Winter Driving Tips   Conseils pour la conduite hivernale

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Do you have problems driving in our often treacherous Canadian winter conditions? Do you know how to correct a skid in a front-wheel drive vehicle? How many snow tires are on your vehicle? Is your vehicle equipped with ABS? Have you experienced ABS on an icy road surface? CARSP member, and racing-driver extraordinare, Nigel Mortimer has some advice which may "keep you on track"...

A few basics for avoiding problems:

• lights
      ( if other road users don’t know what you are doing, how can they avoid you? )

• windows
      ( if you can’t see them, how can you avoid them? )

• and from the roof
      ( otherwise it will blow onto the back window and tail lights! )

Brake well in advance

Steer gently

Use the accelerator smoothly

Finely match engine speed to road speed when changing gears

Use four snow tires

Make sure your seat belts are as tight as possible
       (to reduce your injuries in the event of a collision)

Obtaining Traction:

Slowing Down Safely:

Threshold braking
is effective because it maintains directional control with a relatively short stopping distance

Pumping the brakes
allows good directional control but increases the stopping distance

Using four wheel lock up
the driver loses full control of the vehicle, increasing the chances of spinning out; however, it results in the shortest stopping distance* in snow and slush (because of the snow plow effect).

* Note that this is not true on glare ice because a sliding tire melts the ice forming a boundary layer of water on the ice, which results in a reduction of the available friction.

Note that vehicles equipped with anti-lock brakes (ABS) are totally dependent on the traction provided by the tires since they are incapable of lock up. It is therefore mandatory that four snow tires be used.

Tires marked with the pictograph of a peaked mountain with a snowflake meet specific snow traction performance requirements, and have been designed specifically for use in severe snow conditions.

Snow banks beside roadways can be used to rapidly decelerate a vehicle in an emergency

Skid Control:

Front Wheel Drive

Once a front wheel drive vehicle is into a skid the easiest recovery technique is to shift the vehicle into neutral, or depress the clutch (manual transmission), and apply the brakes gently trying to slow down the vehicle and regain steering control.

In a rear wheel skid, power can be applied to pull the vehicle forward so that the rear wheels will follow the front, instead of them trying to overtake the front. This is difficult to learn since the natural reaction is to take your foot off the accelerator rather than apply it. With power applied in a front wheel skid situation the steering will not react to the driver’s input, but by selecting neutral all four wheels have equal traction and control will be regained.

Rear Wheel Drive

The select neutral technique is also applicable to rear wheel drive vehicles.

Also, the natural reaction to take your foot off the accelerator will help correct a rear wheel skid.

Cornering

Always look up and steer where you want to go. If you look in the direction you wish to go, you will steer in that direction, and this will correct the skid. The time worn advice of "steer into the skid" tends to confuse people.

Emergency Avoidance

Vehicles equipped with full ABS allow some degree of both braking and steering at the same time. Consequently, you can slow down and gently steer around an obstacle. If you are not familiar with ABS, practice using the system (in a safe location), before you need to use its capabilities! ABS has quite a different "feel" than a conventional braking system. Be prepared ahead of time.

The last tip is applicable to all aspects of winter driving. Find a skid-school near you and take a course.