Tips for Safe Winter Driving

Winter changes everything about driving. Roads are slippery, daylight is short, visibility is poor and cars behave differently in the cold. Many crashes in winter happen not in dramatic blizzards but on ordinary cold mornings, when a patch of black ice catches a driver who was going a little too fast for conditions. I taught driving for fifteen years, and winter was always the season when good habits mattered most.

Here are practical tips for safe winter driving, from preparing the car to handling a skid.

Prepare the car before winter arrives

A winter-ready car starts with tyres. Check tread depth, since grip on wet and snowy roads drops sharply as tread wears. In regions with regular snow and ice, winter tyres or all-season tyres with a snowflake symbol make a huge difference to braking and grip below about 7 degrees Celsius.

Check the battery, which works harder in the cold, and top up screenwash with a winter mix that will not freeze. Make sure wipers are in good condition and all lights work. The general checks are covered in maintenance musts for your vehicle.

Clear every window, every time

Clearing a small peephole in a frosted windscreen is dangerous and, in many places, illegal. Clear all windows, mirrors and lights completely before setting off. Remove snow from the roof too, since it can slide down over the windscreen when braking or blow into the path of other drivers.

Allow extra time for this. Running the engine with the heater on helps, but do not leave a car running unattended. A scraper and de-icer spray are cheap and essential.

Slow down and leave space

Stopping distances can double on wet roads and be up to ten times longer on ice. The most effective winter habit is simply to drive more slowly and leave much more space to the vehicle ahead. Brake earlier and more gently, and accelerate smoothly.

Use the highest gear you can, especially when pulling away on snow. In manual cars, starting in second gear reduces wheelspin. Many automatic cars have a winter or snow mode that does the same.

Watch for black ice

Black ice is a thin, transparent layer of ice that looks like wet road. It forms most often on bridges, in shaded areas, on rural roads and early in the morning. If the road looks wet but there is no spray from other vehicles' tyres, or the steering suddenly feels light, suspect ice.

On ice, avoid sudden steering, braking or acceleration. Keep inputs smooth and gentle, and let the car slow down gradually.

Handling a skid

If the rear of the car slides, look and steer gently in the direction you want to go. Do not brake hard. If the front wheels lose grip and the car does not turn, ease off the accelerator and straighten the steering slightly until grip returns, then steer again gently. Modern stability control systems help a great deal, but they cannot overcome physics if you are going too fast.

Is four-wheel drive enough for winter?

Many drivers believe a four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive car makes them safe in winter. It does help with pulling away and climbing hills in snow. But I think it creates dangerous overconfidence.

Four-wheel drive does nothing to help you stop or steer on ice. A heavy SUV with four-wheel drive on summer tyres will stop worse on a snowy road than a small front-wheel drive car on winter tyres. Tyres, speed and following distance matter far more than drive type. Some of the worst winter crashes I heard about as an instructor involved four-wheel drive vehicles driven as if the weather made no difference.

Visibility and lights

Use dipped headlights in poor visibility, not just at night. Fog lights should be used only when visibility is seriously reduced, generally below 100 metres, and switched off when it improves so they do not dazzle other drivers. Keep lights clean, since road grime and salt can cut their output dramatically.

Pack a winter kit

Breakdowns are more serious in the cold. Keep a winter kit in the car:

• Ice scraper and de-icer.
• Warm blanket, hat and gloves.
• Torch with spare batteries.
• Phone charger or power bank.
• Small shovel and something for grip, such as sand or a mat.
• Water and a snack.
• Reflective warning triangle and high-visibility vest.

Plan and know when to stay home

Check weather forecasts and traffic reports before setting off. Let someone know your route on longer journeys. And accept that sometimes the safest choice is not to travel at all. No appointment is worth a crash. For longer journeys in any season, the advice in travel safety tips for road trips applies too.

Finally, keep at least half a tank of fuel or a good battery charge in winter. A long delay in snow can mean hours with the engine or heater running, and running low in the cold is a risk nobody needs.

Winter rewards patience

Safe winter driving is mostly about patience: more time to prepare, more distance to stop and more gentleness in every control. Drivers who adapt arrive safely. More in our Road Safety section.