Tips for Driving in Snow and Ice

anewman

DirectDebacle wrote: »

I know. On a different thread someone claimed there wasn't any type of skid that couldn't be controlled.

You can gain control to a certain extent in most situations. I think the point was that *if* you do the wrong thing like slamming on the brakes, accelerator, going too fast, not giving enough time to stop (bearing in mind stopping distances on ice can be 10x that of normal) etc it doesn't do you any favours. Many people will say they lost control altogether, when they slammed on the brakes etc and they could possibly have had more control than they think.

Prevention is better than complete ignorance, as is the point of the first post. If you do all you can to avoid an incident then that's the best you can do.

Take this video for example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_ABEFXDbfI you can see most people getting into trouble are driving too fast, slamming on the brakes etc.

catflea

Have a sleeping bag, a shovel and a thermos flask in the boot!

The shovel proved invaluable to me in the snow in early Jan when I got forced off the road by a 4x4

Dave101t

good advice, spanking new tyres will also help.

DCodd

maninthestreet wrote: »

You can't - the car is completely out of control. Don't touch the brakes, accelerator or steering, and hope/pray you get control back before you hit something.

That is not exactly true, there are many situations where a 4 wheel skid is desirable. Formula 1 cars would not get around the track if they were not set up to slide in and out of corners, Rally cars require 4 wheel skid on snow and ice to gain traction in tight corners, or so an ex professional racing driver has told me.

A skid or slide is the result of external forces being applied on the tyres, apply the correct amount of reverse external force with enough skill and the skid or slide is corrected. There are limits of course but if you are driving that amount past the limits of you, the car and the conditions then that would be your own fault. It's very simple really, slow down and you won't skid.

DirectDebacle

DCodd wrote: »

That is not exactly true, there are many situations where a 4 wheel skid is desirable. Formula 1 cars would not get around the track if they were not set up to slide in and out of corners, Rally cars require 4 wheel skid on snow and ice to gain traction in tight corners, or so an ex professional racing driver has told me.

A skid or slide is the result of external forces being applied on the tyres, apply the correct amount of reverse external force with enough skill and the skid or slide is corrected. There are limits of course but if you are driving that amount past the limits of you, the car and the conditions then that would be your own fault. It's very simple really, slow down and you won't skid.

Err bit of a reality check needed here. There are situations where it might be desirable to ram other vehicles and shunt them out of your way as in stock car racing or demolition derbys.

These are not desirable situations to create on public roads and that includes four wheel skids.:D

harveybobbles

Anybody who is wanting to know how to control a car is a skid, slide, spin etc should stick to public transport.

It really upsets me the number of people who drive in bad conditions with no idea what to do.

Also driving TOO slow in snow is just as bad! I was following some old dear in hill in a Micra a few weeks back and if they went any slower then we'd have gone backwards...

00ec25

bigg_a3 wrote: »

If your vehicle skids, depress the clutch and turn the steering wheel into the direction of the skid. When the vehicle straightens steer along the road. Don't brake - it will just lock up your wheels and you'll skid further.

I acknowledge there may not be time or you may not be good enough, but you really should do foot off accelerator AND also change down a gear to get engine braking rather than just depress the clutch, as the immediate effect of the latter would be to make the car go faster since you have removed the engine braking effect

also a tip is remember you have a reverse gear if you get stuck in snow. Rocking the car back and forth between second and reverse will often get you going again since reverse gear is a higher ratio than first and so applies high torque with less risk of spin - provided you don't hit high gas of course

Debt_Free_Chick

harveybobbles wrote: »

Also driving TOO slow in snow is just as bad!

I've heard/seen this mentioned a number of times recently. I just wonder "is this so"??? Can it really be bad to drive very slowly in bad weather? If so, why?

Just curious ....

Dave101t

dont forget to drive swerving side to side down the road to heat up your tyres, afterall the professional F1 drivers do...
D'oh!

harveybobbles

Well if you were following this knob in the Micra a few weeks back you'd understand - as they were going far too slow up a hill in snow. Any slower and the whole queue of cars would have started to slide down the hill.