Development and Property Services

Roads and Transportation

WINTER DRIVING

Getting Ready for Winter

Every year thousands of motorists get caught out by winter.The list of possible calamities is a long one, everything from forgetting to top-up with anti-freeze to getting stuck in a snow drift.Most of these potential disasters can be avoided by some simple checks which you can carry out yourself. Most important is to make sure you have enough anti-freeze, as the amount of damage this can lead to is alarming. Check this now, not the first really cold morning when it's too late.Cold mornings also bring out the worst in batteries. Any sluggishness in starting and you should charge it up or see if you need a new one.

Vision is all important in winter time - driving rain, fog and snow can reduce your vision to practically zero.

Make sure your windscreen wipers and demisting system are OK and de-ice your windscreen and other windows. On a really cold morning it can be worth waiting a few minutes for warm air to come through the screen heater as ice can easily reform even when you've scraped it off. Lights are also important. If your lights are covered in snow, no one can see them! There are other things you can do to make life easy. For example, check your hoses, tyres and windscreen washer bottle and clean your car regularly to get the salt and grit off it. If you are not sure about doing these checks yourself, garages will do a winter service for you. These are cheaper than normal services and cover all the things that can go wrong in winter.

Driving in Winter

Not surprisingly, the accident rate shoots up at the first sign of snow. In this country we are simply not used to driving in these conditions. Even a half inch of snow can have your car skidding all over the place and make climbing a hill impossible. If you do get caught , bring your speed down - and that means to a crawl. Make allowances for other drivers and give your signals in plenty of time - stopping distances are much greater in snow and ice. Country drivers usually cope better with snow than town drivers who have little experience of what snow and ice can do. The country driver is usually much more careful or will have a four-wheel drive which can handle bad winter conditions.

When driving up hills, keep well back and let the car in front get over the top. It wouldn't be the first time that a car has failed to get up and then slid back down into the car that is following. Assuming a hill is clear, select a high gear and build your speed up (keeping a wary eye out for people coming down the hill). Keep your speed up as you climb and then select a lower gear than normal when going down the hill. If you do get stuck in snow this is where all the advice about sacking, a plastic shovel (snow sticks to metal) , blankets and emergency supplies comes in handy. If the situation is really serious it is advisable to remain with the car until help comes. If you use the heater, make sure the exhaust pipe is not blocked with snow as death from carbon monoxide poisoning can result. Ice is also very tricky. Watch out for ice under slushy snow or under an overnight snowfall. And keep an eye open for places such as overhanging trees and bridges where black ice can form.