HOW NOT TO DRIVE.COM      

 
 

Mistake # 9: DON'T CHANGE THE WAY YOU DRIVE WHEN THE WEATHER CHANGES

 

Drive like you always do when it snows or rains - Or instead, go too slow, for sure, but Lord help you don't ever brake early to stop and never slow down early before you turn the wheel. And don't forget, rain is not slippery and it never freezes! Yay!

 


3 Easy solutions to the 3 primary weather problems:

a) stopping, b) turning, c) up/down hills:

a) brake earlier, b) brake earlier, c) brake earlier.

 

Don't forget to look far ahead, before it's too late to brake earlier!

Read more about driving in bad weather, and then go to Top 10 accident number 10   

 

YOU CANNOT DRIVE THE SAME WAY AS YOU ALWAYS DO.  SOMETIMES IT SNOWS LIKE HELL.

The fact is, it doesn't snow very often, although the snow stays on the ground for months. On the road, it's plowed, salted and graveled, but that takes a few days to accomplish. For the few days when the road is white with fresh snow, the accident rate quadruples. That's because the people who crash A) have never driven on snow before, or B) forgot what it was like the last time it snowed. It's not how fast you go, it's how long it takes you to stop, and how much centrifugal force you create when you turn the wheel.

If you go into a curve, turn the wheel and then brake, you increase the forces that cause a skid. If you push the brake first, and then turn the wheel, you reduce the forces. The more you brake before you turn the wheel, the less likely you will skid. Too much braking before the turn is always better than not enough.

IF YOU BRAKE TOO MUCH YOU CAN BRAKE LESS. IF YOU DON'T BRAKE ENOUGH YOU CANNOT BRAKE MORE.

THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE "POINT OF NO RETURN." YOU CAN'T GO BACK AND "DO-OVER."


Too late. Once you turn the wheel on snow it's too late to brake. Braking will only make it worse. Nothing you can do. You suck.

 

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Here's a simple law of physics to remember:

If you double the speed, you quadruple the force.

SPEED X 2 = FORCE X 4

So, if you are in a playground zone, and then you push the gas after the zone to double the speed, you quadruple the force of the car.

ON ICY RAIN AND SNOW, YOUR STOPPING DISTANCE WILL INCREASE EXPONENTIALLY EVEN IF YOU DON'T INCREASE YOUR SPEED.

Therefore, whether to stop or turn, you need to start braking several times earlier.

Your stopping distance increases several times more when the road is snowy or frozen wet.

       

The solution: brake several times earlier. You can test the slipperiness of the road by braking a little bit harder than usual several times earlier. If the road is not slippery, release the brake and repeat the process as you get closer to the stop line. If the road is slippery, then you can stop because you have already begun to brake.

 

IF YOU START TO SLIP AND SLIDE, PUMP THE BRAKE PEDAL, BUT NOT HARD, PUMP IT GENTLY. THIS WAY YOU WILL BE ABLE TO STEER BETTER.

 

ABOVE ILLUSTRATION: If you start to spin, the road will move to the side. Steer toward the road (a). When you steer one way, the car will go the other way, so get ready to steer the other way (b), and keep steering toward the road no mater where it goes, back and forth, side to side. Pump the brake while you do this (but remember not to pump it too hard.) Don't quit pumping and steering until you have stopped. If you can't pump and steer at the same time, just push the brake a little bit and focus on steering. (If you have ABS braking, push the brake as hard as you can and hold it.) If that's too hard, just hold the brake down and don't let go, and think about why you are spinning in the first place. Have fun!

In the video below, the cars are sliding down a hill (hard to see because the video was shot from above.) Remember: stopping, curves and hills! Slippery!

 

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