Last updated on April 13th, 2015 at 02:11 pm

Last winter the heavy snow and bad weather brought chaos to our roads, this blog post provides driving tips and advice on tyres and kit that is essential for safe winter driving.

Tyres

A practice that is common in Europe but not so common here in the UK is having two sets of tyres, a winter set and a summer set.  Although many people might feel that our winters are not bad enough to need a set of special tyres that isn’t the case.  Tyre compounds are influenced by temperature so is it reasonable to expect a tyre that was made to cope with summer temperatures that might be (after a long run) over 30 degrees to be able to cope just as well with temperatures of -8 degrees (which is what it was in our area of North Wales last night) or even colder?  In fact modern summer tyres will start to lose their grip at temperatures of about 7 degrees and in the UK average temperatures are less than this quite often between October and March.

Having looked into this it seems that a winter tyre can decrease stopping distance by about 11 metres when travelling at 20 mph – that’s more than the distance of a car and could be the difference between hitting something (or God forbid, someone) and not doing so.

Obviously cost is a factor here as you will need the initial outlay of a new set of tyres and wheels and then you will have to find somewhere to store the set that you are not using – this can either be in your garage (store them on their side) or some tyre fitters like Kwik-Fit offer what they call a “tyre hotel” where they will store it for you.  Having said that, a set of winter tyres is likely to last you about 3 years.

Tyre Chains and Socks

I’ve often read about chain tyres and last year was reading about tyre socks but last night I was watching a program on television that showed a set of socks being used by a recovery driver to rescue someone that had got stuck on ice and compacted snow.  All you need to do if you are stuck on this type of road surface is to slip the sock over the tyre and then drive, slowly and carefully, until you are on a better surface.

Other equipment and kit

It goes without saying that you need think about some extra kit in the vehicle if you are driving in bad weather.  This typically includes a blanket (I have a couple of space blankets in the car and routinely put a fleece in the car at the start of winter), a hat, gloves, spare coat if you have the space and even a snow shovel (you can pick up folding ones online or in some high street stores).  If you are on a long journey it is also worth having a flask of coffee or tea and a fully charged mobile phone.  I also put a couple of bits of old carpet in the boot just in case I either get stuck or need some extra grip and don’t go anywhere in the car without a tow rope.  This may sound like a lot of extra kit to carry around but I find that it all the bigger items fit into a plastic box in the boot (the space blankets live in the glove box).

Preparation

There are several things that you should do before the onset of bad weather to make sure your vehicle is ready for winter. These include making sure your antifreeze is topped up, your windscreen wipers are replaced (I read somewhere that the average wiper covers an acre of glass in the course of the year) so replacing them at the start of winter seems a good idea). Also take a look at your battery – is it likely to fail you in the middle of winter when there is an extra load on it?  If it’s more than a few years old take it to your local garage and ask them to test it for you.  Many of these would be covered in a service if you are due one, and some garages will even carry out a mini winter service for you.

Before you set off, make sure that your windscreen washers have been topped up with winter screen wash at the recommended concentration.

Never drive with snow covering the windows (I’m sure you have all seen cars and vans driving down the road with the driver peering out of a small gap in the snow) and clear your bonnet, roof and boot of snow – the bonnet snow could blow back onto your windscreen, the roof snow could slide down and cover your windscreen or blow back onto someone behind you as could the boot snow.  While this may sound funny, imagine how you would feel if a motorcyclist was in an accident after being covered by snow blown back from your vehicle.

Driving Techniques

The first thing to remember is that no end of 4 wheel drive, special tyres, chains or socks will keep you out of trouble if you drive without taking care and ignore the fact that winter driving needs different driving techniques.

The simple thing to do is to always take it slowly and gently, don’t make any sudden movements with the steering wheel and be delicate on the pedals – both accelerator and brakes should be treated as if they have eggs balanced on them that you don’t want to crack.

You may find it easiest to start off in 2nd gear if you have a manual box and keep in a high gear if you can to reduce the risk of wheel spin – you don’t want wheel-spin to start as this means that you have broken the grip with the road surface which is exactly what you don’t want to happen.

You need to concentrate as well and look well ahead to judge what the other traffic is doing so that you can react, leave plenty of space between you and the vehicle in front (more so than normal) as you will take longer to stop.

Remember, it will take longer to get anywhere if you are travelling in snow and ice, you will have to concentrate a lot more, even when travelling on local roles.  Take it easy, stay calm, be prepared and you should get to where you want to be safely and if the worst happens and you are stuck at least you will be able to call for help and keep warm while you are waiting.