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Driving on Snow or Ice
Most of the time, those places where your tires meet the
road 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 OF; 0
O
C) and freezing rain begins to fall. Try to avoid
driving on wet ice until salt and sand crews can get there.
Whatever the condition -- smooth ice, packed, blowing
or loose snow
--
drive with caution.
Keep your traction control system on. It improves your
ability to accelerate when driving on a slippery road.
Even though your vehicle has the TCS, 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 vehicle's stability
when you 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. On an
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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