AN_p34_p35__JK_18-19_AN306_Tani's_view.QXD 29/12/2021 21:19 Page 1
Winter Driving (Some Gentle Hints) by John Killick TORM ARWEN hit the UK at the end of November and the snow quickly followed! We don’t often get a lot of the white stuff these days so many, especially young drivers, haven’t experienced driving on snow and ice. The editor, since he doesn’t like the thought of his readership being involved in road traffic accidents, has asked me if I can write a piece this time about driving in bad weather. So all you old duffers like me who have experience driving on snow may skip this article, but for those who don’t here are some hints on survival in bad weather. Please read what follows as hints on staying alive. Others would probably say, “Well for basics ok, but what about so and so!” It is not a final say on the matter but just a general guide. With this in mind the best advice anybody can give is, “Stay at Home”! Or, in other words, “If your journey is not essential don’t make it!” In my early days we didn’t have four-wheel drives, most cars were fitted with rear wheel drive only which made them spinning machines! You are a lot luckier but that doesn’t mean that spins are impossible! Just watch any track racing and those drivers practice constantly for such things! Now I also know that main roads are normally well gritted these days but with all due respect to the council’s gritting department, which tries really
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Perhaps a good day to leave the car at home (taken about 4 years ago in South Shields)
hard to keep the roads open, they can do little about snow falling on fresh grit then freezing solid. So, how can you tell if this has happened? You can’t tell. The first you will know about it is when you touch your brakes and either nothing happens, or you suddenly discover you are facing the wrong way! In the first instance you are now sliding into the back of the vehicle in front! What to do? Firstly, triple the braking distance you would normally allow for. This gives you plenty of time to think or run off that icy stretch and for your brakes to start working. If on a rise, take your foot off the accelerator and allow gravity to help. On one occasion on a down slope I drove the front of my car into the snow on the side of the road and used that to break me. Whatever you decide is appropriate, you will require that extra braking distance. In a spin, take your foot of the accelerator and turn into the spin. This will usually bring you out of the spin, if not pray that some poor bloke isn’t coming the other way! Black Ice! This normally forms on wet roads and can be picked out by noticing that the shiny stuff has just gone a flat matt colour. This is probably the most dangerous road condition of the lot since the chances Not the best day for driving (On the Alston Road from Kendal, Cumbria) are you will not spot it until you detect
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