Okay… winter is here. It’s just been teasing us a bit for a while. At some point we had to get some actual winter weather and it looks like tomorrow it could happen.
Since we haven’t had much winter weather to drive in this year, I took a quick glance at a couple lists of winter driving tips online, just to remind myself of things I may not have been thinking about. Most of it were things we are probably all familiar with. Although we may not have had the chance to put them in action much this year.
One thing is to clear off you car. I know it’s not always easy to get things totally clean, but try as best you can. It could be important for people behind you. Even though we haven’t had much in the way of snow this year, we have had a couple days with just a little touch of snow. Not enough to bother with in many people’s minds, but having driven behind a couple people with thin hunks of ice blowing off their car roof and heading in my direction, it’s something I like to avoid, so I’d rather not do it to others.
But there were a couple things I hadn’t thought about much. Like making sure all your external cameras and sensors are clear. It’s something I’m still not really used to thinking about. For vehicles that have automatic breaking and drivers that have come to depend on it a bit, it has to be able to see to do it’s job.
And even something as simple as a back up camera. I know how much I’ve come to depend on mine to check behind me. It doesn’t work well with snow and ice packed around it.
It’s also probably a good idea to not use cruise control.
If you have been driving around this area for more than a couple years, you probably know the basics. Slow down. Give yourself and other plenty of space. And just make up your mind not to be in a hurry. I’ve always found that to be a big thing.
Usually we get these little reminder sessions much earlier in the season. It takes most of us a bit of time to adjust. Just be careful out there.
