Winter tires and other tricks for driving safe also in winter

Winter, a bit late, seems to be exploded these days, along with cold, ice and snow, elements that might be dangerous for those who drive. However, with common sense and following some hints, it is possible to drive safely also with not exactly favorable climatic conditions.

When streets begin to be covered with ice and snow begins to fall, the first rule is to pay more attention while driving and using common sense: in these cases you must reduce speed and drive more watchfully, trying to foresee also the movements of other drivers. A manoeuvre that might be simple in a normal context, might be very difficult on an iced street and cause problems to yourselves and other people. Certainly attention and speed reduction are necessary but not enough: in order to drive safely also in disadvantageous weather conditions, indeed, your car must be able to face ice and snow.

The first thing to keep under control is the status of tires. In Italy the recent change in the art. 6 of the highway code has ratified that the organization owning roads can fix oblige drivers to be provided with winter tires (for a certain period of time and on specific roads). Sanctions, for those who do not respect this obligation, might be pecuniary and cause the prohibition to drive. Using winter tires is always a good thing to do to improve road holding and not only in case of snow, but simply when temperatures are very low.

But tires are not the only part of cars that you should keep under control when winter approaches. It is very important, indeed, to check also the status of wipers, of radiators (antifreeze is fundamental) and the battery capacity (cold, indeed, might cause a reduction of the battery operating time). Windscreen too, when it is very cold, needs special care, especially if you leave your car outside all night long and in the morning you find the windscreen covered with snow or ice. To solve this problem, you can use the warm air coming from the heating system of the car, but if you are in a hurry you can use some chemical, electrical or mechanical devices that make this operation easier. Do not use the method of pouring hot water on the windscreen and do not try to remove ice with plastic objects that might ruin the glass.

With ice or snow, besides checking the status of tires and of other parts of the car, you should also pay attention to your driving style. Besides driving slow and respecting safety distances, you should accelerate gradually to limit the problem of wheelspin, change up if wheels begin to skid (in this way you can reduce torque and help the recovery of adhesion) and, when you have to brake, prevent ABS to start working trying to anticipate braking.

Few and simple tips that allow us to feel safer also when weather conditions are not that good.