panic! In modern cars, traction control and active braking systems do a pretty good job in keeping things under control, but in the old days, applying and releasing the brake (pumping the brake) to avoid wheels locking was good advice, steering gently towards the kerb to let the kerb edge add extra friction is another old but good tip. Sacrificing the finish of an alloy wheel is a better choice than bumping another car or person!
If there’s a sudden downfall of snow while winter driving, or you get back to where you’ve parked and find you’re unable to move because of snow, ice or mud, it’s time to dig out that tatty bit of carpet/rug/mat we mentioned earlier. Rocking backwards and forwards (engaging forward and reverse gears to drive forward and backwards in rapid succession) might be enough to build up the momentum to get your wheels out of a hole, but if there’s no grippy surface under your tyres, make one by putting the rug down in front of your driving wheels and drive over it to get back on to a more solid surface. Maybe pack a bin bag to put the soggy/muddy rug back into afterwards!
We do hope this has been a useful read and encourage you you share the link at the top of the page to help us get the word out – if it helps keep one person a little safer with their winter driving, it’ll have been worth it!
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