Winter driving on the road · On the road in Winter driving
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On the road in Winter driving
On the road in Winter driving
Driving on snow, and especially ice, requires extra stopping distance. Use extreme caution when going downhill.
You cannot drive at highway/freeway speeds with chains on.
Keep your fuel tank at least half full at all times.
For vehicles with ABS anti-locking brakes, do not pump the brake pedal if you start to skid.
If you miss your freeway exit, get off at the next one and turn around. Continuing on to a less-used alternate route in winter is foolish.
If a mountain pass is closed due to the weather, there's a good reason for it. Don't even think of using local roads to get around the closure. Saving a day or two is not worth risking your life.
In blizzard/white-out conditions, you may not be able to see anything through the windshield. Try rolling down the window and sticking your head outside. Then, find a safe place to get off the road and stay there until conditions improve.
Ice is more likely to form on bridges. Slow down when going over them, especially on the motorway.
When driving downhill, no amount of technical gadgetry (ABS,4x4,ESP,...) will protect you against skidding. Snow chains are the only remedy.
Keep in mind that even though a 4x4 is great for providing forward traction, it will not improve stopping distance.
Skidding (sideways) is most likely to start with the driving wheels. I.e., on a car with front wheel drive a front wheel skid is most likely, rear wheel skid on a rear wheel drive, and on a 4x4 don't be surprised if all four wheels loose the grip at the same time!
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Winter driving
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Winter driving - updated May 2024
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WHERE TO TRAVEL NEXT IN 2020
Winter driving Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.