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So, outside the window is winter and everything is covered with snow. However, the main danger on the road is not snow, but ice. This natural phenomenon can be a problem even for an experienced driver. This article will teach you how to deal with it.
Steps
- Watch for signs indicating icy conditions. If the car in front of you behaved unexpectedly and strangely, then it is quite possible that the icy conditions were the reason.
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Sometimes ice can be seen with the naked eye. Since it is completely transparent, it can only be seen under special light conditions. Almost always it looks like a smooth and shiny section of the road. If earlier you were driving on completely black asphalt, and now there is a shiny spot ahead, then perhaps this is sleet. Don't worry and follow further instructions.
- This method is not suitable for night driving, but may well help in daylight.
- If you don't understand what "brilliant" means, then imagine the freshly painted and polished body of your car - that's what it looks like.
- You won't always be able to see sleet on the road, but trying to do so is not a waste of time. It will help you stay alert while driving. The main thing is to watch not only the surface of the road, but the entire traffic situation.
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Practice driving on slippery surfaces. If possible, practice driving on ice in a safe environment. You will need a spacious and empty parking lot, where there are icy places. Practice driving and braking on ice, learn to feel the behavior of your car. If you have ABS, then feel how the car slows down on ice with it. This practice can be not only useful, but also fun!
How to behave on the ice. If you hit the ice, the most important thing is to remain calm. The main rule when hitting the ice is to make as few movements as possible and allow the car to overcome this place by itself. Do not brake and keep the steering wheel straight. If you feel that the rear of the car began to skid to the right or left, then gently turn the steering wheel in the direction of skidding. If you turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction, then you can skid and turn around.
Brake without depressing the brake pedal. Take your foot off the brake pedal and do not change the position of the steering wheel. In this way, you will be able to better control the car and avoid unnecessary damage.
- Don't press on the brake. Otherwise, you are likely to get carried away. The point is to just drive through the icy patch without losing control. Usually it is not longer than 6 meters.
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If you can, downshift. This will allow you to slow down and have better control of the vehicle.
Find a place where traction will be better. Although the ice is invisible, you can find a place where it will definitely not be. Try driving on snow, sand, etc.
If you get carried away, don't panic. Ice usually comes in patches, and pretty soon the car will find traction again. Use the brake pedal as little as possible. But, if necessary, follow these tips:
If you are driving off the road, steer the car in a way that avoids major damage. It would be ideal to drive into an empty field or drive into a soft snowdrift. Of course, you may not have much choice, but it's worth trying.
After overcoming the ice, stay calm and do not panic, the worst is over. If you must keep driving, drive very slowly. Warn other drivers of your low speed by turning on your hazard lights or flashing your headlights.
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Get off the road. In such conditions, continuing to move can be dangerous. Stop at a roadside cafe and have a hot drink. This will help you calm down and think about your next steps.
- Very rarely, ice leads to mass accidents. If you find yourself in just such a situation, then you need to quickly choose: stay in the car (where you are in relative safety) or leave it (you can avoid further collisions, but will be forced to be in the cold and risk being hit by another car that skidded on ice). Assess your strength, weather and distance to the settlement. Make your choice based on this.
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Prevent future encounters with sleet. There are several ways to minimize unexpected encounters with ice on the road. Knowing how to behave on the ice remains paramount, but there are others:
- If you have ABS installed, you should know what it's like to work. By the way it has come into action, you will be able to recognize the possibility of skidding.
- If the weather is icy, it's best to stay at home and not use your car.
- When driving in winter, always avoid sudden movements. Attempting to turn quickly, pick up or slow down can result in loss of traction. Imagine that there is an imaginary egg between your foot and the pedal. Press the pedal as if you are afraid of crushing it. Very soon you will notice that you drive more carefully.
- Stay away from cell phones and radios. Concentrate only on the road.
- Ice can cause a lot of problems for pedestrians and cyclists. Always consider that they can slip and get under your wheels.
- Change to winter tires before the temperature drops below freezing. This is especially important for country trips, where the temperature is lower and the roads are completely unfamiliar.
Warnings
- Never use cruise control in snowy weather.
- SUVs, trucks and vans have a high center of gravity and are therefore very unstable. Skidding on an icy road can easily cause them to tip over.
- It doesn't matter what drive or tires you have if you don't have traction. Drive with caution at all times.
- If you are not sure which way to turn the steering wheel during a skid, then "If you see that the front of the car is turning right or left, then gently turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction" means the same as "If you feel that the rear of the car skids, then gently turn the steering wheel in the direction of skidding.
Ice is very similar to regular ice. It is a thin crust of ice that remains after the freezing of rainwater or melted and then refrozen snow, water or ice. This type of ice forms without the formation of air bubbles, making it almost invisible and allowing it to blend with almost any surface. This feature makes the surfaces of roads, sidewalks and intersections especially dangerous in icy conditions.
Know where to expect icy conditions. It usually forms at an air temperature of about zero degrees Celsius. On a winter highway, it can also occur due to the heat of the tires, which melt the snow at high speed and it immediately freezes. Pay attention to weather conditions and traffic reports.
Know when to expect black ice. Black ice most often forms in the early morning and evening. During the daytime, the road surface is usually warmer and less prone to ice formation. However, remember that "less prone" does not mean that ice does not form there. Always be alert.
Yesterday's weather was a real test for the road workers and motorists of the Volgograd region. Wind, snowfall and rain did not affect the road surface in the best way. However, there were no mass road accidents. One major accident occurred on the Volgograd-Syzran highway, where eight cars collided at once.
As 34auto.ru was informed in the propaganda department of the UGIBDD of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Volgograd Region, a traffic accident was registered on January 24 at four o'clock in the afternoon. It was established that on the 149th kilometer of the Volgograd-Syzran highway, the 36-year-old driver of the Niva-Chevrolet drove into the oncoming lane, where he collided with a cargo gazelle driven by a 40-year-old man. » A 48-year-old KAMA driver stopped on the roadway, and a 31-year-old MAN truck driver, unable to keep a safe distance, crashed into him from behind. Four more vehicles crashed into the colliding trucks: VAZ-2111, Hyundai-Trajet, Volvo S-40 and VAZ-2109.
As a result of the incident, the following were delivered to the second city hospital in Kamyshin: the driver of a MAN car with a fracture of both leg bones and a 39-year-old passenger of a GAZ car with a hip fracture.
Eyewitnesses say that on the same highway, only in the Dubovsky district, there was solid ice, there was actually no sand on the road, while the adjacent roads leading to the settlements were generously strewn with reagents.
“In the Dubovsky district, in particular, the Volgograd-Syzran highway was sprinkled with reagents all night,” says Pavel Stepanov, Head of the Traffic Police Department of the Department of Internal Affairs for the Dubovsky District.- Regarding the fact that roads were covered in the villages and villages, but not on the highway, I can’t confirm. Yesterday we spent the whole day making sure that there was ice on the track. This route was in unsatisfactory condition in the Kamyshinsky district, where a major traffic accident occurred two kilometers before the Dubovsky district. Now the track is dry, there is no ice and fog.”
The regional traffic police do not deny the fact that on some roads there were certain difficulties associated with ice.
“There were no remarks on maintenance during unfavorable conditions for the Volgograd-Moscow and Volgograd-Kamensk-Shakhtinsk highways,” says Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Department of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate for the Volgograd Region Oleg Zemlyanoy.– But on these routes neither strong wind nor heavy rain was observed. The Volgograd-Syzran road, on the contrary, did not please either the road builders or the traffic police officers yesterday. Firstly, thick fog hung over this road, so that at about four o'clock in the afternoon it was necessary to give an order to the nearby bus stations to delay some flights on this route for an hour and a half. Secondly, it was on this track that an increase in a rather cold wind was observed, and coupled with rain, this gave the best effect for the road - the ice set instantly.
At the enterprise serving the Volgograd-Syzran highway, they deny the information that the road was poorly treated with a sand-salt mixture.
“Indeed, our organization serves the section of the Volgograd-Syzran highway, which falls on the Dubovsky district,” says Director of LLC Road Construction Enterprise PK-Stroy Konstantin Pugachev. “However, yesterday, due to unfavorable road conditions, the equipment and our employees worked in an enhanced mode and coped with the ice. Moreover, yesterday we received an official notice from Rosavtodor that our work yesterday was highly appreciated. PK-Stroy knew in advance about the coming ice, so they were ready to deal with bad weather. On the difficult sections of this route, on the descents and ascents, cars with a sand-salt mixture were on duty. The ice, as they say, was nipped in the bud. If we had not satisfactorily coped with our duties, we would not have served this federal highway, as happened with Volgogradavtodor. "PK-Stroy" received this road for maintenance just after the above-mentioned organization. So then she was in a terrible state, and Volgogradavtodor, indeed, did not cope with the assigned duties. Yes, and if yesterday this road was covered with ice and would not have been sprinkled with reagents, more than one accident would certainly have happened on it. A serious traffic accident occurred on this highway, but it happened two kilometers before the section from which the road under our jurisdiction begins.
The regional administration summed up yesterday's bad weather, arguing that, in general, the region coped with bad weather conditions, only the north-west of the region, which, according to the authorities, has its own reasons.
“In general, the region more or less peacefully survived yesterday’s weather troubles,” commented Anatoly Vasiliev, Head of the Automobile Roads Administration of the Volgograd Region Administration. - Kotelnikovsky, Elansky, Kumylzhensky, Oktyabrsky, Surovikinsky districts met the bad weather with weapons. Only in the north-west of the region it was snowing with rain, and the road became like a layer cake. The road was cleaned, sprinkled with a sand-salt mixture, but the reagents were washed off by rain or immediately froze. Also yesterday I managed to talk with the head of Kamyshin, who just yesterday was traveling from Volgograd to Kamyshin. So Mr. Chunakov noted that despite the adverse weather conditions, the route was in good condition, there were no traffic jams. Ice was observed only at the entrance to Antipovka.”
During the sleet season, Ust-Kamenogorsk emergency department specialists urge car owners and pedestrians to be extremely careful and attentive.
According to statistics, about 40% of all accidents in winter are caused by ice and snow. The main driving condition for drivers is prudence, low speed and exceptional caution. Two dangers lie in wait for a pedestrian in ice conditions - slip and fall or get hit by a car. With the onset of cold weather, the number of street injuries increases: bruises, dislocations and fractures. According to doctors, on such days the number of victims increases by 2 times. To reduce the chance of falling, the following rules of behavior in icy conditions must be observed: Attention and caution are the main principles of behavior that must be strictly adhered to in icy conditions.
- When moving along a slippery street, do not rush, avoid sudden movements, constantly look at your feet; if you need to look around, you should not do it on the go - it is better to stop. The legs should be slightly relaxed and bent at the knees, while the body is slightly tilted forward. Keeping your hands out of habit in your pockets on ice is dangerous: if you fall, there will hardly be time to take them out and grab onto something. Older people are advised to get a cane with a rubber tip, - noted the head of the Department of Civil Defense of the EChS of Ust-Kamenogorsk, Valentin Litvinenko.Steps are a huge danger in ice; but if you still have to go down the slippery stairs, then you need to put your foot along the step, in case of loss of balance, this position allows you to slide down as carefully as possible in such a situation in principle.
Rescuers advise residents to prepare low-slip shoes, attach metal heels or foam rubber to the heels, and stick an adhesive plaster or insulating tape on a dry sole, on a dry sole and heel (make a sticker crosswise or a ladder), and step into the sand before going out. You can rub the sole with sandpaper before going out.
It is necessary to move in ice carefully, stepping on the entire sole. Legs when walking should be slightly relaxed, hands free. If you slip, crouch down immediately to reduce the height of your fall. Brace yourself to avoid falling backwards, and roll as you hit the ground to soften the force of the impact.
If you feel like a fall is imminent, crouch and lean to the side like hockey players do. An unsuccessful fall on your back is fraught with a spinal injury, and on outstretched arms - a fracture of the shoulder or wrist, so try to group yourself: press your elbows to your sides, pull your head into your shoulders, and tighten your muscles. If at the moment of contact with the ground, you manage to roll (such a roll significantly reduces the force of impact), then most likely the maximum that threatens you is a bruise or a small bruise. Such actions are obtained, as a rule, by those who play sports - regular training helps to develop the necessary reaction, to maintain balance in an emergency.
First aid can be provided right on the spot. If a limb is injured, then, first of all, it must be immobilized, fixed with a splint, a support bandage should be made on the arm; for this, objects that are always nearby can be used: a board, a scarf, a scarf. In order to relieve swelling, reduce pain to a bruise or fracture, it is advisable to apply something cold, snow is quite suitable for this. If you are injured, do not self-medicate, be sure to immediately go to the hospital.
Memo to motorists: how to drive a car in ice
The main winter advice is to reduce the intensity of your accelerations, braking and turns by two or three times, and then there will be no problems on a slippery road.
You should be especially careful when pressing the brake pedal in ice. When driving a car equipped with ABS, the computer will tell you to unlock the wheels if they lock up while driving on ice. However, one should not place high hopes on electronics, it is better to cope on your own.
Pressing the pedal should be intermittent, then the car can be driven confidently. If a professional, driving a car, brakes intermittently, this may not be noticed. You should work the brake pedal quickly, on the verge of locking the wheels, but you should not get too carried away with this technique. Some drivers who already have driving experience turn off the ABS in icy conditions. Still, you shouldn’t do this, you can make a mistake when braking.
In ice, it is customary to apply engine braking without turning off the ignition and transmission. This should be done in this way: a) we reset the fuel supply without disengaging the clutch, b) we squeeze the clutch, turn on a lower gear, c) turn the clutch back on.
The engine will increase speed and the speed of the car will gradually decrease. In this case, you can gently press the brake pedal. Such general braking is quite convenient.
When driving a four-wheel drive car, braking in both ways gives almost the same results. However, if you brake on ice in both ways at the same time, then the speed of the car will not decrease much. Most drivers still prefer engine braking when braking on ice.
Important: driving in deep snow is necessary without stopping and shifting gears. If you get stuck in the snow, do not let the wheels slip for a long time. It is possible to maneuver on ice, but very carefully, without making sudden movements. Any sharp maneuvering, especially outside the well-trodden rut on the road, threatens that the car may start to turn. An emergency situation will arise, which in urban traffic often leads to serious accidents. The rule says that on an icy road, the distance between cars must be two times the speed of the car. Keep your distance!
When choosing a speed, do not forget that on snow the braking distance almost triples.
Near public transport stops and in front of traffic lights, ice forms from frequent braking, be especially careful here.
By following these simple tips, you will be able to secure your driving in the ice.
