EDITORIAL: Take care on winter roads

Published 12:00 am Saturday, January 8, 2022

The first snowfall of the season has hit, and it won’t be the last.

While we are thankful for the crews, who worked to clear roads, it is likely, before spring, we will have to drive in snow again.

In order to help everyone stay safe, here are some tips for winter driving from the American Auto Association:

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• Drive slowly. Always adjust your speed down to account for lower traction when driving on snow or ice.

• Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Apply the gas slowly to regain traction and avoid skids. Don’t try to get moving in a hurry and take time to slow down for a stoplight.

• Increase your following distance to five to six seconds. This increased margin of safety will provide the longer distance needed if you have to stop.

• Whether you have antilock brakes or not, keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal.

• Don’t stop if you can avoid it. There’s a big difference in the amount of inertia it takes to start moving from a full stop versus how much it takes to get moving while still rolling. If you can slow down enough to keep rolling until a traffic light changes, do it.