Snow tires are a great idea, too

When you want to go, you press the gas pedal and you go. When you want to stop, you press the brake and stop. At least, that’s the plan. Give the gas pedal too much sudden pressure and instead of ‘going’ your tires will spin and you won’t go much at all until you let off the gas. If you’re going too fast when you hit the brake, you may find that stopping in time is difficult. This condition is exasperated by road conditions, particularly road conditions during a Johnsburg winter.

Winter in Johnsburg comes with periods of rain and snow. When that precipitation winds up on the surface of the road, the cold temperatures tend to turn it to ice. Ice is great to keep your drink cold. Ice is great if you want to go skating. But ice is a problem when you’re driving.

If you don’t account for the ice when driving, you’ll get into trouble. Imagine if someone from the West coast came out to Johnsburg in the middle of winter. Let’s suppose this person has no idea about the effects of winter on driving. If they tried to drive the same way on icy roads that they do on dry pavement they’ll get into trouble quick.

To survive problem free on icy roads, you need to make adjustments, such as:

• When proceeding from a stop or slow speed, apply pressure to the gas pedal gently while paying attention to the drive tires. If you feel them begin to slip, let off the gas pedal. 
• When stopping, give yourself more time. Slow down approaching the stop and apply the brakes while paying attention not to allow the tires to break loose and begin spinning.
• Going into a turn, be cautious about your speed. Let off the gas pedal before you get to the turn. Hitting the brakes in a turn can cause a spinout. Try to avoid this.
• Going up a hill you may need to build up some speed so the vehicle has the momentum to make it all the way up the hill before the tires loose their grip. However, you need to do this while being careful that the additional speed won’t get you into trouble.

Adjusting your driving habits is essential to surviving winter driving in the Midwest. However, there are other essentials of winter driving. You want good brakes. Slippery roads seriously compound your problems when stopping on slick roads. Good tires are also essential. You want tires with sufficient tread to get a decent grip on the road.

Winter driving is so tricky that it’s not a bad idea to put snow tires on your vehicle. Snow tires have deeper tread that are strategically designed to get a grip on snowy and icy roads.

One last thing to remember is that most cars these days come with ABS brakes. Prior to ABS brakes, on a slippery road, you pumped the brakes to keep them from locking up and sending you into a slide and/or spin. With ABS brakes, the brakes do the pumping for you and pumping much faster than a person can.

So, have a safe and wonderful winter, but give a little thought to how you’ll survive driving on Johnsburg roads in the coming season.