When roads are slippery, the three things that keep you out of trouble are speed, space, and smoothness: drive well below the posted limit, leave far more room between you and the car ahead than you would on dry pavement, and make every steering, braking, and acceleration input as gradual as you can. That is the core of federal safety guidance for wet, snowy, and icy roads.1National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Winter Driving Tips The details below matter, because how you brake depends on your vehicle, each kind of slick surface asks for a different response, and knowing when to stop driving altogether is sometimes the most important call you make.
Slow Down and Leave More Space
Reducing speed is the single most effective thing you can do. NHTSA puts it plainly: it is harder to control or stop your vehicle on a slick surface, so cut your speed and increase your following distance enough to give yourself plenty of time to stop for the vehicles ahead of you.1National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Winter Driving Tips
On dry pavement, a common guideline is about three seconds of following distance. In rain, snow, or ice, you need significantly more. On ice, some safety organizations recommend leaving up to ten times the normal gap. There is a real reason for that number: research by the Transportation Research Board found braking distances on glare ice run about ten times longer than on dry pavement.2Transportation Research Board. Braking and Traction Tests on Ice, Snow, and on Bare Pavements A stop that takes 75 feet on dry concrete at 30 mph can take 750 feet on ice. Stopping distances on packed snow run roughly three to five times longer than on dry roads.
In rain, dropping your speed 5 to 10 mph below what feels normal is a reasonable starting point. Beyond that, let the conditions and your tires tell you what is safe.
Keep Every Input Gentle
Everything you ask the car to do should happen gradually. Accelerate slowly to avoid wheelspin. Begin braking well before you need to stop. Reduce speed before a curve, not during it, and steer with smooth adjustments. Jerking the wheel or stomping the brake is exactly what causes a skid on a low-traction surface.
Turn off cruise control. On wet roads, it can hold the car at speed straight through standing water and trigger hydroplaning. On snow or ice, it can spin the drive wheels without you noticing until the car is already sliding. Keep your foot on the pedals so you can feel what the tires are doing and respond.
How to Brake: ABS vs. Non-ABS
How you should brake in an emergency depends on whether your vehicle has anti-lock brakes, and NHTSA specifically tells drivers to learn which system their car has before they need it.1National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Winter Driving Tips
- With ABS, apply firm, continuous pressure to the brake pedal. Do not pump the brakes. The system pulses the brakes automatically to prevent wheel lockup, and you may feel a vibration or hear a grinding noise. That is normal. Keep pressing and steer where you want to go.
- Without ABS, if you feel the wheels locking up, pump the brake pedal to keep some steering control. Locked wheels skid and cannot steer.
Most vehicles built in the last two decades have ABS. If you are not sure, check your owner’s manual or watch for an “ABS” indicator on the dashboard when you turn the key.
Adjust for the Surface You Are On
Rain, snow, and ice all cut traction, but they do it differently, and the right technique on one surface can be wrong on another.
Hydroplaning on Wet Roads
Hydroplaning happens when water builds up between your tires and the road faster than the tread can push it away. The tires float, and you lose both steering and braking. It can start at speeds as low as 35 mph depending on tire condition and how much water is on the road.
To cut the risk, slow down in rain, steer around puddles and standing water when you can do so safely, and keep your tires properly inflated with good tread. Driving in the tire tracks of the car ahead helps, because some water has already been displaced.
If the steering goes light or the engine revs without the car speeding up, you are hydroplaning. Lift off the gas, keep the wheel pointed straight, and do not brake. Let the car slow on its own until the tires reconnect with the pavement. Once traction returns, you can gently steer and brake again.
Snow
Snow compresses under your tires and leaves a surface with far less grip than bare pavement. Accelerate gently, brake early, and keep your movements deliberate. If your wheels start spinning during acceleration, ease off the gas rather than pressing harder.
Visibility usually drops during snowfall, so turn on your headlights even during the day and give the car in front extra room. Do not crowd snowplows. They travel slowly, make wide turns, and the road behind them is generally in better shape than the road ahead.
Ice and Black Ice
Ice is the most treacherous surface you will drive on. Stay well below the posted limit, avoid any sudden inputs, and leave more distance than feels natural.
Black ice is a thin, nearly transparent layer that is almost impossible to see. It is especially common on bridges and overpasses, which lose heat from both the top and bottom and freeze before regular road surfaces. Shaded spots under trees or buildings, curves, and highway ramps are also frequent trouble areas. Black ice typically forms when temperatures sit around or just below 32°F, particularly overnight and in the early morning.
If the road looks dark and glossy or your steering suddenly feels too light, you may be on it. Stay calm, keep the wheel straight, and lift off the gas. Do not brake and do not make sudden steering corrections. Let the car coast across the patch. It is usually small enough that you will be past it in a few seconds if you do not panic.
If the Car Skids
Even careful drivers lose traction. Resist your first instincts: do not slam the brakes and do not yank the wheel. Ease off the gas and focus on recovering control smoothly. What you do next depends on which end of the car is sliding.
Front-Wheel Skid (Understeer)
In a front-wheel skid, the front tires lose grip and the car keeps going straight even though you are turning the wheel. This is understeer, common in front-wheel-drive cars taking a curve too fast on a slick surface.
The fix feels counterintuitive. Briefly ease off both the gas and the steering. Turning the wheel harder will not help, because the front tires have already run out of grip. Straightening the wheel slightly and slowing down shifts the car’s weight forward onto the front tires and helps them regain traction. Once you feel the grip return, steer gently in the direction you want to go.
Rear-Wheel Skid (Oversteer)
In a rear-wheel skid, the back end swings out, which can feel like the car is spinning around on you. This is oversteer. Steer in the direction the rear of the car is sliding. If the back end swings right, steer right. If it swings left, steer left. Ease off the accelerator and stay off the brakes.
The goal is to point the front wheels where the car is actually going, so the tires can regain grip. As the car straightens, gradually center the wheel. Be ready for a small correction the other way, because the rear often swings back slightly before settling. That back-and-forth is called fishtailing, and overcorrecting it is what sends people into a full spin.
When to Pull Over or Stay Put
Sometimes the safest driving decision is not to drive. If conditions get bad enough that you cannot see the road, pull off to the side and stop until visibility improves. The National Weather Service recommends turning off your headlights and using the parking brake when stopped on the shoulder, so that other drivers do not mistake your taillights for a moving vehicle and follow you off the road.3National Weather Service. What To Do If You’re Caught in a Winter Storm
If your car gets stuck in a storm, stay inside. Leaving on foot in wind-driven snow leads to disorientation fast. Run the engine for about ten minutes each hour to keep warm, crack a window slightly for ventilation, and make sure snow is not blocking the exhaust pipe. Tie something bright to your antenna and turn on the dome light at night when the engine is running so rescuers can find you.3National Weather Service. What To Do If You’re Caught in a Winter Storm
Clear the Car Before You Pull Out
Before heading out after a snowfall, clear all snow and ice from your roof, hood, trunk, windows, headlights, and taillights. Snow left on the roof can slide forward over your windshield when you brake, or blow off onto the car behind you at highway speed. There is no single federal law requiring this, but many states either have specific statutes or enforce it through general safety and obstructed-view traffic laws, and some impose penalties of several hundred dollars or more if dislodged snow or ice causes property damage or injury. A few extra minutes with a scraper and brush removes a real hazard for you and everyone else on the road.