A Yooper’s Guide to Snow-time driving

What is a Yooper?  Well, it’s me and about half a million others like me.  People from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (or U.P. thus Yoo-per).  We live (or lived) way up North where there is lots and lots of snow for pretty much most of the year.  We grew up driving through snow drifts from the first time we snuck the car out at about age 14 so we kinda know how to do it

First and foremost, if you don’t feel you can drive on the roads and it is not an emergency, stay home.  No one will look down on you.  After all you’re not a Yooper and if you are out there going extremely slowly out of fear, it will increase the likelihood of someone else getting in an accident by hitting you.

1.  The main thing about driving on snowy, slippery roads is to slow down a bit.  Take 10-15 mph off of your normal driving speed and always be ready. As an update to this article I will add that before winter hits, evaluate the tires on your car.  If they are wide and/or worn you should consider getting some narrow tires with deep tread for winter.  This may seem pricey, but would you rather replace your car because it is wrecked?

2.  Give yourself a LOT of extra breaking distance.  How much?  More than you think.  Slow way down while approaching a stop.  It is also good to gently slip your car into neutral.  This will stop the engine from pulling you forward as you try to stop.

3.  Use your brakes less. People think anti-lock brakes will save them but even with anti-lock brakes you will sometimes loose traction on ice or slick snow.  Your car will quickly turn into an un-steerable sled if you break traction with the surface of what you are driving on.   If you lose traction, immediately take your foot off the brake.  This is a hard thing to get your brain to do, but trust me, it will work better.  After your foot is off the brake steer yourself to a safe place if stopping is not an option.  You can usually go to the shoulder or onto the snow covered grass.  However, if the only options you have are going in the ditch or hitting another car, the ditch is usually a better choice.  (As a side note, I often find that the normal path where other cars tracks are, where the snow has been packed down is often much slicker than the untouched snow a few inches over.  If you find you cannot stop in the path of tracks, move over a bit till your tires are in untouched snow and try again to stop.  You might be surprised how much better it is.

4.   Momentum is your friend. When you are coming to a place (like an intersection) which has deep snow that you are afraid you might get stuck in, don’t slow down unless you have to.  Keep up your speed and allow your momentum to carry you through the drift or deep slush.

5.  Momentum is your enemy. When you are driving on slippery surfaces it will cause you to go a lot further than you expect.  So, see point #2.

6.  If you find yourself going into a skid (the rear of the car starts to come around instead of staying behind where you expect it to be):  First, shout “Yee Haw!” and smile.  This is one of the funnest things about driving on snow, besides it will make the other people in the car think that you meant to do it instead of thinking you don’t know how to drive.  Then immediately let off the accelerator and steer whichever way that the rear of your car is coming around, i.e. if your tail starts to slide to the left, steer the car to the left.  As soon as you start to recover, bring the steering wheel back towards center or you will overcorrect and end up skidding the other direction.

7.  Traffic sign law becomes replaced with common sense. If you are coming to an intersection with a stop sign that is full of unplowed snow and there is not another car within sight, DON’T STOP.  Stopping at this kind of intersection is your greatest chance of getting stuck in bogged down snow.  Instead double check that there are not any other cars (especially the ones with lights on top) and continue through the intersection (see point 4.)

8.  Make sure you are appropriately dressed and equipped.  Don’t go out to your car when it is 10 degrees with just a jacket.  You might think that you have the car in the garage and you will only have to be outside for 1 minute while you walk into wherever you are going.  You might be stuck and walking for blocks.  Make sure you are dressed warm which should include (at a minimum) boots, heavy hat, thick gloves (or better yet mittens) scarf and a blanket in the back seat (not the trunk unless you can access it from inside the car).  I would also add that you should make sure you have a fully charged mobile phone with you and it is a good idea to have some energy bars and at least a quart of water (don’t leave it in the car for long or it will freeze)

9.  If you find yourself stuck, don’t sit there and gun the engine, this will usually just make things worse. Clear the snow from in front of and behind all four tires and then gently rock the car back and forth (going from drive to reverse) until you can get it out from where it is stuck.  If you have someone with you get them to push from whichever direction you don’t want to go (be sure not to run them over). Having some salt or sand to put under the tires is a definite plus.  Also, while doing this, keep the front wheels straight until you are moving.

10. Follow the plow truck.  Seriously, if the weather is nasty and you have to be on the road and a plow truck goes by, get in about 75-100 feet behind it and follow it.  Umm, don’t do this if you are in a parking lot.

And finally, just plain reconsider.  If you look out there and you really don’t think you should be on the road, you are probably the best qualified person to judge that.