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Canadian motorists are about to be faced with one of the most beautiful and challenging driving seasons: Winter. Temperatures and daylight levels have dropped, snow is imminent or occurring, and Mother Nature is preparing yet another concoction of ice, slush and freezing rain to challenge motorists and their vehicles at every turn.
Winter travels can be daunting and stressful or rewarding and relaxing - depending on your level of preparedness. Here are some tips drivers can take to ensure they travel safely this winter.
Visibility is Key
Make sure your vehicle is ready to meet the challenges of winter driving. Start with seeing and being seen. Ensure all the lights on your vehicle are working properly and that your headlamps are aimed correctly. If you can't see properly out of your car, you're asking for trouble. Consider using a quality winter wiper blade and washer fluid to help cut through the snow and ice, as well to make sure you travel safely this winter.
Emergency Kit
In addition to a bag of sand or cat litter, consider packing an emergency kit to store in your trunk to help you travel safely this winter. Blankets, candles, snacks, a charged cellular phone, and emergency road flares should all be included. Ditto for booster cables, a flashlight, and a tow-strap. Your favourite retailer sells pre-prepared emergency kits, too.
Eat For Alertness
In order to ensure you travel safely this winter, avoid heavy meals before longer trips as they can cause drowsiness. Drink plenty of water, and avoid the use of sugary or caffeinated drinks to keep you awake. Healthy snack foods that you can eat in small handfuls (as opposed to large, heavy meals) work wonders for energy and alertness levels. Remember: If you're tired or dozy, pull over and rest. Winter driving when you aren't alert is asking for trouble.
Cleaner is Safer
Washing your car to clear away ice, salt and snow, and to ensure your lights and windows are clear ahead of a road-trip is a good idea, too. A little squirt of lock deicer into each key hole after your car wash is also a good way to travel safely this winter. Don't forget to spray off the underside of your ride to remove excessive snow and sand, which can hold moisture against your floor and promote rust.
Handle a Skid
Steer into the skid? Out of the skid? Hit the brakes? There's precious little time to make a decision when your vehicle is on the verge of losing control. What's easier to remember is: Keep the steering wheel and your eyes pointed where you want the car to go. Don't stare at the tree or rock that you don't want to hit, but rather look towards the open road where you're hoping to wind up.
Don't go Hollywood-style with the steering or brakes, either. Gentle, smooth inputs are key to success during winter driving slides. Steadily, gently keep the wheel pointed in your intended direction of travel and lightly, progressively squeeze the brakes as needed.
Getting Unstuck
A bag of cat litter or sand is ideal for traction in case you get stuck this winter. Use a shovel to clear the snow away from your wheels and spread the gritty substance of your choice under and ahead of your drive wheels to help free your ride. Don't spin the tires excessively, since this can “dig” your ride further into trouble. If a little prod on the throttle doesn't get you moving, stop the car, clear more snow away, add more grit, and repeat.
Don't Get Frozen Out
Keep a bottle of lock deicer or WD-40 (with the little red straw) in your purse or briefcase to travel safely this winter. Your favourite parts store probably sells a keychain-sized bottle of either, so you can always have it handy when needed. Note that an occasional spray of either solution into your key hole (when it's not frozen) will serve as preventative maintenance.
Free Wheeling
Periodically clean out the frozen globs of slush around your front wheels, even if it means a trip to the coin-op pressure washer. In severe cases, these frozen clumps can reduce your ability to steer effectively in an emergency maneuver,-- not to mention weigh the car down to waste fuel unnecessarily.
Maintenance is Key
Is your vehicle leaking or making a strange sound? Either of these conditions can indicate a problem, so be sure to address the concern as soon as possible. Harsh winter driving conditions tend to aggravate poorly maintained vehicle components, meaning you're more likely to break down when its 30 below.
Just to ruin your trip, this usually happens on a family outing or when you're towing a heavy trailer. Your favourite mechanic can quickly perform an inspection and tune-up the next time your ride is in for an oil change just to make doubly sure you travel safely this winter.
Winter travels can be daunting and stressful or rewarding and relaxing - depending on your level of preparedness. Here are some tips drivers can take to ensure they travel safely this winter.
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| Photo: Matthieu Lambert |
Visibility is Key
Make sure your vehicle is ready to meet the challenges of winter driving. Start with seeing and being seen. Ensure all the lights on your vehicle are working properly and that your headlamps are aimed correctly. If you can't see properly out of your car, you're asking for trouble. Consider using a quality winter wiper blade and washer fluid to help cut through the snow and ice, as well to make sure you travel safely this winter.
Emergency Kit
In addition to a bag of sand or cat litter, consider packing an emergency kit to store in your trunk to help you travel safely this winter. Blankets, candles, snacks, a charged cellular phone, and emergency road flares should all be included. Ditto for booster cables, a flashlight, and a tow-strap. Your favourite retailer sells pre-prepared emergency kits, too.
Eat For Alertness
In order to ensure you travel safely this winter, avoid heavy meals before longer trips as they can cause drowsiness. Drink plenty of water, and avoid the use of sugary or caffeinated drinks to keep you awake. Healthy snack foods that you can eat in small handfuls (as opposed to large, heavy meals) work wonders for energy and alertness levels. Remember: If you're tired or dozy, pull over and rest. Winter driving when you aren't alert is asking for trouble.
Cleaner is Safer
Washing your car to clear away ice, salt and snow, and to ensure your lights and windows are clear ahead of a road-trip is a good idea, too. A little squirt of lock deicer into each key hole after your car wash is also a good way to travel safely this winter. Don't forget to spray off the underside of your ride to remove excessive snow and sand, which can hold moisture against your floor and promote rust.
Handle a Skid
Steer into the skid? Out of the skid? Hit the brakes? There's precious little time to make a decision when your vehicle is on the verge of losing control. What's easier to remember is: Keep the steering wheel and your eyes pointed where you want the car to go. Don't stare at the tree or rock that you don't want to hit, but rather look towards the open road where you're hoping to wind up.
Don't go Hollywood-style with the steering or brakes, either. Gentle, smooth inputs are key to success during winter driving slides. Steadily, gently keep the wheel pointed in your intended direction of travel and lightly, progressively squeeze the brakes as needed.
Getting Unstuck
A bag of cat litter or sand is ideal for traction in case you get stuck this winter. Use a shovel to clear the snow away from your wheels and spread the gritty substance of your choice under and ahead of your drive wheels to help free your ride. Don't spin the tires excessively, since this can “dig” your ride further into trouble. If a little prod on the throttle doesn't get you moving, stop the car, clear more snow away, add more grit, and repeat.
Don't Get Frozen Out
Keep a bottle of lock deicer or WD-40 (with the little red straw) in your purse or briefcase to travel safely this winter. Your favourite parts store probably sells a keychain-sized bottle of either, so you can always have it handy when needed. Note that an occasional spray of either solution into your key hole (when it's not frozen) will serve as preventative maintenance.
Free Wheeling
Periodically clean out the frozen globs of slush around your front wheels, even if it means a trip to the coin-op pressure washer. In severe cases, these frozen clumps can reduce your ability to steer effectively in an emergency maneuver,-- not to mention weigh the car down to waste fuel unnecessarily.
Maintenance is Key
Is your vehicle leaking or making a strange sound? Either of these conditions can indicate a problem, so be sure to address the concern as soon as possible. Harsh winter driving conditions tend to aggravate poorly maintained vehicle components, meaning you're more likely to break down when its 30 below.
Just to ruin your trip, this usually happens on a family outing or when you're towing a heavy trailer. Your favourite mechanic can quickly perform an inspection and tune-up the next time your ride is in for an oil change just to make doubly sure you travel safely this winter.