Already this November here in Northwest Indiana we’ve had freezing temperatures and snow fall. For those of you that are native to the region, you know that the weather here can change quickly. It seems to me each year with the first snow covering the roads, it takes drivers a bit to adjust to conditions. After the first snow covered roads a few week ago, I recall seeing three accidents that morning here in LaPorte. A friend of mine who’s a manager at an automotive repair shop tells me that after the first snow fall each year, he sees a spike in crashed cars coming in.
Experts are cited by saying, your stopping distance is 10 times greater while driving in snow and ice. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, annually there are more than 116,000 people injured in vehicle crashes on snowy, slushy or icy pavement.
Here’s a few tips from the National Safety Council on winter weather driving:
· Don’t use cruise control on wintery roads
· Look and steer in the direction you want to go
· Accelerate and decelerate slowly
· Increase following distance 8-10 seconds
You may have heard about the weather man that had this to say about winter weather driving. “just pretend you're taking grandma to church. There' a platter of biscuits and two gallons of sweet tea in glass jars in the back seat. She's wearing a new dress and holding a crock pot full of gravy.”
Simply, SLOW DOWN while driving on snowy, slushy and icy roads. This will increase your stopping distance and may help you avoid being one of the thousands of people this year that will find themselves in an accident. I hope you all have a safe winter driving season.