25th February 2009
here is an interesting and informative site on all aspects of saving money
3RD FEBRUARY 2009
Hope this helps someone travel safely. Hey, be careful out there. p.s. sorry it's a bit jumbly but was cut and paste job.
HOW TO DRIVE SAFELY IN THE SNOW
· The key for essential travel is preparation. Before you set out on your, absolutely necessary journey, make sure you have done the following.
1. Check your local driving conditions and continue to check up on them. Listen to local radio, check the internet. Keep tuned to the news channels to check for any change in the weather conditions.
2. Make sure your car is clear of snow, because not only might it save your life, but it is illegal to drive with a partially cleared windscreen.
3. Make sure your phone is fully charged. A mobile phone and membership of a breakdown service are both godsends in bad weather conditions.
4. Make sure you take extra clothing, woolly jumpers etc. Wear several thin layers as this will keep you warmer. Waterproof coat. Wellington boots with good tread
5. Make sure you have enough fuel for the journey.
6. Take some food with you just in case you break down. Eg energy bars and drinks in the car in case you do break down.
7. Take a snow shovel with you.
8. If your car is rear wheel drive consider putting some weight in the boot to improve traction.
9. Car tyres should have adequate (and legal) tread depth (1.6mm) to ensure maximum traction on wet or slippery roads. (let’s face it we aren’t going to buy snow chains or road stud tyres for a few days in Britain)
10. Make sure all your car lights are working and clean and you have no failed bulbs.
11. Make sure wiper blades are in good condition and keep windscreen washer fluid topped up as windscreens quickly become dirty from traffic spray and salt from the roads.
· Drive carefully. Follow these tips.
1. Allow extra time for your journey. You won’t then feel a need to rush. Drive on snow as it you are trying to walk on eggs without breaking them. Stay in as high a gear as possible as it will reduce the chances of accelerator movement leading to loss of traction.
2. Careful manoeuvres are the key. Be gentle when braking and accelerating, you need to anticipate the traffic.
3. Braking distances change and become much longer in the snow so you need to keep a safe distance and check your speed.
4. Don’t think that because someone is driving faster than you that it is safe to do so. (we already know that most of the other drivers are lunatics)
5. When pulling away in snow, drivers should try to use second gear rather than first. First gear gives you the highest amount of wheel spin.
6. Drivers going up a hill should try to stay in the highest gear possible, rather than being tempted to drop down into first. But when going downhill drivers should go down gears.
7. If your vehicle becomes stuck in snow, do not rev or "gun" the engine as this will cause the wheels simply to dig deeper into the snow. Instead, put the car into as high a gear as possible and slowly manoeuvre the car lightly forwards and backwards to gently creep out of the snow.
8. If you skid, you should also avoid the temptation of slamming on the brakes. Brake lightly and try to steer into the skid.
9. If you get stuck in the snow stay with your car, but in an emergency if you do need to leave it, park it out of the main traffic route, where it won't cause an obstruction when conditions ease. Leave a contact number on the inside of the windscreen and return to your car at soon as you can.
10. When snow or slush accumulates in ridges between lanes, avoid putting your wheels on these unless you absolutely have to.
