Driving on Snow or IceMost of the time, those places where your tires meetthe road probably have good traction.However, if there is snow or ice between your tires andthe road, you can have a very slippery situation. You willhave a lot less traction or “grip” and will need to be verycareful.What is the worst time for this? “Wet ice.” Very cold snowor ice can be slick and hard to drive on. But wet ice canbe even more trouble because it may offer the leasttraction of all. You can get wet ice when it is aboutfreezing (32°F; 0°C) and freezing rain begins to fall. Try toavoid driving on wet ice until salt and sand crews can getthere.Whatever the condition — smooth ice, packed, blowing orloose snow — drive with caution.Keep your traction control system on. It improves yourability to accelerate when driving on a slippery road. Eventhough your vehicle has a traction control system, you willwant to slow down and adjust your driving to the roadconditions. See Traction Control System (TCS) onpage 4-9.Your anti-lock brakes improve your vehicle’s stabilitywhen you make a hard stop on a slippery road. Eventhough you have the anti-lock braking system, you willwant to begin stopping sooner than you would on drypavement. See Braking on page 4-6.• Allow greater following distance on any slippery road.• Watch for slippery spots. The road might be fine untilyou hit a spot that is covered with ice. On anotherwise clear road, ice patches may appear inshaded areas where the sun can not reach: aroundclumps of trees, behind buildings or under bridges.Sometimes the surface of a curve or an overpassmay remain icy when the surrounding roads areclear. If you see a patch of ice ahead of you, brakebefore you are on it. Try not to brake while you areactually on the ice, and avoid sudden steeringmaneuvers.4-28
