Tips for Getting Ready For Winter Driving

November 26, 2019, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Winter driving weather is here. It started early on Remembrance Day with snow that lasted a week and the temperatures haven’t rebounded into the double digits since. The long-term forecast is favourable for winter. It’s time for those of you who’ve procrastinated to get those winter tires onto your cars and trucks and SUVs.

All season tires are made of a harder rubber that is good for the summer, but in the winter,  it lacks the softness and ‘stickiness’ of winter tires. Putting winter tires on improves your traction, control and stopping distances in now, frost and icy conditions. In fact, winter tires are shown to improved stopping distance by up to 25%. As the weather becomes more unpredictable, we find much more ‘in between’ rain and icy road conditions and the shorter stopping distances can improve your safety behind the wheel.

You should be mounting winter tires when the snow is consistently falling, or temperatures fall below 7’C as a high. Depending on where you live or are travelling in Ontario you may want to have tire chains in your car ready to use, and you may need studded tires. If your car is registered in the north you can use studded tires on the roads. Always clear all the ice and snow off your car.

Getting ready for winter driving

• Get your car looked over by your mechanic and check for battery life, vehicle lights
• Get your winter tires checked and mounted
• Keep your fuel tank at least half full all winter to reduce moisture (water) from building up in the tank. It also adds some weight to the vehicle making it more stable in winter.
• Keep an extra bottle of washer fluid in your car, and make sure you have lots in the reservoir.
• But a good ice scraper and keep it handy
• Have a small shovel and bag of cat litter for traction if you get stuck on ice or in snow.
• Always have a scarf, hat, mitts and boots in the car.

Make an Emergency Kit for the trunk. It should contain:

• Phone charger
• Some water and granola bars or other snack food
• A lighter or matches
• A candle and steel coffee can or cup to melt ice in
• A flashlight
• A blanket
• Booster Cables
• Traction mats

Driving and Winter Road Trips:

• Check @511Ontario on twitter for real time plow locations, accidents, and road
• Check the weather – if the forecast is nasty consider delaying your trip.
• conditions
• Slow down to stay in control. Most winter collisions are due to excessive speed.
• Don’t use your cruise control on wet, snowy or icy pavement.
• Allow extra space between you and other cars
• Stay alert
• Keep your full lighting system on in poor weather
• Consider pulling off the road when conditions deteriorate
• NEVER PASS A SNOWPLOW

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.