driving in snow

onetomany

i no im a silly mo but im soooooooo scared ty for ur replays x

Dave101t

driving in snow:
do everything 10-25% slower. thats it, theres no trick to it, its just a simple trick.

mikey72

DCFC79 wrote: »

that must be terrifying, i was sliding around the place in feb in the snow which scared me a little as i nearly hit a car

You get used to it eventually, I enjoy driving on snow.

optimus_primera

Top tip if you need to use carpet/whatever under your wheels ..... punch a hole thru one corner, tie a good length of string thru it, then if you do need to use them, tie the other end on the string to the back bumper,tow point etc, that way when you get under way, you don't have to stop until you get to firmer ground to retreive them.

Don't forget that when driving in snow,you are not always able to judge where the kerb is,and where any potholes could beg,last thing thing you need to is to clobber your tyre and get a flat ( if you have winter tyres, is you spare a winter one as well??)

There is no magic trick to driving in snow,its not difficult if you follow the rules.

snowball1972

frothey wrote: »

Fire up the Quattro..... :rotfl:

Someone mentioned letting pressure out of the tyres - this could close up the tread pattern and make the tyres act like ski's. Ok on ice, but in "loose" snow you want the tyres to cut through the snow and clear the tread. that's why proper snow wheels are narrow ones.

And probably mean your insurer won't pay out if you have a prang.

Cash-Strapped.T32

Mobeer wrote: »

And if things look like getting really bad, I agree in advance to telecommute.

I like this one!

Ring-Ring
>"Hello?
>"Hi, it's me, sorry, I'm not coming in today - This is me, telecommuting. Bye!"
Click

:T



As for me, I ride a motorbike & all through that last nasty winter I didn't miss a single day, and I had to do a lot of distance riding on a-roads & horrible little ice-roads outside of work too.

As it happens, aside from the excruciating cold in my hands (but only my hands), I thkn I actually had an easier time of it than the cars!

2 feet down, pair of rigger-boots with tesco-bag waterproof liners (:p) & my bike becomes a snow-mobile :j
(my beautiful skidoo?)

On thick, black ice where you need a hammer to break it, or when snow is coming up thicker than the tyre, reaching your wheel-rim, I got lots of sympahthy from co-workers, but yeah, I often felt safer than the folk manoeuvring entire rooms on wheels (ie; cars) on the roads.

Thinking back, my worst scare was on a busy junction, & because the entire road was white, you couldn't see the lane-markers, so I ended up setting off into an on-coming lane (no traffic, it wasn't obvious).
Even in those conditions though, it wasn't *too* hard to make a sharpish turn back onto the right lane although it did involve a bit of bouncing up & down.


To be honest, it's the middle-ground that's worst for me - when the cars still feel confident to drive at normal speeds but the roads are manifestly too dangerous - and kinda by default I have to keep up or get pushed into the really icy bits on the edge of the road - IMO that's the real danger area, not thick snow or even obvious ice.

frothey

it amazed me last year how clueless some people are - we had one guy in complaining that his brakes were seized as the car kept skidding. Have a look at it and the tyres were barely legal in the middle, and bald on the outside edges. Despite that, he wouldn't put new tyres on, and still kept insisting the brakes had gone. Same as I have another "aquaintance" who is going on about how he's got his all weather tyres to last the year, so he's laughing now..... well, would be if there was more than 2mm of tread on them!

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I bought a Mazda MX5 in the summer. It's rear wheel drive & obviously my OH & I have never driven the car in winter conditions.

Since the weather has changed & snow is about on the roads, I'm looking for ways to improve the vehicle's handling.

People recommend either snow sock or winter/snow tyres. Has anyone got a preference & which brand is better?

Charlie1986

I work as a home carer aswell and the snow earlier this year was the first experience i'd had of driving in it . It was scary at times but I just drove slowly where I had to, if the car started to skid or wheel spin I eased off the accelorator.
I know someone mentioned it was better to leave before other traffic got onto the roads but I found the opposite and left a little later as the roads had cleared a bit.
One thing I will say is don't park in the car park's of any complex's you go to, park on the main road near to them. I got stuck in the car park and had to use my car mats to get out a bit at a time. Also park on the main roads as close to service users house's as possible and walk the rest of the way. Don't go down little cul-de-sacs.
Just take your time, if you're late then you're late but at least you'll get there safely!

jackieb

seafarers_wife wrote: »

allow yourself plenty of time to get to places, dont rush anything, stay in as low a gear as possible, have deicer etc in car, possibly even a shovel. i will be keeping a new sweeping brush in the car when/if snow is forecast to brush it off the roof so that there isnt the extra weight in the car.

the main thing is just take your time!

I was thinking of weighing down my car! I was recommended to keep a full tank of petrol too as this would help with the weight. But I have a rear wheel drive so that might make a difference.