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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°F; OOC) 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. Accelerate gently.
Try not to break the fragile traction. If you accelerate
too fast, the drive wheels will spin and polish the surface
under the tires even more.
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
road.
distance on any slippery
0
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 ]nay appear in
shaded areas where the sun can't reach: around
clumps of trees, behind buildings, or under bridges.
Sometimes the surfhce 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
t o
brake while you're actually on
the ice, and avoid sudden steering maneuvers.
4-23
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