Be Careful On The Roads This Winter!

This post is sponsored by Scarborough Towing And Tow Truck Services, more on that later.

With climate change in full swing, there’s no telling how extreme the winter of 2021 will be. Now, in Fall, is the time to prepare for the worst, with a smile on your face, of course. Because the people who don’t prepare might wish they had listened to Edd Stark when he said “Winter is coming.”

What my family has done to prepare is partly covered in the following:

1. Filled the trunk of our car with emergency survival equipment, including a BBQ with propane and an inflatable boat.
2. Switched out our seasonal tires for brand new winter tires.
3. Changed all the fluid in our vehicle (with a focus on anti-freeze).
4. Got a spare tire as well as a spare car battery for under the back seat.
5. Made a close connection with our local towing company and law enforcement, with their phone numbers in our dashboard glovebox.

Now, you may or may not be doing a lot of driving this winter. Even if you’re not, it’s best to have your vehicle prepared for the worst, with extra gasoline and tire patch kits, because you never know how bad the snow storms will get. You might get a call from a loved one who needs help, whom the local law enforcement is unable to reach in a timely manner due to backed up traffic on the highways. You might get storm warnings and wish to vacate to a hotel in the city rather than burn up all your firewood in the boonies. With all this considered, everything could be fine. You might get one inch of snow, but it’s still best to be prepared.

So far we’ve discussed preparing for winter with your vehicle. This is a lot different than actually building safe winter driving habits, however. Before we discuss what we believe to be the foundational points of safe winter driving, we’d like to give a shot out to our sponsors:

This post of winter driving safety was brought to you by our local tow truck service company.

The Foundations of Safe Winter Driving

We here at Endurozone don’t claim to be experts in winter driving, but after discussing this with friends and family, as well as our local tow truck drivers, we’ve agreed that there are 3 key principles to remember when driving in winter conditions. Here they are:

1. Drive much slower than you typically would. This is important especially in stormy weather when vision is obstructed. By driving slower than normal you minimize the risk of slipping on black ice or losing control of your vehicle on tight turns.
2. Be more alert than usual. It’s best to always be alert when driving, of course, but it makes sense to say that in winter conditions extra alertness is required compared to summer driving conditions. When winds are blowing, trees could be falling, people could be hidden behind falling snow, and by paying more attention to where you’re vehicle is going and what is in front of you, you lessen the risks of putting your car in a situation you would other wise fail to avoid–in this case, the ditch, if you’re lucky.
3. Keep extra space between your vehicle and others. Of course, you can’t control how close the person behind you is. If they’re too close for comfort however, you can be aware of this and make sure to show them your brake lights when you feel like there might be a chance you have to slow down up ahead. However, you have full control of how close you’re driving to the vehicle in front of you! In summer conditions this might be fairly close and no one will complain. But in winter, or even stormy weather any time of year, you reduce the chances of collisions when your increase the distance between vehicles on the road.

There are many more tips to keep in mind when driving in extreme winter weather, but these are the 3 main, most simple ones that you can always have in your back pocket whenever you step behind the steering wheel during stormy winter weather.

One last time before we let you go, we want to wish everyone a great end to the Fall seasons and safe Winter! Because, after all, “Winter is coming.”

Thanks for tuning in. Contact us if you would like to sponsor a post with Endurozone.