Driving experts offer advice for icy conditions

When it comes to driving on icy roads, sometimes it’s best to ignore your instincts.
 
When your car starts skidding out of control, your instinct might be to hit the brakes. But if you don’t have ABS brakes it’s perhaps the worst thing you can do. “Wheels that are locked up can’t steer,” says George Missios, a driving instructor with Young Drivers of Canada.
 
His advice to get out of a skid is to take your foot off the gas, shift into neutral if you can, and steer in the direction you want to go.

Which leads to another problematic instinct - staring at the car or telephone pole you’re about to hit! Missios says you have to look where you want to go, not where you don’t. We tend to steer where we look.
 
It’s all part of developing habits specific to driving in slippery conditions – habits we tend to forget after a summer of not needing them. “We don’t adjust our driving habits from season to season,” observes Missios.
 
In the summer you can brake through a turn. On icy winter roads it could cause a spin-out.  Brake before the turn and slowly coast through it.
 
In the summer you can leave a gap of 2 seconds between cars. On ice and snow it should be 3 or 4. If you can, establish more space on either side on multi-lane roads. It could be a valuable escape route to avoid a collision.
 
The list goes on. It’s all about changing how you drive to match what you’re driving on. “You want all your actions to be gentle when it’s slippery out,” says David Goddard, Director of the Winter Driving School for the Motorsport Club of Ottawa. “So don’t turn sharply. Don’t step on the brakes hard if you can avoid it.”
 
The experts also agree it's time to change your tires. They say winter tires are a must.
 
And when it comes to driving in freezing rain, Goddard offers perhaps the best advice of all. “If you can stay home, stay home.”