OCR Text |
Show Motorists Given Cold Facts On Safe And Sane Winter Driving Motorists remember to change the oil in their cars when winter comes, but a lot of them don't remember to change their driving driv-ing habits to fit the season. The National Safety Council says this conclusion is supported by the fact that for the last eight years, snow belt states have shown a winter jump in the mileage mile-age death rate of 24 to 53 per cent as compared with summer. The two major winter hazards in all sections of the United States are inadequate traction and reduced visability. To find out about these hazards and what to do aooui mem, uie council coun-cil has conducted several research re-search programs on frozen lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. Tested Tips Offered As the nation enters the most hazardous period of the year, the Council announced these tested tips for winter driving: m 1 Find out how slippery it is when starting out by stepping on the brakes lightly or "gunning the motor. Get this feel of the road when driving slowly and while no other vehicles are near. 2 Adjust speed to conditions. A good guide to follow is the speed of other cars. Passing requires re-quires changing direction, accelerating accel-erating and braking all dangerous dan-gerous on a slippery surface. 3 Stay well back of other vehicles anti slow down well ahead of intersections and curves. If you are going slow-enough, slow-enough, it helps to accelerate very slightly when rounding a curve. 4. Use tire chains on snow or ice. They are the most effective self-help you have. Keep Windshield Clear. 5. Keep windshield and windows win-dows clear with good defrosters.. If necessary, roll down the window win-dow a little. 6. Pump the brakes when you slow or stop. Locked brakes only throw you into a skid. 7. Even though it's cold out, don't forget hand signals when someone is behind you. Unexpected Unex-pected maneuvers which surprise the other fellow are accident-makers accident-makers on slippery roads. 8. Don't lower tire pressure or increase the load over tne rear wheels to get added traction. You get very little more, and you increase in-crease the chance of a skid. 9. Good tire treads are better than smooth tires on dry and wet pavement, but on snow or ice even they give no advantage. Only chains, which bite in, help then. Keep Steady Foot on Gas 10. Keep a steady foot on the gas pedal. Even small forces, like the sudden compression when you let up on the gas, may cause a skid. 11. The best way to control a skid is not to Have one. The old adage of sterring in the direction of the skid applies only if you have room to maneuver. However, How-ever, a driver with a sensitive hand on the steering wheel often j can correct the beginning of a skid by steering slightly in the direction of the slide. 12. Start in second gear on ice, which minimizes spinning of the wheels and a possible slide to one side. |