Snow/Ice driving

Jamie-b

This is my first winter driving alone. I have never driven in icy or snowy conditions. If we get another big freeze I am worried I won't have the skill and experience to deal with it. I intend to leave for work earlier so I can go slowly where neccessary but I have a few questions about things I have been told
1) I have been told you cant brake. Is this if you skid or all the time? So for example stopping- I just take the foot off the accelerater and drop the gears? That would take ages to slow and is no real use at traffic lights?
2) If you skid you dont turn the wheel the opposite direction??? What does go into the skid mean? You would kill someone on the n11 if you just floated around wily nily!
3) Do you drive in a higher gear or lower than usual? Is it even possible to, say, go into 5th at 40k/h?

djimi

You can brake, but just do it very gently and give yourself plenty, and I mean plenty, of time to stop. Engine braking (using the gear to slow the car) will actually slow the car a lot faster than you would think; for about a week around new years I barely used my brake pedal at all when driving (granted I dont think I went over 20mph for a week!).

Youre not supposed to turn the opposite way in a skid because basically it reduces the chances of getting the wheels moving in the right direction again; all you are doing is aiding the skid. Someone more knowledgeable will give you tips on how to react to a skid.

Drive in a higher gear than normal, ie, keep the revs down. The lower the gear, the more likely wheelspin will occur and the more likely youll spin/skid.

knifey_spoonie

What you should do is drive faster than normal, this will reduce your time exposed to the dangerous road conditions, and in return be safer.



Honestly, the best thing you can do is find a big local (empty) car park/ Ind. estate. Take the car up there some icy weekend, drive around. Get the feel for what a car feels like when it losses grip, it will give you a much better idea of when you can and can't break/steer/change gear.BTW check for hidden paths and kerbs before you start to drive around.

dmc17

1) At traffic lights you'll find that the rear end of the car directly in front is the most effective method of stopping on ice.
2) If you go into a skid forget about it! Close your eyes and hope for the best.
3) Take the bus

Seriously though your best bet is just to take your time and think ahead. Start to slow down a good bit before the traffic lights or wherever you're stopping, don't leave it to the last second. Give yourself plenty time to get to work. The main roads should be salted so they shouldn't be too bad.

biko

If you have the possibility when it gets freezing go driving in an empty car park to get the feel for how your car behaves.
Also try doing hill starts (make sure street is empty).

Main things imo: don't brake while turning, and look and steer where you want to go.


Starts about 1.10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TxxXainxJ4

corktina

best advice is to leave the car at home if you can and if you can't stick to main roads.
Drive slowly and smoothly, dont brake any more than you have to and use a high gear.
If the back end breaks out, steer towards it (ie if the back goes right, steer right),
If you are skidding in a straight line, take your foot off the brake (takes guts)and let it roll, braking repeatedly.(cajence braking(spelling?)
Avoid hills altogther if you can and if you can't, descend only if you know the run-off is clear, ascend only if you know noone is going to baulk you and make you stop.
Low gears will be necessary on a hill,going down just let the car roll and don't depress the clutch.
Keep close to the kerb if you can as this is a handy way of helping you stop if you get into trouble (might do damage though, but better than hitting something)

AugustusMinimus

corktina wrote: »

best advice is to leave the car at home if you can and if you can't stick to main roads.
Drive slowly and smoothly, dont brake any more than you have to and use a high gear.
If the back end breaks out, steer towards it (ie if the back goes right, steer right),
If you are skidding in a straight line, take your foot off the brake (takes guts)and let it roll, braking repeatedly.(cajence braking(spelling?)
Avoid hills altogther if you can and if you can't, descend only if you know the run-off is clear, ascend only if you know noone is going to baulk you and make you stop.
Low gears will be necessary on a hill,going down just let the car roll and don't depress the clutch.
Keep close to the kerb if you can as this is a handy way of helping you stop if you get into trouble (might do damage though, but better than hitting something)

Pumping the brakes on ice will just make the car skid worse as everytime you apply the brakes hard the wheel will either lock or lose traction.

The best solution is to be very very gentle on the brakes. The tyres will lose traction at a certain rate of deceleration. It doesn't matter how you cause this deceleration, wether it be by using the brakes of by using the internal friction of the engine.

Cadence braking is useful when you don't have ABS and you want to brake hard and steer at the same time.


The main points I'd use when driving in icey conditions.

1. Be very gentle in terms of braking and acceleration.
2. Be gentle on the steering wheel. I also try to use as much of the road as I can to sraightline corners. Even using all of your side of the road can help.
3. Avoid hilly upsections or down sections of road
4. This may sound stupid but drive on sections of road which get a lot of sunlight. When going to work, I have two options. One road is along a north facing hill, the other alone a south facing hill. Eventhough the first road is a better road, the 2nd is safer in the winter as it gets more sunlight and hence less ice.
5. Consider buying a cheap set of rims and a set of winter tyres. As others have pointed out in other threads, winter tyres are much much better than summer or all season tyres. If the set lasts you 4 or 5 winters, I would consider it a good investment.
6. As Tina has said, try to drive in a high gear and try to keep your engine revs down. This will give your car less chance of spinning the wheels.

KamiKazi

First time the snow / ice hits get someone to drive you to a big empty carpark and just spend a few hours finding were the cars grip limits are.

mox54

Ì used to drive 80 odd miles a day to work until last winter when I wrote off 2 (two) cars in the ice and snow (now I take the train),both cars skidded and overturned but i thought I knew these roads very well but with the extreme conditions we got last winter and the mileage I was doing my chances were slim of getting away with it, basic advice, if you can avoid driving then do so, if not, keep speed well down and test brake often to assess grip of the road, i.e. touch brakes lightly at low speed to see if car begins to skid, if it does, reduce speed even more.......kill the speed

peasant

One important thing hasn't been mentioned yet and that is distance.

Increase your normal distance to other cars threefold.
The same goes for the distance you use for slowing down for a bend or downhill stretch.You want to be done slowing down when that bend starts or the road dips.

corktina

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Pumping the brakes on ice will just make the car skid worse as everytime you apply the brakes hard the wheel will either lock or lose traction.

.

sir, i said IF you get in a skid at which point you already have the wheels locked and no steering.

opinion guy

knifey_spoonie wrote: »

Honestly, the best thing you can do is find a big local (empty) car park/ Ind. estate. Take the car up there some icy weekend, drive around. Get the feel for what a car feels like when it losses grip, it will give you a much better idea of when you can and can't break/steer/change gear.BTW check for hidden paths and kerbs before you start to drive around.

This. Honestly find an empty car park and deliberately skid it. You don't need to go fast to do this. Learn what it feels like to skid. Learn not to freak out when you get a little sideways travel. Then play with it - learn how to control the skid and recover it. Just do this in an empty space where you can't crash into anything. Hopefully then if it ever happens on an open road you will not freak out by the skidding sensation, keep your head, and manage to avoid crashing.

Indeed you can actually do advanced skid handling courses on skid planes which might be worth doing.

_Conrad_

even once you get used to what it's going to do, drive slow, steer slowly and gently, brake slowly and gently, and a above all do not panic, if you're going nice and slow at least it wont be too bad if you do slide into something, but it's entirely possible to avoid any accidents by just being careful. If you know a particualr road has bad hills/ bends, then avoid it if you can. If you cant get winter tyres get GOOD tyres with good tread at least.

AugustusMinimus

corktina wrote: »

sir, i said IF you get in a skid at which point you already have the wheels locked and no steering.

If your wheels are locked, you need to completely release the brakes and let your wheels start to turn at the same rate as what they are passing over the ground.

At this point, you have regained as much traction as you can get and you should try to very slightly apply the brakes in order to slow the car.

corktina

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

If your wheels are locked, you need to completely release the brakes and let your wheels start to turn at the same rate as what they are passing over the ground.

At this point, you have regained as much traction as you can get and you should try to very slightly apply the brakes in order to slow the car.

thast what I said....and rep[eat it the next time the wheels lock

AugustusMinimus

corktina wrote: »

thast what I said....and rep[eat it the next time the wheels lock

Cadence braking is the constant pumping of the brakes on off in a rapid fashion.

That would be crazy on ice.

MagicMarker

mox54 wrote: »

Ì used to drive 80 odd miles a day to work until last winter when I wrote off 2 (two) cars in the ice and snow (now I take the train),both cars skidded and overturned but i thought I knew these roads very well but with the extreme conditions we got last winter and the mileage I was doing my chances were slim of getting away with it, basic advice, if you can avoid driving then do so, if not, keep speed well down and test brake often to assess grip of the road, i.e. touch brakes lightly at low speed to see if car begins to skid, if it does, reduce speed even more.......kill the speed

How in the name of christ did you flip 2 cars?