Bad Weather Driving

Although this is the season for snow and ice in many parts of the country, you’ll also encounter rain and fog since you drive all 48 states.

RAIN:  When it first starts raining, the rain mixes with dirt, oil and grease on the road’s surface, making the roads slippery until the roads are washed clean.  These slick roads can last a few minutes or a few hours.

A heavy rain, causing water to stand on the road, can cause your truck to hydroplane.  Hydroplane means your tires are riding on a wall of water.  If they’re riding on a wall of water, they lose traction and loss of traction causes you to lose steering control of your rig.  You can prevent hydroplaning by slowing down!

Visibility is also a concern when driving in rain.  Improperly functioning windshield wipers and washers can cause visibility problems.  And your windows can fog up quickly when it rains.  Use your defroster and/or fan or open a window slightly to alleviate this problem.

When traveling in rain, it’s wise to reduce your speed and increase the distance between your truck and the vehicle in front of you to allow more time to stop.

FOG:  The greatest challenge in foggy conditions is obviously reduced visibility.  However, fog also reduces your ability to judge distance – vehicles ahead of you may be closer than they seem to be.

Low beam headlights should be used when driving in fog.  As well as helping you see the roadway, low beam helps others to see your truck.  Don’t use high beam headlights – they actually cause additional visibility problems.

Use your windshield wipers to get rid of the accumulation of fine mist on your windshield which is caused by the fog and can increase visibility problems.

Reduce your speed and maintain a safe following distance to help prevent accidents when driving in fog.  If visibility is extremely poor, find a safe place to pull over and park until visibility improves.

SNOW:  It causes not only reduced traction, but also limited visibility.  When driving on a snow-covered road, accelerate slowly and smoothly to maintain control of your truck.  If your drive wheels slip while accelerating, stop accelerating and start over.  Steering and braking should also be done with extreme care to minimize the possibility of skids.  Falling snow can reduce visibility and wind increases visibility problems.  Use low beam headlights when the snow is falling or blowing.  “Snow hypnosis” can also pose a danger.  This is caused when you travel directly into a heavy snow and begin to stare at the flakes.  This can have a hypnotic effect, particularly at night. 

Generally, to decrease the risks of driving in snow, slow down and increase your following distance.

ICE:  An icy road can be more dangerous than a snowy one!  Black ice is the most dangerous simply because you aren’t aware of it until it’s too late!  Black ice forms when temperatures drop rapidly and any moisture on the road freezes into a smooth, nearly invisible slippery coating on the road.  Bridges and overpasses can be dangerous as ice will form there first.  Cold air can circulate both above and below the surface of the bridge or overpass, causing moisture on the road to freeze more quickly than other areas.  Ice at or near the freezing point is more dangerous than colder ice.  Hot tires tend to stick better to colder ice than to ice at or near the freezing point.

When traveling on icy roads, your braking distance can increase four to 10 times that on a dry road.  So, again, slow down to increase your following distance and to allow for better vehicle control.