How to Drive in Icy Conditions

Video Transcript

"Hi, Rick the driving instructor again. This time we're talking about driving in icy conditions. Okay, number one, the most important dangerous thing you have to face out here is called black ice. That black ice is a situation where there's melted snow, similar to the way it is now with the sun and you don't know it until you hit to late. Normally on mountainous roads, you come around a curve and there's a black stretch and it's ice that is melted 'cause it's obscured by the shade so you've got to be very careful, so the thing to remember about driving on ice or in icy conditions is never ever go to a hard break or lose traction. That's the secret, never lose traction. You've got to maintain traction the whole time. So what you want to do when you encounter a situation, you realize the car is starting to slip just a little bit is when you apply your foot to the brake, you always want to give gentle, very gentle pressure. Just think, like you have a boiled egg between your foot and the gas pedal, very gentle pressure. If the tires ever lock up, and that means even because you have ABS, anti-lock braking, you still have to press very gentle on the brake to make sure you don't seize up or lose traction. Once you lose traction, it's like driving on glass, you slide all over the place and you side right into the next thing that's going to stop you. So that's the main thing to remember. It all has to do with the brake pressure. Also for traction control on the steering, remember when you're in a situation like that and you start to go in to a slight skid you always want to turn the wheel in the direction opposite the particular skid, nothing abrupt, very nice and easy, just like your brake pressure on the brake pedal. But make sure you don't seize up the brakes and maintain control of the vehicle. That's the secret, maintain control of the vehicle on the ice and you'll get through it okay. Two more things to think about when you're driving on icy situations. Okay, the first thing is once you encounter the ice, is take your foot off the gass and stop accelerating. Once you encounter that situation, it's a shock to you and you're not expecting it, so immediately take your foot of the accelerator, that'll decrease your speed a little bit. Maintain a firm grip on the wheel and remember the secret to driving on ice is nothing jerky and nothing abrupt. Firm grip on the steering wheel, maintain a positive forward momentum as best you can and then second thing to think about has to do with acceleration when you're driving on ice. Unless you've got tires on there that are studded or snow tires or chains on there, anytime you do an abrupt... pressure on the accelerator, it's going to cause the wheels to spin and that sudden acceleration or the spinning of the wheels could give you a loss of traction and therefore result in maybe going off into the ditch instead of keeping it straight and narrow down the road. So just remember, driving on icy situations, slow and easy, nice and easy, nothing abrupt, not harsh braking, and certainly a firm grip on the steering wheel and not jerking the steering wheel."