With the weather as it currently is and it being winter as well it is time for a little lesson on safety. Sure, we all think we know how to react when we’re driving on ice but how many of us actually do?
Driving on ice is an extremely dangerous thing to do and not everyone even realizes that they’re about to hit it until it’s too late. Driving on ice brings forth a lot of risks and even the best drivers can end up losing control of their vehicles under the right circumstances.
When it’s snowing, raining, or other things of the sort and temperatures are freezing, icy roads are a possibility. If you can avoid the ice or can wait to get out of the house once it’s gone that is always the better option but of course, it’s not an option for everyone. When ice is present on our roads oftentimes it’s black ice and not something we can see which as noted above makes it all the more dangerous.
If you are out and about and notice ice ahead slow down and drive at a reduced speed. The faster you’re going the more likely it is for a slide to occur. Now, if you do somehow happen to find yourself sliding on the ice don’t panic, as hard as that may be to do. Those few seconds of reaction you have are important.
Do not use your breaks when sliding, it won’t do any good and will only make you more concerned as things continue to slide. Oftentimes when people hit their breaks in these kinds of situations it makes the sliding worse. You need to turn your wheels into the same direction that your rear is sliding depending on how you’re sliding.
This will allow you to straighten out a bit and might give you what you need to get going once again without hitting something. Keep in mind, however, that ice can send us in more than one direction. You could go right at first and then left so be prepared to use your wheel to even things out as mentioned in the previous sentence.
While all of this might sound like a lot. It’s mostly all about keeping your cool and flowing with the car to get it back straight. Sure, you may never need to use this information but it doesn’t hurt to be informed just in case. There are high chances that at some point in your life you’ll go through something like this.
To see this in action and learn more about correcting a slide on ice please check out the video below. While it is just three things, those three things can make the difference between gaining control of your vehicle again or being in a serious wreck. Don’t forget to be aware of this kind of danger. Have you ever driven on ice and had an experience with sliding?
Sources:
http://icyroadsafety.com/correct.shtml
http://icyroadsafety.com/dangerzones.shtml
https://www.esurance.com/info/car/dangers-of-winter-driving