{"id":1288,"date":"2015-02-24T18:42:09","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T18:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/?p=1288"},"modified":"2015-02-24T18:42:09","modified_gmt":"2015-02-24T18:42:09","slug":"winter-driving-tips-new-cars-raleigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/?p=1288","title":{"rendered":"Winter Driving Tips: Surviving Snowbound Traffic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, this day hasn\u2019t gone as expected. It seems like it\u2019s been a while since we woke up and were surprised by a sudden snowstorm. We can only imagine how much more unpleasant this weather is for people who had already set out on their commute before it started. Hopefully you aren\u2019t stuck at work now, or worse, stranded out on the road.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in a bind, we do want to offer you some advice and tips for winter driving. To be clear, it\u2019s better to avoid driving in the snow if at all possible<\/strong>. If it\u2019s a day like today, though, and you didn\u2019t have much warning, we hope this list will better prepare you for unpleasant conditions.<\/p>\n

Slow down<\/strong> \u2013 Everyone speeds on a regular day, probably going about five to ten mph above the posted speed limit. On a snow day, you should be driving about five to ten mph below that same speed limit.<\/p>\n

Increase your follow distance<\/strong> \u2013 In Driver\u2019s Ed you learned to put two to three seconds between you and the car in front of you. If there\u2019s snow on the ground, you\u2019d better make it about eight seconds if you want to be safe. Give yourself the space you need to stop if you need to.<\/p>\n

Accelerate\/decelerate gradually<\/strong> \u2013 It won\u2019t take much effort at all to get your wheels spinning, so you really want to apply pressure to the gas pedal as slowly as possible. Give your tires a chance to find some traction. Similarly, if you just slam on the brakes suddenly, you\u2019re more like to go skidding off the road sideways. Start slowing down well in advance of when you need to, and if you can help it\u2026<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t stop<\/strong> \u2013 Momentum is precious in the snow. You don\u2019t want to be going too fast, but neither do you want to come to a halt and risk getting stuck. With proper management of your acceleration, you ought to be able to coast up hills and around corners without too much trouble.<\/p>\n

Relax<\/strong> \u2013 Remember that the white stuff falling from the sky is just frozen water. The world is not coming to an end. You will be fine. Take deep breaths, put some music on, and remain calm.<\/p>\n

Look where you want to go<\/strong> \u2013 If you find that your car is skidding or sliding, don\u2019t panic. Instead, look in the direction that you want to go and turn the steering wheel that way. Don\u2019t slam on the brakes, don\u2019t gun the accelerator. You should have plenty of space and time to regain control if you\u2019ve followed the rest of this advice.<\/p>\n

Stay home<\/strong> \u2013 Don\u2019t put yourself in a situation where you have to contend with nature if possible. If you do have to drive through the snow, stay put once you reach your destination.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve based our list off of AAA\u2019s winter driving tips<\/a>, so you can find more thoughts on this subject over there. We\u2019re also including this helpful infographic from Bridgestone Tires, just in case you\u2019re more of a visual person. It\u2019s our goal at Leith Cars<\/a> to provide you with as much help as possible.<\/p>\n

\"Winter<\/a>
Photo: Bridgestone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, this day hasn\u2019t gone as expected. It seems like it\u2019s been a while since we woke up and were surprised by a sudden snowstorm. We can only imagine how much more unpleasant this weather is for people who had already set out on their commute before it started. Hopefully you aren\u2019t stuck at work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[472],"class_list":["post-1288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.leithcars.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}