A blast of winter came early in York Region this year. Experts tell motorists to make their vehicle winter ready.
Regional News
November 29, 2008 11:52 PM
Experts offer tips for safe winter driving
Chris Traber
Are you a go for the snow?
With plenty of snow in the York Region forecast, are you prepared for winter driving?
Consider recent York Region Police statistics comparing cold weather traffic incidents versus mild season driving.
From December, 2007 to March, 2008, approximately 5,700 automobile-related property damage calls were received, media relations officer Const. Marina Orlovski said. Conversely, between June and September of this year, 4,200 similar type calls were reported. Clearly, snow, ice, white-outs and sleet invites fender benders or worse.
Cold weather puts extra demands on you and your vehicle and when the snow flies, you need to know how to react to the conditions, Young Drivers of Canada president Peter Christianson said.
If you have not already, it is important to have a tune-up and inspection done on your vehicle to prevent problems.
“Proper preparation and the right skills will help you face the challenge of winter driving,” he said. “Handling your vehicle in winter driving conditions requires a higher level of concentration and an adjustment in driving style.”
Young Drivers of Canada offers defensive driving tips to keep you safe and collision-free this winter.
- Ready yourself. Remove bulky clothing that could restrict your ability to steer. Clean your boots to prevent your feet from slipping off the pedals.
- Hitting ice and maintaining control. Remember two things; if you start to lose control, shift into neutral, or put in the clutch if you have a standard transmission and take your foot off the gas. Then look well ahead and steer immediately to keep the vehicle straight. Once under control, steer in the direction you want to go.
- Emergency ABS braking. If your vehicle has ABS, first, step on the brake pedal as fast and as hard as you can. Do not pump the brakes. Maintain hard and continuous pressure to allow the ABS computer to do the work. Feeling a pulsing in the brake pedal is normal. Second, keep the pressure on, look for an escape route and steer toward it if necessary.
- Threshold braking (no ABS). For threshold braking, the driver should apply the brakes hard, but not quite hard enough to lock the wheels in order to steer and maintain control.
- Essential items for your car include a long handled scraper and snowbrush, windshield washer fluid, booster cables, reflective cones, a flashlight, first aid kit, blanket and kitty litter for traction on ice when spread around the wheels.
- Lights on. Regardless of the time of day, cut your chance of crashing by up to 20 per cent by using your full low-beam headlights. Most automatic headlight systems and daytime running lights do not activate the rear lights during daylight hours so turn on your low-beam headlights for safety.
- Tires. Snow tires on all four wheels will provide better traction and control in a winter emergency when those extra few metres of stopping distance are needed. Winter tires provide much better control when the temperature drops below -7C and a proper winter tire can improve braking by up to 25 per cent compared to an all-season radial and can improve collision avoidance by about 38 per cent. Tire pressure should be checked at least once a month as it will vary with the temperature
- Seeing Habits. Check your mirrors every five to eight seconds so you can see a rear-end collision taking shape behind you. Always plan your escape route so you have somewhere to go when a crash is likely.
For additional winter driving tips, visit
www.yd.com