| SPECIAL SKILLS FOR DIFFICULT
DRIVING ENVIRONMENTS |
| Having fun out there? |  |
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| I've just been handed the weather bulletin. We'll have rain followed by sunshine over the next 12 months. Expect incessant heat in the summer and arctic air in the winter, with accompanying ice storms. |  |
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| You know, we can talk about the weather, but there's nothing we can do about it, except maybe drive around it when it's nasty, or stay out of it altogether. Weather like this can definitely be detrimental to your driving. |  |
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 | In this segment of the program, we'll learn some techniques for driving under special conditions. |
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| We'll learn how to avoid water-skiing... |  |
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...how not to bobsled...
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| ...how not to go sailing... |  |
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| ...and we'll see the folly of trying to drive through high water, especially when that water is big enough to have a name like Larry, or Isabel. |  |
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 | During this segment of the program, we'll learn how special conditions affect driver and vehicle performance... |
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 | ...and identify techniques for managing these conditions. |
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| INCLEMENT WEATHER |
 | Few things we face each day have as much impact on our driving performance as the natural elements. Wind and rain, sleet and snow, fog and mist---they all affect the roadway environment in such a way that it reduces our safe space. |
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 | In foggy weather, visibility is greatly reduced. We can't see road signs, lane markings, or the side of the road. It is also more difficult to judge distance in the fog, reducing the effectiveness of headlights because you can't use high beams. Fog also makes the roadway slippery. |
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| The best rule is to not drive at all when it's foggy. But if you must, these safety precautions will help.
The first thing to do is SLOW DOWN. Even though the speed limit is 70 mph, road conditions are too treacherous to drive at that speed. If we can only see 30 feet ahead, our safe space is reduced to 30 feet. |
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REDUCE SPEED FURTHER WHEN YOU SEE HEADLIGHTS OR TAILLIGHTS Be prepared for an emergency stop at any moment. Reduce speed even further when you see headlights or taillights ahead. The vehicle showing taillights may be a vehicle being driven down the middle of the roadway or one that is stopped or barely moving at all.
Be prepared for an emergency stop at any moment. |
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PULL OFF THE ROAD IF YOU CAN'T SAFELY DRIVE AT LEAST 10 MPH | If the fog is so thick you can't drive at least 10 mph, pull completely off the highway or stop at a rest area, service station, or other parking area. Don't park on the shoulder. That could cause a multiple-car collision. |
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| Always use LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS, or fog lights if you have them on your vehicle. High beams often reflect back into your eyes and blind you. The glare from this reflection will actually reduce your visibility even further. You're not necessarily turning on your lights to see better, but rather, so other drivers can see you better. |  |
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USE THE EDGE LINE AS A GUIDE  | As in night driving, use the edge line or, if necessary, the right side of the roadway as a guide. Remember what the white and yellow pavement markings indicate, since you may not be able to see the highway until it is too late to react. |
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LEAVE EARLY | Allow yourself plenty of time to get where you're going. It's very dangerous to try to rush around in the fog. | |
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WIND  | Wind is another problem motorists must contend with. It can be especially dangerous for trucks, recreational vehicles, campers, and vehicles towing trailers. Driving at slower speeds is the best defense. |
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 | When meeting large trucks and buses, be prepared to make steering corrections for sudden bursts of wind. |
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Wind generally reduces the driver's steering control. Tail winds push the car, which increases speed.
Head winds slow the car down. |
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 | Crosswinds may cause the car to sway. Be prepared to make adjustments in speed and steering to compensate for wind conditions. |
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SNOW AND ICE When driving in snow and ice, snow tires or chains can help enhance traction somewhat. However, vehicles equipped with snow tires will slide more on icy road surfaces than those with commercial tread.
All-wheel drive vehicles without chains generally perform better than two-wheel drive vehicles with chains on the rear wheels. While chains give a good bite in snow, they tend to slip and slide on ice or packed snow. Even snow tires won't help if you don't have a safe driving attitude.
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Slow, controlled actions are the key to driving in snow and ice. Don't turn your wheels sharply or brake hard, as this will likely cause the car to skid. Instead, plan your turns well in advance. When slowing down, use slight pumping motions with your brake.
Never lock your brakes. You have no steering control unless the wheels are turning. And stay extremely alert.
Snow and ice can create a hypnotic state if you drive in it for too long.
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Cars with manual transmissions should be driven in the next highest gear when compared to normal circumstances. Never use cruise control in ice and snow. Keep your windows clear so you can see and communicate with other drivers better. Watch for ice on bridges and shady areas. And above all, greatly increase your safe space to the front by tripling or quadrupling the seconds that you follow the car ahead.
Don't try to navigate hills, either up or down. In these conditions, your car is more like a sled than a motor vehicle, and you have very little control over steering or stopping.
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Remember, snow and ice reduce visibility, steering control, traction, and maneuverability. Trying to drive under these conditions without the proper equipment is extremely dangerous.
If you have to drive in snow or sleet, drastically reduce your speed, almost to a crawl, and greatly increase your safe space.
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If you have a stick shift, drive in the next highest gear. You can also shift down to a lower gear to aid in braking. If you have an automatic transmission, use the Drive position you normally drive in.
And always avoid slamming on your brakes. It's almost certain to cause you to skid.
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If at any time you start to skid, take your foot off both the accelerator and brake, and turn your wheels INTO the direction of the skid.
In other words, if you start to skid to the right, turn your wheels to the right as well. This action will minimize the skid and enable you to regain better control of your vehicle's direction.
When the streets are covered with ice, sleet, or snow, the safest driving is no driving at all.
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RAIN | Rain is yet another weather problem that greatly affects your ability to drive safely. Rain reduces visibility, decreases control and maneuverability of the vehicle, decreases traction, and increases stopping distance. |  |
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| When driving in rain, you should immediately increase your safe space to twice what it normally is -- to at least six seconds between you and the car ahead. Turn on your headlights so that other drivers can see you better, but make sure they're on low beam so the glare doesn't blind you. And wait a short time after the rain starts before turning on your windshield wipers. This will help prevent smearing your windshield. |
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HYDROPLANING  | When it's raining, we face another serious problem called hydroplaning.
When we reach a certain speed on wet pavement, our tires actually begin floating on water. |
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HYDROPLANING | Since our front wheels are "floating," we have no frictional contact with the pavement. When this happens, there's no way to steer the car. We're actually sliding straight ahead. Water depth on the road, under- or over-inflated tires, lack of tread depth on tires, and the speed you are driving are all factors involved in hydroplaning. |
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| In many places where rainfall is irregular and infrequent, the oil and grease does not wash from the road. This creates an opportunity for super hydroplaning that doesn't exist in areas that get regular rainfall. Super hydroplaning is a condition in which the tires of a moving vehicle are riding on the surface of oil and water, causing loss of steering and braking control. Factors that influence super hydroplaning are steering, braking, and speed. |
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| The best way to prevent hydroplaning is having good tread on your tires for better friction with the road, and to keep them inflated at the proper pressure. And the best driving strategy is to slow down to a speed that allows our tires to do what they're designed to do. Tires are actually designed to squeegee the roadway dry of water, giving us better contact with the pavement. |  |
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But when you do slow down, don't step on the brake. That might cause you to skid. Instead, simply take your foot off the accelerator and let the car slow itself down. Shifting to a lower gear also can help minimize the effects of hydroplaning and skidding.
Next, you should slightly turn the wheel back and forth until you feel a response. When your steering mechanism responds, you've reduced your speed to the point that you're no longer hydroplaning. |
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