The One Thing You Should Never Do While Driving on Ice

Winter is coming and roads across the country will start freezing up. While this is a yearly occurrence, it makes driving more dangerous than usual. In winter time, weather plays a major role in the likelihood of car problems, accidents, and even fatalities. When the temperature dips below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the roads start to freeze. Tires get less traction, reaction times are slowed, and iced-out roads make sliding out or losing control all the more likely.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation , the ten years between 2007 and 2016 saw 13% of all accidents occurring on icy roads. Frozen roads are dangerous, prone to abrupt change, and harder to navigate than dryer roads. That’s why it’s important to understand how to drive in these circumstances. Let’s take a look at some pointers to make driving on icy roads as safe as possible as well as what not to do when dealing with frozen conditions. (If you’re thinking of taking a long journey, here are some questions to answer before going on a road trip. )

To compile a list of helpful tips for driving in icy conditions, 24/7 Tempo consulted a range of transportation, lifestyle, and government publications including AAA , Idrivesafely.com , and Wrench.com . Next, we researched the dangers of driving on icy roads and helpful tips for avoiding accidents or danger. After that, we confirmed aspects of our research using sites like Icyroadsafety.com , the Federal Highway Administration , and CA.gov .

Make Sure Your Car is Equipped for Icy Roads

Prepare your vehicle for icy conditions. You wouldn’t bring a swimsuit to go skiing. This mindset extends to your car as well. It’s important to make sure your vehicle is well-suited for icy roads. Accessories like chains seem unnecessary until you’re faced with an iced, slippery road. Plus, you can outfit your vehicle with tires made specially for the winter. These items not only reduce the chance of serious accidents, but they also help increase the traction of your car. This will make your automobile easier to control in icy conditions. Besides these tire tools, it’s also important to check the pressure of your tires. Low pressure makes steering more unpredictable, which is the last thing you need on an icy road.

Besides helpful winter accessories, it’s important to ensure you have enough gas for your winter journey. Getting stuck in the snow because you ran out of gas is more than inconvenient. Dry conditions may require you to walk a couple of miles to the nearest gas station. Icy road conditions in freezing temperatures, however, could put you at serious risk for medical conditions like hypothermia, especially if you are far away from civilization. Also, give yourself more time for your journey over icy roads so you can probably respond to their unpredictable circumstances.

Even if your car is outfitted for winter storms, don’t let hubris get you into a horrific accident. When road conditions are dangerously icy you shouldn’t drive unless absolutely necessary. Accessories like winter tires and tire chains will help mitigate the precariousness of ice, but won’t neutralize it completely. It’s one thing if you have to get home from a snow trip, but if you’re just going to the store to get groceries, avoid the icy roads until they melt a bit. If possible, check temperatures before you start your ignition. Below-freezing temperatures cause the most icy road accidents.

Be Attentive to Road Conditions

It’s always important to stay alert when driving. This sense of your surroundings should become even more heightened when dealing with dangerous conditions like icy roads. You may think that gauging your car’s temperature can keep you apprised of the situation but it can be deceiving. Heat rises. As such, air temperature typically warms up quicker than ground temperature. The air may feel warmer but the roads could still be freezing. Plus, black ice is often hard to spot since it can look like puddles of water. Icy road conditions will express themselves through certain clues. If there’s frost on your windshield, or ice on other parts of your car like the windshield wipers or side mirrors, you’re probably driving on icy roads. Even if your car isn’t frosted over, frozen road signs can give you a clue about conditions.

If possible, don’t drive at night or in the early morning. Temperatures always lower during the nighttime and this extends to the early morning hours. By proxy, a lower temperature means a higher chance of roads icing over and making transit dangerous. Plus, it’s harder to stay attentive to your surroundings when you can barely see them. Black ice is hard to spot in the daytime, but next to impossible to see at nighttime. Powerful headlights may provide some sight but not enough to recognize every patch of frost or black ice.

Adapt Driving Behavior if Conditions Change

You went out of your way to buy new winter tires and equip them with traction-enhancing chains. You expect conditions to be somewhat icy, so you stay alert to your surroundings. These are good strategies but it’s equally important to adapt to any change in conditions. Temperatures can drop on a dime, generating ice on roads that seemed fine a second ago. Furthermore, a rise in elevation will increase the likelihood of roads being iced over. One moment you could be getting good traction on your tires and the next moment you’re slipping all over the place. When driving in icy conditions it’s essential to stay alert to any subtle shift of your surroundings.

Don’t sit back and relax when driving on icy roads. Your route may be set, but using cruise control in these types of conditions can spell serious disaster. Cruise control can be convenient on long stretches of dry straightaway roads, but it also will make your wheels spin at different speeds. In a freezing or icy environment, this mode will increase your chance of losing control of your vehicle. Furthermore, cruise control will put your car at a steady or increasing speed when you should be slowing your pace to account for unstable roads. Another helpful tip is to avoid bridges and overpasses if possible. These types of structures don’t maintain heat as well as a simple surface road. Plus, bridges and overpasses get better airflow, causing adjoining roads to freeze up much quicker than others.

Always Wear Your Seatbelt

This tip should come as a given, but always wear a seatbelt when driving, especially in icy conditions. Driving without a seatbelt is a dangerous enough activity. Driving without a seatbelt in conditions that increase your chance of an accident could prove fatal. Seatbelts were not prioritized in previous decades, which led to thousands of fatalities that could have been avoided if people buckled up. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , half of all fatalities from car accidents in 2022 were from people not wearing seatbelts.

Icy conditions increase the likelihood of accidents by a considerable margin. In fact, nearly 25% of all weather-related vehicle crashes occur in snowy, icy, or sleeted conditions. Couple that increased likelihood of an accident with not wearing a seatbelt and you’re road journey could prove to be a matter of life and death. When it comes to icy roads, safety should be your highest priority. There’s no good reason to not wear a seatbelt, especially when dealing with chaotic, unpredictable conditions brought on by icy roads.

Drive Slow Through Icy Conditions

We have all seen people fishtail or powerslide when taking turns at high speeds during the rain. When there’s ice on the road, those types of maneuvers increase in likelihood. It’s important to keep your speed slow and mindful when driving on ice as it allows you to keep better control of your vehicle and preserve traction. These techniques will decrease your chances of sliding across the highway. If you lose control of your car, slower speeds will help you regain control and traction and reduce the chance of crashing. It may seem like common sense, but it’s all too easy to ratchet up your speed steadily without realizing it. One helpful way to keep your speed at a minimum is driving at a higher gear. It may seem counterintuitive, but a higher gear will help your wheels grip the road better.

Do not drive fast in icy conditions. Even if the horizon looks clear and the road feels grippy, conditions can change in an instant. Typically, it’s best to keep your car cruising at 45 mph or below, even on highways with speed signs that say 75 mph. There’s no good reason to court disaster by driving fast. Plus, too fast a speed and you’ll struggle to stop, much less regain control if your car slides out. Freezing conditions slow the rate of travel regardless. According to the Federal Highway Administration , average speeds are reduced by 30-40% on frozen pavement while freeway speeds are reduced by 3-13%. Why speed past the flow of traffic in such dangerous circumstances? (Speeding can be fatal. Discover other surprising things that can kill a human within seconds. )

Brake Slowly

You’ve heeded the advice to keep your speed slow in icy conditions, but what about braking? As you can probably guess, breaking on icy roads becomes more unpredictable. It’s important to reduce the rate at which you break to reduce the possibility of your car sliding over the road. Traction is already limited on an iced-out road. Breaking too harshly could cause you to lose control and potentially cause an accident. When you break in a sudden, jerky way, force is applied to the brakes at a greater level than force is applied between your tires and the road. This will increase the chances of your car sliding out and losing complete control.

We’ve all seen dashcam footage of cars piling up on icy roads because they brake too hard and lose control before stacking up against each other like dominos. Braking in icy conditions should be done slowly and gingerly. Slamming the brakes will only increase the likelihood of losing control. This becomes particularly apparent when driving up or down hills with ice. Too steep of an incline, and even the most careful braking maneuvers won’t be enough to maintain traction. If possible, avoid all steep hills with icy roads because even the most careful braking won’t stop you from losing control of your vehicle. If you are forced to drive up hills, do not break for whatever reason. This can make inertia drop to a standstill and cause your vehicle to start slipping backward.

Maintain More Distance Than Usual

Whatever you do, maintain your distance. You may be driving on icy roads but they appear to be open, free of other vehicles. Next thing you know, however, you make a sharp turn only to enter standstill traffic. If you don’t keep a safe distance between your car and the one in front of you, you could easily crash. It takes almost ten times the distance to stop on icy roads compared to dry roads.

By keeping a careful, conservative distance between your car and the one in front of you, you will reduce the chance of an accident or damage to your vehicle. The ice is unforgiving, so if you have a habit of riding the next car’s bumper, be mindful of how much ice can affect your ability to stop quickly and carefully. This became particularly important in icy conditions. Typically, there will be “strike teams” working to get the roadways clear. These consist of plow trucks, snowmobiles, and wing plows. Be sure to give these workers extra distance (at least up to four cars of distance worth).

Besides keeping your speed low and braking carefully, it’s important to appreciate the danger of icy roads. Do not be too confident. Hubris feels great until disaster strikes. A long time driving will instill confidence in most drivers, but it’s essential to humble yourself when dealing with dangerous driving conditions. Even people experienced with icy roads like ice road truckers still run the risk of losing control. It doesn’t matter what type of vehicle you are driving or how your wheels are configured. Every vehicle is at the mercy of icy roads. While four-wheel-drive vehicles have reduced control in icy conditions, two-wheel-drive counterparts don’t fare much better. Icy roads come with an unpredictability that can’t be overstated. Use caution at all times when dealing with ice so you can better confront its dangerous and chaotic conditions.

Keep a Calm Composure

Since icy roads are dangerous and can throw all types of hazards at you out of nowhere, it’s important to stay calm. A careful but tranquil mindset goes a long way in helping to deal with unpredictable conditions. The right attitude will reduce the likelihood of you having sudden and pronounced reactions. Outsized behavior won’t do you any favors in conditions that require vigilance, safety, and preparation.

Do not let stress or fear dictate your approach to icy roads. These types of feelings will increase the chance of you overcompensating your vehicular control and spinning out. By the same token, seizing up when faced with an icy road’s danger only makes the process more dangerous. Be adaptive but not reactive. Quick, frenzied responses to icy roads will put you at far more risk than approaching the situation with a careful, patient, assured attitude.

Slamming on the breaks or turning too fast because you’re scared will only increase the chance of an accident or injury. According to the Future of Safety Research Study from General Motors , people are ten times more likely to get into a crash when driving in a highly elevated emotional state. Add icy roads and the chance of an accident increases even more. That’s why it’s important to remain calm and respond to icy road conditions appropriately. (If you’re dealing with other weather conditions, discover the best advice for driving in fog. )

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