Avoid The Slip And Slide When On A Winters Drive

The saying “better late than never” couldn’t be more true when dealing with the onset of the winter weather. This said however,  the worst of any travel troubles can be easily avoided. Here are just a few simple tips to help you on your way over the winter months…

• Check the Forecast. Simple as it sounds, if you have a long journey ahead, always keep an eye on the weather forecast. The weather forecast can give an invaluable heads up enabling you to re-calculate journey times if necessary.
• Frozen door locks. Don’t throw hot water over the door, all that will happen is that the door lock will freeze up again and you run the risk of cracking the window. A couple of possible solutions may be to gently heat your key with a match or lighter to melt the ice.  Care should be taken to not overheat the key. Alternatively, locks can be freed with an electronic heated lock key or special de-icing fluid that can be sprayed directly into the lock via a narrow tube.
• If the car starts sliding. Don’t step on the brakes, even if they’re anti-lock. Straighten your wheels then ease off the accelerator, this should help transfer the weight forward and help you to regain traction.
• If you’re stuck in snow or ice. Don’t try to accelerate your way out. An ice patch will form under the tyres making it harder to get out. Try pulling out your floor mats and shove them under your tyres. Rock the car back and forth gently to get your wheels on the mats, then gently accelerate to move off. You may have other items in the boot that you may be able to use such as a camping blanket.
• Low visibility in snow and fog. Don’t tailgate the brake lights ahead – that’s a recipe for disaster. Turn on your low beam headlamps and fog lights. Dim interior lights including dashboard instruments if you can as this will help with exterior visibility. Probably the most important thing is if you can’t see the road, pull over. If you can’t see the road ahead or the road signs it’s too dangerous, you may only need to wait for a short time before being able to resume your journey.
• Plan Ahead. If you’re due to catch a flight and the forecast is for worsening conditions, maybe book an airport hotel and leave for the airport a day early. With many airport hotels located either at or within a couple of miles of the airport, you’re much more likely to be on time to catch your flight. With many airport hotels also providing airport parking on-site with transfers to the terminal, it should be a lot less stressful than travelling up on the day.
• Get Breakdown Cover – If your car wont start or breaks down in bad weather, break down cover can be a lifesaver. Depending on the level of cover you choose, if it can’t be fixed at the roadside, many breakdown services will either take you and your car to the nearest garage, to your final destination or back home.

The Key to most winter journeys is to leave plenty of time. If you leave just 10 to 15 minutes late because of a frozen windscreen or door lock, you’re already under pressure to make up time and more likely to hurry putting yourself and others at risk. I guess chilling out this winter could be a good thing…

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 6:36 pm and is filed under Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.