Skidding across the car park.

We have reached that point in the year where we are clinging on to the last of the warm weather and making the most of late summer sun. Soon we will be into the realms of the colder and wetter weather and before long we will be racing our way towards Christmas and the possibility of icy snowy weather that come with this time of year. Each year people venture out in these conditions, ill prepared for the problems that they could encounter.

Each year the Highways Agency sends out road gritters and uses tonnes and tonnes of grit and rock salt in a bid to keep our main roads clear of ice and snow and all good business owners will employ the services of Car Park Gritting companies such as http://www.contract-gritting.co.uk/ to ensure that their car park areas are free from icy hazards.

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There are some things that you can do to prepare yourself for any possible problems that you may encounter whilst driving in cold, snowy and icy conditions.

Preparation is key – make sure that if you know the weather is going to be inclement and you may experience issues with the roads that you make some essentials. On the RAC list of things to make sure you have in your car for the colder weather is:

  • Fully charged mobile phone and in car charger
  • Some bottles of water and snacks
  • A spare winter coat and some warm socks and shoes or boots suitable for walking
  • A warm winter blanket

It is also important to let people know of your planned journey and the approximate timings. Whether this is letting a business acquaintance know what time you are aiming to meet them or letting friends and family know of your intended route in case you run into any problems and have to walk some of the journey home.

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If driving on icy roads there are also some tips for driving styles etc:

  • Your tyre grip on wet and icy roads is greatly reduced meaning that your breaking distances are longer. This may mean that you need to adjust your driving style and factor in the distance between yourself and the cars in front and in some circumstances, this can be as much as ten times the normal breaking distance.
  • In order to reduce the risk of skidding you should try and make your acceleration, braking, steering and gear changing smoother. If you find yourself skidding on an icy patch you should always steer into the skid. This basically means that if when you skid the rear of the car moves towards the left you should then steer the car gently towards the left.