Driving in the snow for the first time...

[celtic1888]

Well now that ive had my car for a couple months, the snow has come, i always thought it would be cool driving in the snow.. but i was wrong.. its a blooming nightmare!
went from thurso - wick and back yesterday afternoon.
It took me 45 mins to get through and back.. for me if was a safe 30mph job most of the way.
I dont understand all those nutters who came tearing past me on the road.. they are just asking for an accident....

[tonkatojo]

Well now that ive had my car for a couple months, the snow has come, i always thought it would be cool driving in the snow.. but i was wrong.. its a blooming nightmare!
went from thurso - wick and back yesterday afternoon.
It took me 45 mins to get through and back.. for me if was a safe 30mph job most of the way.
I dont understand all those nutters who came tearing past me on the road.. they are just asking for an accident....


I thought it was about 42 miles round trip, something wrong with your speedo or maths.;)

[celtic1888]

i meant 45 mins through an 45 mins to come back :P
my bad :L

[rs 2k]

I have been driving 15 years and i still hate driving in the snow, i am like u i drive about 30 mph, coz it feels safer, but it is other drivers i think i am scared of aswell, its not your driving u have to watch, it is other peoples

U r doing a slow 30 and someone comes tearing round a corner doing 50 or 60 mph and skids and hits u, thats the scary part

Just keep to a safe speed u r comfortable with, if people overtake u and they have an accident and it doesn't involve u, then its their stupid fault for not slowing down

We went from Thurso to wick yesterday and never saw 1 gritter :confused

Off to Inverness on tues so i hope its all gone by then or it is going to take me a good 5 or 6 hours to get there [lol]

Drive safely celtic 1888 go as slow as u feel safe nevermind other drivers :)

[espadartecars]

i am off to Inverness to on Tuesday and hope all the snow has gone by then,I hate driving in it and as you all said its the other nutters on the road you have to watch out for

[Amy-Winehouse]

Well now that ive had my car for a couple months, the snow has come, i always thought it would be cool driving in the snow.. but i was wrong.. its a blooming nightmare!
went from thurso - wick and back yesterday afternoon.
It took me 45 mins to get through and back.. for me if was a safe 30mph job most of the way.
I dont understand all those nutters who came tearing past me on the road.. they are just asking for an accident....


Well done , having the patience to drive in the snow is something I admire- I detest snow & driving in it is just the pits but it doesnt matter what speed you are going at, if you crash at 15 20 or 30 mph you can still really damage your car.
Snow is a killer

[celtic1888]

I have been driving 15 years and i still hate driving in the snow, i am like u i drive about 30 mph, coz it feels safer, but it is other drivers i think i am scared of aswell, its not your driving u have to watch, it is other peoples

U r doing a slow 30 and someone comes tearing round a corner doing 50 or 60 mph and skids and hits u, thats the scary part

Just keep to a safe speed u r comfortable with, if people overtake u and they have an accident and it doesn't involve u, then its their stupid fault for not slowing down

We went from Thurso to wick yesterday and never saw 1 gritter :confused

Off to Inverness on tues so i hope its all gone by then or it is going to take me a good 5 or 6 hours to get there [lol]

Drive safely celtic 1888 go as slow as u feel safe nevermind other drivers :)

I will! i didn't feel safe going any faster..
It shows that there is 18 year olds that go out driving who can be sensible drivers...

[riggerboy]

well done for taking your time and not feeling pressured into driving like a numpty at high speeds on dangerous roads


o a never mind tonka hes always nick picking on folks 8-)

[Allsorts]

Was suppose to be driving back home today but Police are telling us not to try driving up the A9 from Inverness.......anyone tried to inverness - wick route today?

[Bobinovich]

First sign of snow I find myself an empty car park and put myself in wee spins, slides, etc. to get back into the right frame of thinking for snow driving.

Generally I find the main roads are OK so long as you stick to sensible speeds - it's when you get on the untreated side roads that the above practicing really helps.

[tonkatojo]

I will! i didn't feel safe going any faster..
It shows that there is 18 year olds that go out driving who can be sensible drivers...

Good on yer Lass/lad for showing gumption.
Oh RB I did add a ;) as I knew fine well what she/he meant. :confused

[unicorn]

Hubbys advice is to gently pump your brakes on braking as opposed to being heavy on your brakes.

[riggerboy]

Good on yer Lass/lad for showing gumption.
Oh RB I did add a ;) as I knew fine well what she/he meant. :confused


o i know but i thought i would just add it in anyway, wee fishes big bites

[joxville]

Ya bunch o' beeg jessies, get yer foot doon and go fer it! Whits the worst that can happen? :eek:










Only joking. I used to go down to the car park next to A & D Mackays and deliberately go slightly faster than neccesary then slam on the brakes, get the car spinning in various directions, that's the best way of learning how to control a spin. It's not fail safe but should you be caught out whilst driving normally your awareness of how to control the spin will be improved, giving you better chance of safely stopping the car.

[upolian]

erghhhhhhhh.....braking or pumping brakes you will still slide on snow!try reducing your speed 30/40 in a 60 if conditions allow + engine braking is far more effective to slow down and by far reducing the chance of braking/skidding

[riggerboy]

Ya bunch o' beeg jessies, get yer foot doon and go fer it! Whits the worst that can happen? :eek:










Only joking. I used to go down to the car park next to A & D Mackays and deliberately go slightly faster than neccesary then slam on the brakes, get the car spinning in various directions, that's the best way of learning how to control a spin. It's not fail safe but should you be caught out whilst driving normally your awareness of how to control the spin will be improved, giving you better chance of safely stopping the car.

dont encourging them ya dafty

[achingale]

Well now that ive had my car for a couple months, the snow has come, i always thought it would be cool driving in the snow.. but i was wrong.. its a blooming nightmare!
went from thurso - wick and back yesterday afternoon.
It took me 45 mins to get through and back.. for me if was a safe 30mph job most of the way.
I dont understand all those nutters who came tearing past me on the road.. they are just asking for an accident....

You drove at a speed you felt safe with and that is sensible. Good on you. I hate driving in the snow too but I think it is good experience because you never know when you absolutely have to do it, such as in an emergency. I feel so jealous of all those people who have a garage and do not have to scrape snow and ice off their cars! ;)

[sharona]

true driver you can drive any weather or condition

[cuddlepop]

Trying not too worry too much but my youngest is away with her friend in her wee Ka she only past her test a few weeks ago.Main roads are well gritted but its going to either snow or freeze soon.

I dont know how you could get experience before you pass your test in driving conditions such as these but it must be totally different.:confused

As you said in your post its the other numbties that drive too fast that can cause the problems:(

[poppett]

I passed my test in June, more years ago than I care to mention, but at the first sign of snow my old driving instructor took four of us to Riverside carpark in Wick and let us practice skids and getting back in control in snowy, icy conditions. We were taught when learning to drive that brakes were for stopping only, to slow down use the gearbox. In icy conditions use the highest gear the car will go in at the slowest speed, and over the years you learn from the roadnoise what is under the wheels......of course you need to not have on the boom boom music so the youth (and older headbangers) won`t like that.

Prefer not to be out in inclement weather but if it can`t be avoided I can drive with confidence, but still worry about other less compitent drivers on the road at the same time.

Take care out there.

[tonkatojo]

true driver you can drive any weather or condition

Yeah in a drott or cat maybe.

[trix]

i wis planin goin til thurso enite but now am no sure.

iv choost past ma test short ago an its no even ma car am drivin....

oh, i da ken fit til do....:confused

surly 'e main rod will be ok?

[northener]

A few hints for those who haven't driven in snow before or aren't happy about doing so:

Distance: Leave a very large safety margin between yourself and the vehicle in front.
Enough space for you to be able to stop without having to resort to 'Emergency Stop' tactics. Even more so on hills - bear in mind that travelling up hill there is a very real chance of the vehicle in front of you losing traction and actually sliding backwards into you. Scalesburn and Shore Lane in Wick are notorious for this.

If you get tailgated, don't speed up. Pull over where you can (let them go and kill themselves if they want to). If this is not practical - allow more space between yourself and the vehicle in front, so that you have time to slow down really early to allow the muppet behind time to react.

Speed control: Plan well ahead, slow down in plenty of time by using less gas and gears as opposed to brakes where possible.
A good guide is that you should be getting the car to slow down enough for you to stop the car with only a very light touch on the brakes in the last few metres.
If travelling downhill, get into a gear low enough to help you hold the car back, then hold the car back with the brakes. Don't allow the speed to increase otherwise you'll struggle to retain control.


Steering: Gentle, plan your turns to be long sweeping moves where possible, try to avoid sharp turns. Both hands on the wheel! If you lose the steering, having one hand off will increase the chances of you making a sudden movement with the wheel and losing it altogether.
Thumbs on the rim of the steering wheel, not hooked over onto the inside of the wheel. If you hit a hidden pothole or the kerb (or ditch it) there's a chance the steering wheel will whip round and smash/dislocate your thumbs.

Gears: Drive in the highest gear/lowest revs possible to retain full control. Low gear/high revs will increase the chance of wheelspin and loss of control on bends. Consider moving off in 2nd gear to gain more traction.

Braking: Try to avoid last minute braking. It's guaranteed to have you overshooting when trying to stop at junctions, or running into the back of the vehicle in front. Gentle on and gentle off.

Brakes (ABS): Braking too hard on snow and causing the ABS to kick in can increase your stopping distance by a good margin. Remember - ABS is not an anti-skid device, it is to enable you to brake and steer at the same time with more control, nothing more.

Brakes (Non ABS): The advice to 'pump' the brakes if skidding is good. However, this implies quite a harsh 'on-off' style - which could cause you even more problems. I would suggest a better way of describing the action is to lift off the brakes until you feel the wheels turning and then squeeze (as opposed to stamp) back on the pedal. repeat as necessary.

HTH.:Razz

[Boozeburglar]

I just drove home from the other side of Inverness, around 8 miles from my friend's house.

It normally takes me 12 minutes.

Took over an hour, albeit added five mins topping up my tank before venturing onto the A9, just in case.

One or two very sticky moments. I had waited so there would be little other traffic on the road, but that also worked against me as it was all fresh coated and hard to see the cleared tracks.

Earlier in the year I drove into London on new Avons and cruised past all the people stuck in the unprecedented 8/9 inches.

Now my tread depth on the front drive wheels is down the thing won't pull through anything, and it is getting stuck on the hills. (MPV)

Best advice is to limit your exposure and avoid any journeys you don't have to make.

(The advice I just ignored because I did not need to go anywhere! I just stupidly thought I am immune to the problems everyone else has..)

What I did note is that on turning onto a steep hill the car behind me (small and light) did not even consider leaving a space between us, even when they saw I was struggling. Not until I shoved my hazards on because I was grinding to a halt; then they overtook me and drifted onto the opposite kerb on the fresh snow! Luckily I got going again so the bus behind me could then get through.

[shazzap]

I passed my test in June, more years ago than I care to mention, but at the first sign of snow my old driving instructor took four of us to Riverside carpark in Wick and let us practice skids and getting back in control in snowy, icy conditions. We were taught when learning to drive that brakes were for stopping only, to slow down use the gearbox. In icy conditions use the highest gear the car will go in at the slowest speed, and over the years you learn from the roadnoise what is under the wheels......of course you need to not have on the boom boom music so the youth (and older headbangers) won`t like that.

Prefer not to be out in inclement weather but if it can`t be avoided I can drive with confidence, but still worry about other less compitent drivers on the road at the same time.

Take care out there.

Best advice yet.

My dad told me about using your gears and getting into the highest gear possible years ago. I still don't like driving in snow though.