Weather Or Not, Here’s How You Need To Control Your Car!
Posted by admin at 28 November 2017, at 23 : 48 PM
We have a lot of things to contend with the upcoming winter worries, especially as drivers. Depending on your vehicle, whether you’ve got an old car or a new one, the one thing that gives us cause for concern during the winter months is that we can get a whole manner of weather conditions that we have to navigate through. The fact is, lots of us aren’t that skilled in driving through hazardous weather conditions. And, while new cars have a lot of sophisticated functions, like anti-lock brakes, the fact of the matter is, we still need some skills as drivers to understand how to get out of these weather predicaments. So, let’s go and through some of them, and give you some handy tips, as well as a few preventative measures.
Driving Rain
It’s best to start here, the most common of weather conditions. And, it’s very handy for all sorts of drivers, not just the new ones, to best prepare yourself navigate the most extreme of weather conditions involving rain. The first thing you have to address in any rainstorm is the speed of your car. It’s recommended that you slow down by 5 or 10 miles per hour, as this will give you much more time to react to everything around you. Put the windscreen wipers at full speed so you can improve your field of vision (if it doesn’t need explaining already)! The one thing to be prepared for in very extreme weather conditions involving rain is that if there is so much water, that the car starts to hydroplane. This means that the car is actually lifting off the ground due to the amount of rain, which is more common in Asian countries or anywhere that has typhoons, you will be driving on a layer of water as opposed to the ground. In this type of weather, you need to make sure that you slow the car down gradually, and the car will eventually make contact with the ground. Remember not to slam on the brakes suddenly or put yourself in a position where you have to brake urgently, because the braking distance is increased. So make sure you have a big gap between you and the car in front.
The Fog
An absolutely frightening experience as a driver, your visibility is so low, so the first thing you need to do is to drive as alertly as possible. Make sure you put on the fog lights or the low beam. As these lights are yellow, they will shine through the fog much better than any white lamps, and being low to the ground, the road will be better illuminated. The trick to navigating fog is all about keeping your eyes ahead of you, but also communicating the right signals to the cars behind. Before you enter any patch of fog, pump the brakes lightly, the brake lights will signal the driver behind you and they will keep their distance. The big issue in navigating fog is if you are driving up a hill or around corners. And the solution is very simple, keep the car very, very slow. It gives you more time to react, and if someone is driving erratically, it gives you more time to prepare.
Snow And Ice
Depending on what country you live in depends on how prepared you are for driving in snow! Lots of drivers in countries where snow is seldom seen these days don’t know how best to prepare. The first thing that needs to be said is that if the snow is so severe that you are unable to see through your windscreen, then, don’t! The first thing to do if you can drive in the snow is to reduce the speed of your car by 10 miles an hour. And gradually reduce your speed by 5 miles an hour each time until you feel you are in control of the car. The big issues you have to deal with when driving in snow are two fold, the car spinning out, and skidding. Navigating a corner or a turn is when the risk is big for the car spinning out. And while it doesn’t sound like it makes sense, don’t rely on the brake to get to you around the turn. When you get to the curve, slow the car down to a speed that you can handle, and coast around the curve by turning the wheel gradually as you navigate the corner. To reduce skidding and to straighten out your car, you need to turn the wheel towards the direction of the skidding car. So, if the car is sliding towards the left after turning a corner, turn the steering wheel to the left too. So this straightens out the car.
But the one preventative measure if you are going to drive in snow on a regular basis is to invest in safe tires. There are plenty of bespoke tire suppliers that can fit them securely and can give you the quality information on what is best for your vehicle, such as Telle Tire, and you can browse their tires at their website. Navigating ice is, very simply, a no-no. While we’ve all seen ice road truckers and think we can do it just as well, the fact is, ice is the biggest culprit for getting the car to spin out. But, you need to keep your eye out for black ice. Now, this is very difficult to spot, because it is practically transparent. But the one way to spot it is if your headlights reflect off the roads, granted, you can only do this at night. But black ice will tend to spread on places like bridges, intersections, as well as in big shadows, such as tall buildings.
As with driving in anywhere the condition, preparation is the best thing. So, check your wipers and make sure there’s no cracked brother. Make sure the tire treads are strong. Make sure you clean the headlight covers on a regular basis, which stops them clouding up. And always stock an emergency kit including items such as a torch, jumper cables, and air compressor, and, of course, an ice scraper. But, if you can avoid driving in these terrible conditions, then, it is recommended you don’t. But, as with any horrible weather conditions, plan ahead, and drive with some common sense!