In the United States, the first snowfalls have already made an appearance and some of them have led to chaos: some of the cars that tried to drive through scenarios completely covered by snow seemed to have forgotten how to drive in those conditions. A TikTok user captured one of those scenes (which you can see here Y here)… starring three vehicles from the Fire Department and the Police and a pick-up, which was parked. A couple of videos that show us everything you should not do in these situations.
We do not know the circumstances prior to the events recorded in this pair of videos, but we do believe that by applying the advice that every driver should keep in mind… the incident could have been avoided. Fortunately, no personal injuries were reported: only material and not too serious.
1. Adjust the speed
Just as it happens when we lose traction, on the snow it is best to remain calm. Or what is the same: slow down. In Spain, depending on the colors of the snow, some limits or others must be respected: when we do not have any indication, we must adapt the pace to the state of the road and our expertise to handle the situation safely.
2. Use the engine brake
Of course, the descent that appears in the video requires another tactic to reduce the speed of a car in low traction conditions: resort to engine braking to forget about treating the brake as carefully as possible. As usual, if you put a lower gear (and you are not stepping on the accelerator) the vehicle will tend to brake because the pressure carried out by the gearbox is greater than the speed that the car is capable of carrying with that ratio engaged.
This formula is perfect for descents (especially if they are long) because it does not cause any stress to the mechanics of the vehicle and it is unlikely that the wheels will lock. And if you can’t reduce? You should keep in mind that the torque of the drive wheels can increase playing against the traction… so you will have to put the following recommendation into practice.
Smooth driving and pedals
Staying calm also means being easy on the steering wheel: slow and careful steering movements can help us maintain traction, which is essential when driving on snow. Being abrupt will cause the opposite effect: a loss of grip, which can turn into oversteer or understeer… as seen in these videos. The same happens with the accelerator and the brake: our footstep must be soft, slow and progressive to prevent our car from losing grip.
Be careful with the safety distance
As you have been able to verify, It is difficult to leave less of a safe distance than the vehicles that are the stars of this video. Do you remember what the DGT says about her? It must be two seconds, at least, and can be calculated by pronouncing “1101, 1102…” from a fixed point on the road. Of course, that couple of seconds will be insufficient in special situations such as a snowy road, where it must be extended to three or more seconds. And, in case of doubt, it is always better to leave more space with respect to the vehicle in front.
