During the winter months, it’s a common fact that motor vehicle accidents significantly increase. Snow, sleet, ice and freezing rain can all contribute to potentially hazardous road conditions. According to recent statistics, approximately 70% of all winter deaths involving snow and ice also involve a motor vehicle accident. To protect yourself and your family, it’s important that you follow these simple winter driving safety tips. By knowing how to react to inclement winter weather, you can increase your chances of driving safely.
Winter Driving Safety Tip 1: Decrease Your Speed
Though driving slow during hazardous weather conditions may seem like common sense, driving too fast is responsible for thousands of winter accidents each year. Even if you have a vehicle that is equipped with snow tires, it’s still highly recommended that you exercise caution during winter driving conditions. By decreasing your speed, you are improving your chances of being able to react quickly to a potential road hazard.
Winter Driving Safety Tip 2: Resist the Urge to Tailgate
This is another common cause of accidents that occur in winter weather conditions. When others around you are driving slowly, it may be tempting to follow them closely, especially under low visibility conditions. However, remember that the closer you follow the vehicle in front of you, the less time you will have to react to a potential road hazard. During ideal weather conditions, it’s recommended that you leave one car length between you and other cars for every 10mph that you are traveling. For example, if you are traveling at 30 mph, you will want to leave three car lengths in between you and the car in front of you. During winter weather, it’s best to increase this amount, since you need to account for slippery road conditions.
Winter Driving Safety Tip 3: Disable Cruise Control
During winter weather, it’s important that you pay close attention to the condition of the road, your vehicle’s handling, and the behavior of other cars around you. To allow you to react quicker to hazardous conditions, it’s highly recommended that you disable cruise control. On icy roads, an instantaneous reaction can save your life. Cruise control tempts many drivers to become distracted, as they do not need to constantly monitor their speed.
Winter Driving Safety Tip 4: Stay Behind Plow Trucks
When driving during winter weather, it may be tempting to pass by the plowing and sanding vehicles that are performing road maintenance. Even if you think that you can handle the road conditions, it’s still best if you stay a safe distance behind these vehicles. You will be much safer driving on maintained roads, even if this means that it takes you a bit of extra time to reach your destination. In addition to this, many of the larger plow vehicles have limited visibility, which means that passing them during low visibility weather conditions could be extremely dangerous.
Winter Driving Safety Tip 5: Never Drive While Fatigued
Due to dangerous road conditions, driving while fatigued is even more hazardous in the winter. If you are feeling tired, pull off of the road to a rest stop or well-lit store parking lot. Don’t ever park on the side of the highway during snowstorms, since you may not be visible to approaching plow trucks or road maintenance vehicles. Instead, either take a short nap, or call someone who can drive you the rest of the way to your destination.
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