Suffolk Police’s top tips for winter driving
include:
During wintry weather conditions:
- Ask yourself – is your journey essential?
- Check the local and national weather forecasts.
- Listen to local and national radio for travel information.
- Tell someone at your destination what time you expect to
arrive.
- Adjust your driving to the conditions, as hail, heavy snow and
rain reduce visibility.
- Use dipped headlights and reduce your speed.
- Dazzle from winter sun can be dangerous. Keep a pair of
sunglasses handy and slow down.
- Make sure you are equipped with warm clothes, food, boots and a
torch. In snowy conditions, take a spade.
- Clear your windows and mirrors before you set out and carry a
screen scraper and de-icer.
Vehicle condition:
- In winter it is even more important to check your vehicle is
well maintained and serviced.
- Keep the lights, windows and mirrors clean and free from ice
and snow.
- Keep your battery fully charged.
- Add anti-freeze to the radiator and winter additive to the
windscreen washer bottles.
- Make sure wipers and lights are in good working order.
- Check that tyres have plenty of tread depth and are maintained
at the correct pressure.
The County Council has a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably
practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by
snow or ice.
The County Council spreads salt and clears snow to
comply with this duty. There are practical limitations to what can
be achieved, and priority is given to areas of highest potential
risk. The first priority are the busiest roads. After that we
treat roads, footways and cycle tracks according to a system of
priorities based on usage.
In any case, salting and snow clearing cannot guarantee that a
surface is ice free. Road users should therefore take reasonable
precautions to ensure the safety of themselves and others when
freezing conditions occur. The County Council offers the following
advice:
- Before setting out, listen to weather forecasts on the radio or
television, and look for clues outside. For example, is there frost
on the grass or on the car windscreen.
- Weather forecast information is also available on the Web. See
the links to the Met Office and Meteo Group Weather
Centre.
- Allow extra time for your journey in wintry conditions.
- Reduce your speed generally and slow down well in advance of
bends and junctions. Allow more time to stop than usual.
- Use a high gear and avoid harsh acceleration, hard braking or
sudden steering movements.
- Make sure you can see and be seen. Use dipped headlights in
poor visibility but avoid unnecessary use main beam headlights or
rear fog lights which can cause dazzle and annoyance.
- Use main routes as far as possible for your journey as these
are most likely to have been salted.
- If conditions are severe, consider if your journey is really
necessary or whether it can be delayed. If you have to go out,
dress warmly and be prepared in case you get stuck or delayed.
- Powdery snow and strong winds are likely to lead to drifting
and you should avoid travelling if possible.
- Drive carefully, you are responsible for your own safety, your
passengers’ safety, your vehicle and your effect on other road
users.