5 rules for driving safely in the snow

The winter fairy tale continues. According to the forecasters, the blizzards will come again. There is only one way to protect yourself and your car from all threats - do not leave your home. But what if you need to go? The portal "AutoVzglyad" will prompt.

There are only three parameters that will not allow you to drive in such weather: summer tires, idle wipers and a lack of self-confidence. The rule “not sure - don’t take it” today plays the most important, key role. Such a snowfall will not forgive mistakes and thoughtfulness. If nothing of the kind has been noticed, the car has long been changed into “seasonal shoes”, and the wiper blades smartly scrape the frozen windshield, then you can go. But you should still adhere to a few "folk" rules.

clean the car

Do not be too lazy to properly clean the car from precipitation. In Moscow, 50 cm of snow fell, so you need to lay at least half an hour for this operation. Firstly, the snow partially or completely blocks visibility, which will not be the best in such weather, and secondly, a huge number of accidents happen due to a snowdrift that has slid down from the roof onto the windshield. Thirdly, it is necessary to clean the headlights and lanterns well. Heavy snow significantly impairs visibility, each lamp is important to prevent a possible accident. So you need to pay special attention to the preparation for the trip.

Tap the wipers

Let's move this paragraph to a separate paragraph: if you forget to peel off the ice from the wiper blades, you will suffer from discomfort all the way! Get distracted and scold yourself for sloppiness. After all, it will be “not handy” to stop later, and it’s not really with us that you will stop! A stream of half-blind morning drivers who finish their coffee, finish their chins or paint their nails while driving on one side, and on the other - a bus lane and paid parking! So it is better to do this simple and not costly in terms of strength and time near the house.

Warm up the car

Allow time for the machine to fully warm up. The comfort of the driver, his concentration on the road and attentiveness will play an important role in such weather. The second important factor is thawed glass and mirrors. The temperatures outside the window allow even a diesel car to warm up in a static position, except that it will take a little longer.

Visibility today will be sorely lacking, so carefully and slowly clean each glass from precipitation. Such a precaution can pay off already in the yards, where the neighbors, who have not woken up and are late for work, will start driving out on their snow-covered "pepelats", with a loophole on the driver's window. Only your personal accuracy will allow you to avoid an accident in the first hundred meters. The most embarrassing thing, we note, is an accident.

Prepare the brakes

Snowfall is a time of double attention and concentration. But all these efforts will "go to waste" if you do not thoughtfully prepare for the trip. And here the brakes come to the fore - a lot will depend on them today.

While slowly driving through the yards, you need to warm up and clean the calipers with discs. Compote from yesterday's reagent and today's snow left such a coating on the details that at the right time, and it will definitely come, efforts may simply not be enough. While there are not many cars around, you need to squeeze the brake pedal several times so that the discs and calipers heat up and shake off everything unnecessary. Then and only then the mechanisms will work correctly and save your car from forced "mooring" in the stern of the one in front.

Feel the road

Leaving the yards, you need to understand and feel the "soil" under the wheels. How it carries and, more importantly, where it carries. There may be, and most likely will be, an ice crust under the snow, which will significantly change the time and distance not only of braking, but also of acceleration. In order to feel more confident in the stream, to realize what your car is capable of at this particular moment, you need to accelerate and brake several times. It is better to do this on the streets and alleys, and not on the highways crowded on the occasion of Monday morning.

There are no unnecessary movements in matters of preparation. Having estimated "what's what", you can safely go to public roads and go about your business. But, without forgetting to keep a close eye on the neighbors downstream. Not everyone approached the issue of going to work so vigilantly, not everyone has yet woken up and realized the volume of the fallen elements. It's good that the windows were cleaned - you can see everything!