Driving in Snow for Newbies

Driving on a snowy road for the first time can be a harrowing experience, especially if your car doesn’t have four-wheel drive. It’s even worse when you’re in an unfamiliar place, or driving on hills. It’s easy to skid off the road, get stuck or even cause an accident.

If you do find yourself in this situation and you absolutely can’t stay home, here are a few tips to help keep you safe:

Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Sudden movements will cause your car to skid or you’ll end up spinning your wheels and not moving.

Drive more slowly than normal.

Follow farther behind other cars than you normally would.

Try to avoid stopping, as it can be hard to get started again. If you can simply roll slowly forward at a traffic light or stop sign, that’s ideal over a complete stop.

Be careful on hills. Accelerate before you approach the hill and let your momentum carry you to the top rather than accelerating on the hill itself. Reduce your speed at the top and go as slowly as possible down the other side.

Don’t use cruise control.

Overall, exercise more caution than you would on dry pavement.

For more tips, visit AAA’s Winter Driving Tips page. The winter may be behind us in the United States, but these tips are good to keep in mind for driving during any extreme weather.