Please reassure me about driving on icy roads

[DrDolittlesParrot]

I'm a nervous driver at the best of times, but at the moment I'm a nervous wreck on the icy roads. I have to drive my mum to appointments so it can't be avoided.

Can anyone reassure me about the chances of sliding on black ice, whether there's any way of seeing it on the road, anything I need to know? Can I find out if a road had been gritted? One road I have ru drive on is a steep hill. Presume this is even more dangerous ..

I live in the UK, on the coast. Currently the temperatures here are around 2 degrees in the day, zero or before at night.

Sorry, I know it's trivial to some, but I have so many sleepless nights worrying about it, it would be nice to put my mind at ease if I can, at least somewhat.

If you slide, steer into the slide, not against it. And don’t stamp on the brake as tempting and nat

Thanks. I've no idea if I can shift gears automatically in my automatic, I'll look at the manual, but fairly sure there are no numbers on the gear stick thing.

Not really sure what I could put in the boot to make it heavy enough, but I'll habe a think.

Unfortunately my budget definitely won't allow for winter tyres.

She can't confess to stay overnight, she has a cat she won't leave alone, aside from the fact she just won't because of how she is

I had no idea the ABS would right the car. I'll read up on it.

@Seeline

I would have thought black ice would've gone by mid afternoon.

My local council has maps of which roads are gritted on their website, but generally if you stick to main roads and/or bus routes you should be OK.

Here it was foggy all day and black ice was on the very rural roads all day, it didn't get above freezing all day.

Op, have a look at this advice from the RAC

www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/winter-driving/driving-in-ice-and-hail/

Thank you Twisted, a very helpful article.

Drive very slowly. I go at about 30-40 mph when icy even on duel carriageway. Drive at midday as sometimes other cars have made ice melt. I go even more slowly downhill. I don't care if I hold people up. I am too scared to go faster as DH spun car over on black ice going faster and fractured his spine in 2015. He drives slowly when icy now too.

I used to be absolutely terrified of driving if there was a chance of ice. A couple of years ago I watched a youtube video which gave me a bit of confidence, and DH took me to a huge icy empty carpark on Sunday morning, where there was nothing to hit, and I practiced what I'd learned from the video. I feel much happier now.

If you do skid, steer into it, not away from it.

So if your car starts going left, steer left, don't try and correct it.

Rear, forward, 4x4 makes no difference at all in ice. Snow yes, but not ice.

You can limit an auto if it has gears. Mine has L/1
2 3 and drive. So if I put it in say gear 3, it can't shift above 3rd gear which will have an engine braking effect keeping it from going much above 30/40mph when rolling. Don't drive fast round corners or even slight bends. By fast I mean anything much over 15mph depending on the corner. Grit helps but don't get cocky and try to drive normally. You know if its gritted because bits will be flying up and pinging off your paintwork.

Go against your instinct and do not brake hard if you slide. Turn the wheel into the direction you are sliding and brake gently. If you have a fairly modern car the brake pedal will feel like it's vibrating or shuddering. Dont freak out and release it, its just the ABS, its supposed to do that. Scares the shit out of you first time you feel it but just keep pressing it gently.

Canadian here! Hi!

I second Night Sky’s advice. Watch a few how-to videos on how to stay safe in a skid, then go practice for a few minutes in an empty parking lot. It’s a helpful skill to have!

As a pp said, the type of car makes zero difference. It's the tyres that make a difference.

Definitely look into winter tyres next year.

It seems to of missed the snow here tjanjs god! Hope it has for you too so you can get DM to her vaccination, good luck! :)

Placemarking to read this later. Cheers for the advice. Thanks for starting a useful post OP and good luck.

I also drive an automatic, I think most autos have a manual option do you have an M or +/- anywhere on the transmission? As a PP said no hard accelerating or braking and use shifting down a gear as your brake where you can. Drive slow, sod anyone else on the road, take your time! What make /model car do you drive?

I’m the same OP and hate driving when there’s a chance of black ice on the roads. I’ve had a few instances of skidding but luckily no damage or accidents.

What I find annoying is other drivers not adhering to the roads conditions. Reminds me of the time when it had rained heavily the night before and then there was a sharp frost, I had to leave the house at 7:30am, our estate has a steep hill you have to drive down, the roads were like glass! Awful. Low gear needed, no braking (which is hard not to do)
Once I got onto the main roads they were exactly the same, awful conditions, so I took my time. Unfortunately the person who had followed me, impatiently driving really close, decided they’d shoot off quickly down a side street where they promptly slid into the back of a parked car!

I think that’s is what worries me most really. If I could have the roads to myself during icy weather I’d be fine

I know it won' t help at the moment but if you are frightened of driving in snow and ice is it worth considering a winter driving course ? (sometimes called extreme weather driving course) You can find them advertised online. Perhaps it would give you more confidence for the future,

For years my brother and I used to laugh at my grandma who told us to 'Watch out for black ice - because you can't see it!'
But she was right. You can't see it, but you do have to drive much more carefully when it might be around. Bigger distances between vehicles, slower than normal speed, very gentle braking, feather the breaks, drive into any skid etc.

Brakes, not breaks, obviously...

Go early and spend time with her before her appointment and head home before it gets dark or you stay overnight there.

She may be disappointed but it will be safer for you.

Agree with all of the above.
Something else that might help. Is if you let a little bit of air out of your tyres less likely to skid.

I dont want to be THAT poster but I wrote my car off going downhill at around 20 miles an hour on ice (not snow).

The police said there was absolutely nothing I could have done about it apart from going a different way as there own car was skidding down the hill as they came to help.

I now wont drive in it. Luckily I live down south with good public transport.

Take it easy and read up on what to do if you skid.

Make sure you are wearing warm clothes and have hats, scarves,gloves, spare socks, decent walking shoes and some blankets in the car for worse case scenarios. We work on the basis that if we are prepared we won't need it.