Features of driving on a slippery road – enginegeek.online

Melting snow or freezing cold after sleet has turned many streets into skating rinks before the onset of solar winter. “Innocent” turns have become dangerous, stopping distances have become unrecognizably longer, the safe speed limit has decreased significantly, so drivers are forced to take some kind of professional exams almost every day. Motorsports veteran and coach Jonas Dereškevičius advises what to pay more attention to in winter and how to best prepare for possible problems.

1. In winter traffic conditions, it should be borne in mind that although the term “slick” is used in all cases where the roads are covered with loose snow, slush or wet snow, not all these tricks of nature are equally dangerous.

It is safer to drive when the roads are covered in snow that has already settled a little,

but not been polished off. However, it should be remembered that in some places the snow can cover the ice. The less experienced driver often does not have time to react to sudden changes in driving conditions and loses control of the car. If the car goes straight and is not affected by any centrifugal force, nothing will happen, but even a small turn, braking, overtaking another car, a strong gust of wind – you can start sliding sideways in an instant. The same can happen if the geometry of the car’s wheels is not adjusted and the car is “pulled” to one side.

2. If for some reason the car starts to slide, you should avoid both braking aggressively and trying to correct it by pressing the accelerator pedal hard. The most effective way to stabilize the car is to set the engine to a mode where it only keeps the car moving at a constant speed, but does not slow down or speed up the movement.

Maintaining optimal wheel rotation without skidding and slipping when braking is very difficult. It can be done accurately only after many attempts. It’s a good idea to try to apply the brake gently with your left foot so that the pads stick well to the brake discs and prevent the wheels from slipping. Such experiments should not be conducted on public roads where other cars are circulating.

If, however, the car starts to slide and you see that it will not be possible to stop in front of the obstacle, you should try to turn the car towards the curb and brake by leaning on the curb. The impact and losses will be less painful if you fall with straight wheels rather than crooked ones.

3. While driving on winter roads, you have noticed that the steering wheel has become very “light”, which means that the grip is poor and the only way to avoid unwanted skidding of the car is not to make sudden movements. When driving on a winding road, in no case should you try to downshift in the middle of a bend – this should be done before you start operating the steering wheel. You should engage in the gear you plan to exit the corner in.

Adventurous drivers should also avoid the habit of diving from one lane to another while overtaking slower road users. Even if you are a good driver, such maneuvers can disturb those who drive worse or do not have good tires and cause an emergency situation.

4. It should be remembered that some structural features of the car

have a great influence on safe driving. Drivers of cars with all four-wheel drive have the greatest advantage on a slippery road. Front-wheel drive cars ski a little less and owners of rear-wheel drive cars are forced to drive more delicately. It is important to note that different cars lose traction for different reasons and different maneuvers are required to try to stabilize them. In all cases, a general rule applies: in traffic flow it is necessary to maintain much greater distances between cars moving in the same direction. However, a rear-wheel drive BMW and a Porsche will behave differently on a slippery road due to their different overall mass and different centers of gravity.

It is not possible to give universal advice on how to behave in every case, so each driver is advised to find a place, study the behavior of the car and feel the limits of sliding. It is advisable to find out how the car behaves in emergency situations during sudden acceleration and braking, what happens when operating the steering wheel. To start from a standstill, you should try to release the clutch pedal while the engine is idling, and only when the wheels start to slip, lightly press the accelerator. Doing this too fast will cause the car to skid on the spot.

The second most important exercise is braking.

Such deceleration is considered “ideal” when the car stops without locking the wheels even once. If you press the brake pedal all the way down, the car slides in the direction of the previous movement without responding to the steering wheel. Even if the car is equipped with an ABS system, it is still worth practicing, because in winter the braking distance is completely different.

It is very important to remember that the most important factor determining safe movement is properly selected and worn winter tires. When driving a car with poor quality summer or multi-purpose tires, the driver often does not even have the theoretical possibility of avoiding an accident in an emergency situation.