Well, it’s that time of year again. We open our front doors and stare astounded at the sudden white dump that has occurred just overnight. Winter is definitely on the way, and it looks to be another cold one. Therefore, we might as well get used to it now and start preparing ourselves once more for the cold winter weather and the added stress it can cause on the road.

No one likes white-knuckling their way through a blizzard, no matter the distance. Whenever I drive after a recent snowfall and the roads are still a bit on the slushy side, I get to occasionally deal with the nerve-wracking problem of my brakes temporarily locking up as a result of one of my summer habits, the “see and stop,” when you notice your turn seconds before you pass it. Winter takes our easy drives and throws curveballs at us to make us keep a closer eye on our surroundings. Therefore, we must take the proper precautions.

As I mentioned, slushy roads are always an obvious obstacle. They’re not fun to drive through because they make steering a major pain at times. The key to driving through slush is to not go any faster than you need to, allowing yourself more control if your tires begin turning where you don’t want them to. As for making turns in slush, it’s important to allow yourself more stopping time. No more “see and stops” until next spring! We need to be vigilant of where we need to turn and give ourselves a slower and much more controlled turn. 

With these tips, slush won’t be as bad, but what about the dreaded black ice that hides itself from our eyes when we’re traveling down a seemingly dry road in a hurry? Everything’s going just fine until we hit that ice and we go skidding off in a random direction. Basically, the best way to deal with black ice is similar to that of slush, except you need to rely on foreknowledge of where and when black ice forms instead of seeing it.

So we know it’s important to watch our own driving. But then again, there’s always others who fall victim to these things, either by ignorance or bad luck. This further shows how important it is that we keep our eyes and mind alert to our surroundings and potential obstacles. There is no foolproof way of avoiding an accident, but with proper care, we can certainly reduce the likelihood of allowing the harsh winter weather from taking control of our vehicle from us.

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