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Most of the time, those places where your tires meet
the:roaa probably
have good traction.
However,
if
there is snow or ice between your tires and the road, you can
have a very slippery situation. You'll have a lot less traction or "grip" and
will need to be very careful.
What's the worst time for this? "Wet ice." Very cold snow or ice can be
slick and hard to drive on. But wet ice can
be even more trouble because
it may offer the least traction of all. You can get "wet ice" when it's about
freezing (32 F; 0 C) and freezing rain begins to fall. Try to avoid driving
on wet ice untihalt and sand crews can get there.
Whatever the condition -=smooth ice, packed, blowing or loose snow --
drive with caution.
If you have the traction control system, it will improve your ability
to
accelerate when driving on a slippery road. Even though your vehicle has
a traction control system, you'll want to slow down and adjust your
driving to the road conditions. See "Traction Control System"
in the
Index.
Your anti-lock brakes improve your ability
to make a hard stop on a
slippery road. Even though you have the anti-lock braking system, you'll
want to begin stopping sooner than you would on dry pavement. See
"Anti-lock" in the Index.
Allow greater following distance on any slippery road.
Watch for slippery spots. The road might be fine until you hit a spot
that's covered with ice. Oman otherwise clear road, ice patches may
appear in shaded areas where the sun can't reach: around clumps of
trees, behind buildings, or under bridges. Sometimes the surface of a
curve or an overpass may remain icy when the surrounding roads are
clear. If you see a patch
of
ice ahead of you, brake before you are on
it. Try not to brake while you're actually on the ice, and avoid sudden
steering maneuvers.
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