Winter Driving Safety Tips

With two big winter storms in the last three days, staying safe on wintery roads has been on my mind.  While I think I'm doing "everything right",  I thought a little research to improve our skills couldn't hurt - right?

Here's what I learned:

Triple-A offers these winter driving tips:

• Accelerate and decelerate slowly to avoid skids. 
• Drive slowly, everything takes longer on snow-covered roads.
• Increase the normal following distance (3-4 seconds) to 8 or more seconds to provide a longer distance in case of a sudden stop.
• Know your brakes. Keep your heel on the floor and apply steady pressure with the ball of your foot.
• Don't stop if you can avoid it (obviously stop at all Stop signs)
• Don't power up hills or stop going up.

Best tip: Stay home.

If you have to venture out, be as prepared as possible with a winter weather emergency car kit. The Weather Channel suggests keeping these 10 things in your vehicle for winter emergencies.

• A blanket
• A snow shovel (there are many collapsible models)
• Flashlight
• Hand warmers
• Matches
• Bottled water and protein/snack bars
• Syphon pump (in case you run out of gas)
• Lightsticks
• Flares
• A whistle

You can store all these items in a plastic bin, car compartment or even a zippered tote bag in your trunk or cargo space. Preparing your car for winter travel is essential, and Lisa from A Daily Pinch offers even more tips and a Winter Safety Travel Checklist.

It never hurts to brush  up on your skills, check over your car (turn signals, lights, wipers and tire pressure) and be prepared.  Drive safe out there - even that awful man in the pick-up truck that yelled at me for driving too slowly on un-treated snowy roads the other day. My dad always told me, "it's the other people you have to watch out for."

What's your best winter weather driving tip? 

catch you soon -