In light of the recent snowfall and icy roads around the City of Greater Sudbury, the Traffic Management Unit of the Greater Sudbury Police wants to remind the public of the dangers associated with winter driving.
Police offer the following common sense tips when you are travelling in your motor vehicle this coming winter.
1) Even with good coolant, snow tires, traction control, all-wheel drive, keep in mind that driving in snow, sleet, and ice is very treacherous. Even if you maintain control of your car, not everyone else will.
2) Don’t ever get lulled into a false sense of security. Do everything slowly and gently. Remember, in the snow, the tires are always just barely grabbing the road. Accelerate slowly and gently, turn slowly and gently, and brake slowly and gently. To do this, you have to anticipate turns and stops. That means what? Going slowly and leaving plenty of distance between you and other cars. Rapid movements lead to skids and loss of control.
3) Once snow or ice does arrive, take some extra time to make sure your car is clean and your visibility is good.
4) Clear off the entire car, not just a little peephole in the windshield. First of all, you need just as much, if not more, visibility in poor conditions, because you have to keep your eye peeled for every other person on the road.
5) Make sure every glass surface is clear and transparent by using a snowbrush and/or ice scraper. Your side view mirrors and all lights should be brushed and cleared as well.
Now, if you haven’t been smart enough to do so already, clean the snow off the rest of the car. Why? Because the rest of the snow will either: a) slide off the roof and cover your windshield as you’re slowing down; b) fly off onto someone else’s windshield and cause him or her to smash into you.
6) Every car has different handling characteristics. You should know what your car can and cannot do in the snow.
You should know if it has antilock brakes and traction control, how they work, and how they help.
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