Driving Tips > Safety Columns
Winter's here: Drive with care
With Manitoba’s unforgiving winter now fully settled in, it’s time to adjust our driving habits to accommodate the conditions and get home safe every time. When you’re on the road, take care with these hazards:
High snowbanks
Use extra caution if your line of sight is compromised by a snowbank. Hug the curb on right turns and look for headlight beams cast on the roadway by approaching vehicles.
Narrow streets
Parked cars and high snowbanks make our streets narrower during the winter months. Share the road, pull over if there isn’t enough room for both of you to pass each other and be patient; if the oncoming driver doesn’t pull over, wait until it’s safe.
Road conditions
Remember that the posted speed limit is for ideal conditions. Reduce your speed, accelerate and brake gradually when there’s reduced traction and increase your braking distance during the winter months.
Black ice
It’s one of the greatest dangers of winter driving and is often invisible. But you can look for tell-tale signs to help reduce your risk: you can identify black ice because it makes pavement look darker than normal and is often found in shaded areas, even when roads are otherwise clear and dry, and at intersections, where car exhaust and spinning tires have melted the snow, which then refreezes as an invisible coating.
Cruise control
It’s dangerous to use your cruise control in the winter because the increased risks require you to constantly measure your speed against changes in road conditions. For example, if you’re driving with your cruise on when you hit a patch of ice, the change in traction could send you into a potentially deadly spin.
For more information, check out our website and watch The 60-Second Driver on CTV.
