Hi, I’m Nick Davis from West Coast Ford Lincoln and behind me we’ve got something we don’t normally have here in Vancouver, snow! So I thought this is a great time for me to give you a few tips on how to drive in the snow.
The biggest concerns about driving in the snow are making sure that you have good visibility and you’re staying on the road. The first thing you need to do is remove all the snow from your car. Take a few extra minutes make sure there’s no snow on your windshield, your hood, the roof, the hatchback, the side windows, etc. make sure you’re clear because you have to have good visibility. When you’re driving around and if you leave snow on the top of your car as you accelerate it’s going to fly back on the rear window and you’re not going to be able to see behind you. It’s so important to be able to see what you’re doing in the snow.
Another important part of driving in the snow is to drive for the weather conditions not the speed limit. The speed limit might be 60 kilometers an hour but when there is snow and ice on the road you need to slow down. You also need to signal in advance make sure that the people behind you know what you’re doing when you’re going to do it. Changing lanes as soon as possible ensures you’re in that right-hand lane well before you need to be.
When you’re driving behind someone, make sure that you increase the distance between you and the car in front of you. If the car in front of you hammers on their brakes, you’re going to need to have time to stop. You will not be able to stop as easily with the snow on the roads. If you’re driving a four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, don’t let that give you a false sense of security. While the four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive will help you have better traction when you’re accelerating in the snow, it’s not going to help you stop faster. When driving all-wheel drive or a four-wheel-drive make sure you still take your time.
Slow down and relax a little when you’re driving. Steer gently, don’t do a sharp turn, don’t do a heavy acceleration, don’t do harsh braking. All those harsh and heavy movements are going to cause your car to slip a little bit, and you might lose control so take it easy, slow down, steer gently, accelerate gently, and of course brake gently. If you slam on your brakes and don’t have ABS brakes, you’re just going to lock them up.
A couple of other tips about driving in the snow is making sure that you have your lights on so that other people can see you while they’re driving. Having your lights on may seem simple, but it’s really important to turn your full headlights on, not just your daytime driving lights. If you’ve got an older car make sure that you only have the defrost and the heat on just as long as you need to because those will strain your battery and in the event your battery dies well you might be stalled out at a red light or something like that. So you only want to use it defrost in the heat just as often as you need to.
The last thing I want to talk about is being cautious of other drivers there’s a lot of people on the road so make sure that you’re aware what everybody else is doing. Keep your eyes on the road at all times, do not have those cell phones out, make sure you’re watching the other cars and watching for their signals and brake lights. It is important to know what’s going on around you.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you to come on down and take a look at some vehicles that we have. Over the years Ford has produced some amazing technology that’s going to help you in the snow. It’s not going to make you stop faster, but it’s going to help you be able to drive a little bit better and maybe a little more comfortably. We’ve got the cars with traction control; we have all-wheel drive, we have four-wheel drive, we have cars that will help you out in the snow.
Come on down West Coast Ford Lincoln and see what we have. You can also finance winter tires in your purchase if you want to. I’m Nick Davis at West Coast Ford Lincoln, and I’m looking forward to seeing you in the showroom!
Nick Davis
West Coast Ford Lincoln
