Brace yourself. Winter is coming. This could mean a variety of things, depending on who you are. If you're a boarder, it means fresh pow pow is on the way. If the beach is more your style, it means burrowing away inside and, when the universe unfairly forces you outdoors, bundling up like you're Michael Jackson (unsuccesfully) hiding from the paparazzi. Regardless, everyone will have to deal with winter driving. If you don't want to succumb to the will of icy roads, learn from those who can't winter drive for shit.
Take corners slowly.
Are you ready for some high school physics? You know, that stuff you thought would be useful in your real, adult life? The speed limit signs you see before a big turn are mad pertinent in adverse conditions. When the roads are clear, you won't necessarily fly off the roads if you go any faster. But road engineers have calcualted how fast you can drive when the roads are wet or covered in ice.
For once, speed limits aren't arbitrary. Take those corners at the speed posted or, to be even safer, below. Word to Mr. Guilinger.
Hit the breaks early.
It's going to take you a lot longer to slow down. Therefore, you need to start slowing down sooner. A good habit is to hit the brakes twice as soon as you would normally would. So a stop that would normally take you 15 feet should be extended to 30. Look at that. Two rules in and we've already used physics and math.
And don't slam them, either.
If GIFs had sound, you'd hear the epic screech before the crash. Slamming on the brakes is just going to make you skid worse. Ease your foot down on the pedal. If you start early (like we just told above), you won't have any problems.
Don't overcorrect.
The absolute worst thing you can do when you feel your car start to swerve is to jerk the wheel in the other direction. Your whip will just slide more, only the other way. To correct a skid, you actually want to steer the way you're going. Just make sure you do it gently.
Slow down.
Hauling ass is just going to increase the chances of you having to do something drastic. And drastic doesn't work with ice. Driving slow, on the other hand, will give you much more time to think about what you're doing.
Being in a hurry isn't an excuse. Leave early so your rush won't cause you to do something stupid.
Watch out for black ice.
This ice doesn't even announce its presence. It just sits there waiting for you to think, "Oh, it's all good. The street is totally street color. I'm going to hit my brakes and—Snap! I just skidded two lanes over and hit a minivan full of kids. Thanks a lot, black ice."
No tailgating.
This is obnoxious when the roads are pristine, so why would you do it when the stakes are raised? You won't have nearly enough time to adjust to the car ahead of you if you're only a few seconds behind. AAA recommends you keep 8-10 seconds between you and the next car.
Make sure you have plenty of momentum going up a hill.
You don't want to start losing speed and have to hit the gas. That'll just make your wheels spin under you and, well, you'll be fucked.
When you get to the peak, slow down. Barrelling down the hill is a bad idea, too. Things can get chaotic enough without speed.
