6 mistakes many motorists make in winter
Tips for motorists

6 mistakes many motorists make in winter

The winter period in our latitudes is fraught with serious trials for cars and people. Frosts make the life of motorists quite stressful.

6 mistakes many motorists make in winter

Too long or too short warm-up of the machine

Whatever new technologies are used in the manufacture of a modern internal combustion engine, it still cannot do without pistons and rings. When the engine is turned on, the piston bottoms are heated first, while the groove zone noticeably lags behind in heating. As a result, the rapid load on unevenly heated engine parts does not contribute to its durability. Therefore, an excessively short warm-up of the engine or its absence at all is not recommended on a car with any internal combustion engine.

On the other hand, an unnecessarily long warm-up of the motor is also irrational. After warming up, an idling engine will senselessly pollute the atmosphere and throw away the money spent by the driver on fuel purchases to the wind (in the full sense of the word).

Experts believe that the optimal warm-up time for the engine is within 5 minutes at an air temperature of -10 to -20 ° C. Moreover, the last 3 minutes should pass with the stove turned on, which will help defrost the windshield.

Scrolling the starter to the stop, if the car did not start in the cold right away

If, with a known-good starter, the car in the cold does not want to start after 2-3 attempts to turn the ignition key for 5 seconds, then the engine will not start. Further attempts to crank the starter will only lead to the complete depletion of the dead battery.

If you suspect that the battery is not in the best shape, it is first recommended to turn on the dipped beam in the headlights for 20 seconds. This will activate the chemical processes in the battery.

In addition, if the car has a manual gearbox, it is useful to depress the clutch before turning the ignition key, which will allow the starter to crank only the engine without additional expenditure of energy on the gearbox.

If the engine still does not start after a couple of attempts, you can try using one of the three options for further action:

  1. If there is time for this, remove the battery and move it to a warm room. If you have a charger, charge the battery. In its absence, you just need to leave the battery warm for several hours, as a result of which the density of the electrolyte in it will decrease, and the starting current, on the contrary, will increase.
  2. Ask the driver of the nearest car with a running engine to “light it up”.
  3. Buy a new battery and replace the old one with it, which is the most radical and guaranteed success, although expensive.

Incomplete cleaning of the windshield of the car from snow and ice

Everyone knows that it is impossible to drive if the windshield is powdered with snow or covered with a layer of ice. However, some drivers allow driving with a partial release of the windshield from snow only on their side, without thinking that this greatly impairs visibility with all the ensuing sad consequences.

No less dangerous is the partial removal of the ice crust from the windshield, especially if the driver makes only a small "hole" on the glass in front of his eyes. The remaining ice on the glass, depending on its thickness, either worsens the view of the road altogether, or distorts its outlines, acting as a lens.

Driving in winter clothes

This is especially true for bulky fur coats, sheepskin coats and puffy down jackets. In the cramped space of the passenger compartment, they hinder the driver’s movements, prevent him from quickly responding to obstacles that arise on the road.

The presence of a hood on the head worsens the view of the surrounding stop. In addition, voluminous winter clothing does not allow seat belts to firmly fix the driver. This, even at a speed of 20 km / h, can lead to injury, as evidenced by accident statistics.

Inattention to road signs covered with snow

Most drivers make this mistake in winter. They ignore the snow-covered road signs. But in vain, because traffic police statistics show that almost 20% of accidents in the country occur precisely because of ignoring road signs and markings. Moreover, in winter, such important signs as “Stop” and “Give way” are most often covered with snow. Road signs of a round shape are covered with snow much less often.

When driving in snowy areas, you should pay attention to the signs not only on your own side, but also on the opposite side, where they can be duplicated, as well as the behavior of other road users who may be more familiar with the area.

Leaving a layer of snow on the car roof before driving

If you leave a snowdrift on the roof of a car, then it may not look as harmless as it seems at first glance. For example, during sudden braking, a mass of snow from the roof can fall onto the windshield, completely blocking the driver's view in an emergency that caused this braking.

In addition, during a fast ride, snow from the roof will be blown away by the oncoming air flow and form a dense snow cloud behind, which can dramatically impair the driver's view of the car following behind.

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