Driving in Snow???

[Troop_lee]

The Family (Wife, Kid, Wifes sitster & her husband + kids and Me) leave for west New York this Friday. Driving up. Upon checking the Weather, Its snowing now and should be next week too.

I have never really left the warm Florida coast, what should I know about the driving in show thing?

Thanks Guys.

[Scottw]

Take it slow and pay attention.

[skyhigh340]

Take it slow and pay attention.
Good advice!

Seems like everybody in the motorcity forgets how to drive in snow over the summer so when the first snow hits there are a crazy amount of accidents.

[hotreds]

Make sure you have GOOD tires, slow and steady. Make sure you have plenty of windshield washer fluid and your wipers are in excellent shape. Stay on main roads as much as possible. Never hurts to have extra water, blankets, and food(candy bars esp.) just in case!

If it really gets bad, you're better off stopping and spending the night en route, but those western New Yorkers know snow, so the highways should be good for the most part.

Mostly common sense stuff. Where in West New York? Buffalo? Have a safe trip!

[Lucky_Hippo]

Be very careful. If you havn't grown up driving in the stuff it's hard to get used to quickly.

A few tips? Think of it as driving a boat on land. When you want to stop you have to slow down way before the intended destination. Watch your speed around corners because the car continues to go straight no matter what cuss words you yell while spinning the wheel. And lastly remember that everyone else driving on the road now has a boat too. :D

Main thing is watch your speed and be prepared to stop way before you need to. You'll do fine!

[AD720]

Good info from weather.com here -

http://www.weather.com/activities/driving/drivingsafety/drivingsafetytips/snow.html

[webjunkie]

Something that a few of my friends seem to have forgotten from last year:

all wheel drive means that moving is a bit easier; stopping is a different story.


I think the best advice has already been said several times: take is slow.

[68TriShield]

Take it light on the pedals
Increase following distance a lot!
Buy winter wiper blades
Have good tires
Make sure the vehicle is in good working order
Put a couple of good sized bags of kitty litter in the trunk
Steer into a skid with your foot *off* the brake

So many more for someone that is inexperienced....

I'll send you some good Mo....

[md4958]

God forbid you start to skid, look AND steer in the direction you want to go. if you dont have ABS pump the brakes.

if its snowing bad, pull over and get a room. if youre not used to it its too dangerous to take a risk

even if you are used to it, its sometimes too dangerous to take the risk.

I think RainEx has ice-melting washer fluid... good investment.

If you hear reports of "black ice" in the area, stay off the roads... its nasty sh!t

[icantbejon]

As a WNY native, I can honestly tell you that no matter the amount of tips you read here, the only one that is going to save your life in bad snow is drive slowly. Once you've started driving slowly, drive slower. Seriously. I grew up in Buffalo and spent my whole young life driving in snow. With that much family in the car, just take it nice and slow if the weather turns sour.

[Darrell]

I grew up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and lived in Alaska for 3 years. I can tell you the most important thing for new snow drivers is don't get over confident, not doing so -- will save your life. :2

[Gophernut]

A small shovel, some candles, matches, and an old metal coffee can wouldn't hurt. That way you can always get some water from the snow and a little heat with the candles too. This is in addition to what has already been brought up. And yes the windshield wipers are a big thing to check before you go north. Most importantly, slow and steady wins the race. But don't race.

[mmblz]

watch your temperature gauge. if it starts out warm and with any sort of precipitation, slow way down if it drops to 33...

[shilala]

I "test" the road conditions a lot. When I'm going real slow I'll overbrake to see just how much traction I have.
My Envoy is 4 wheel drive, so it goes real well, but I always try to remember that 4 wheel drive does NOT mean 4 wheel stop.
I've never had trouble getting going. Stopping is where the problems tend to crop up. :)

[Cigary]

Used to live in that white crap and hate it. Here's few tips,,,in an emergency to get traction put your car mats in front of the wheels that move ( rear wheel drive put in front- front wheel drive put in front ) Understand one thing about driving in the tracks in front of you that at some point ( esp. over bridges that area will freeze ) so you might want to slow down and use some of the snow as a source of non freezing area ( that means slow down to about 25 mph )

Just call for road conditions before you leave as it's not worth it to go when the conditions are bad.

[elderboy02]

Go slow and turn off the radio. You want to be focused 100% on the road.

Once you reach you destination, find a vacant parking lot and do doughnuts! ;)

[AAlmeter]

A lot of good advice here.

Just keep in mind that slow is your friend.

Also, remember that physics class you took where Newton said that an object in motion will remain in motion unless acted on by an unbalanced force? Well, Newton discovered that while driving a Mustang in Buffalo...and the unbalanced forces tend to be other cars, trees, or guiderail. Your car won't like braking and for most cars (fwd, 4wd, awd) it will want to go straight when you turn (called snowplowing/understeer).

Just treat everything gingerly and take it slow and you'll be OK.

Generally the 90 is clear except during lake effect snowstorms along the lake (between Erie and a little south of Buffalo). Everything predicted for the next week will be in this area. If you're heading into the city itself or the immediate suburbs, you should be dealing with nothing more than wet roads unless you're in the middle of a storm.

AND MAKE SURE YOU'RE STOCKED UP ON WASHER FLUID. SALT IS A *****!

[SteveA]

Along the lines of "Anticipate". Before you enter a turn slow to the speed you need to be going in the turn. If you are going too fast and brake in the turn you will lose traction.

Don't get all paranoid from these responses. Keep your speed down, anticipate and pay attention and you'll be fine. I find driving in snow kind of fun sometimes. I don't get to do it much anymore though.

[hotreds]

Don't get all paranoid from these responses.

Yeah, we don't want to scare you to death! However, driving in snow is tricky, but if you follow the advice here you'll do fine. Again, with all the humanity you're hauling, if you feel unsafe, just stop and get a room!

[gettysburgfreak]

Drive slow, hands at 10 and 2, if you see snow drifts across the road get your foot off the pedal and DONT BRAKE. NY winters sucks by the way. I once had to stick my head out the window just to make my way back to campus and it was a half a mile drive.

[ahc4353]

Slow down. Tons of room between you and the guy ahead of you. When you break "tap" them don't "ride" them. Did I say slow down?

Be safe.

[Opusfxd]

From my memory:
Crack a window, snow sounds crunchy when driving on it - ice is silent.
When sliding, look where you want to go, steer in that direction, no brakes, no gas.
4WD slide just as good as 2 WD
Pumping the brakes aren't anywhere near as good as putting them at maximum threshold braking (need to try this one for best effectiveness)
And most importantly, clean your entire windshield!

[macpappy]

Just a curious question for all you northerners since its been a while since I lived anywhere that actually had snow. Are studded snow tires still legal? Do the still sell snow chains?

This isn't a solution or an option for a tourist but I lived in Washington state for six years back in the dark days of the 1970s and learned to hate snow chains (or those plastic and nylon strap things with a passion.) The following winter I learned from a neighbor who was a state trooper to put 4 studded tires on a rear wheel drive vehicle and that provided more traction. If you had front wheel drive back then, then you only had to put them on the front.

[Mark C]

I'll jump on the tire band wagon. You need more than just good tread, you need all season tires. My car has high performance summer tires that don't do well when the temp drops below ~40 degrees, even on dry roads, let alone snow. When it's snowing, I take the wife's car.

I'm not sure about legality of studs or chains, but I know a few people who swear by winter tires. One guy says his Blizzaks work nearly as well on snow as his Potenzas do in the summer. Granted he's still driving more cautiously in the snow, but it's still a significant difference.

[AAlmeter]

Just a curious question for all you northerners since its been a while since I lived anywhere that actually had snow. Are studded snow tires still legal? Do the still sell snow chains?

This isn't a solution or an option for a tourist but I lived in Washington state for six years back in the dark days of the 1970s and learned to hate snow chains (or those plastic and nylon strap things with a passion.) The following winter I learned from a neighbor who was a state trooper to put 4 studded tires on a rear wheel drive vehicle and that provided more traction. If you had front wheel drive back then, then you only had to put them on the front.

Depends on the locale.

Some areas require tire chains. Most areas ban them.

Most areas allow studs during the winter.

Your trooper friend is correct...but studded tires and tire chains really aren't necessary (or legal) for the area he's going to. As long as you've got some meat on your all seasons, you'll be OK equipment wise.

[Zipper]

all wheel drive means that moving is a bit easier; stopping is a different story.

I think this is a pretty important one to remember. Just because you can get going easily doesn't mean you can stop. Sometimes people get a false sense of security when they can get up to speed without feeling the tires spin out, and they don't know how slick everything really is.

Everyone else has been repeating the other really good stuff though. And you definitely won't need chains or studs in WNY

[Darrell]

Do not get over confident, period.

[IBQTEE1]

I "test" the road conditions a lot. When I'm going real slow I'll overbrake to see just how much traction I have.
My Envoy is 4 wheel drive, so it goes real well, but I always try to remember that 4 wheel drive does NOT mean 4 wheel stop.
I've never had trouble getting going. Stopping is where the problems tend to crop up. :)

Know what your ABS feels like when stopping too. Most people have never had to use them and when they engage it is a weird feeling.