7 Things You Should Never Do When Driving In Bad Weather

This should go without saying even in dry conditions, but the risks are higher when the weather gets worse. In wet or icy conditions, stopping distances increase, and so should the gap between you and the car in front.

It’s generally accepted that you should leave two seconds between you and the car in front, and at least double that in poor conditions. If it’s particularly icy or foggy, leave as much distance as you can reasonably allow.

2. Accelerate hard in low gears

With grip at a minimum, you want to keep the revs as low as possible to avoid wheelspin. Pulling away in first and using too much throttle will see your wheels spin up without giving you any forward momentum. If you’re struggling to modulate the throttle enough to get grip, try pulling away in second gear. This should help keep the revs low and, hopefully, see you escape the ice. If you’re encountering particularly bad snow, fitting chains to your wheels will help you find grip.

3. Use sharp inputs

As with the throttle, you want to avoid being too overzealous with all inputs. That means not steering too sharply or slamming the brakes, as you’re going to push past the limit of grip quickly.

We recently talked about the ‘friction circle’ in relation to lap times, but it’s also important to think about when you’re driving in poor conditions. The circle will be much smaller than normal, so sharp inputs will see you fall off the edge quickly.

4. Drive your usual speeds

I’m not too proud to admit that the first time I drove in the rain I discovered the hard way just how different the grip levels can be. I was lucky enough not to hit anything solid, but you might not get away with it. When the road is wet or icy, your tyres won’t grip the road quite as well as they do in the dry, so cornering speeds are lower and braking distances increase. Slow it down.

5. Brake in a turn

Here’s another one that’s principally down to that friction circle. When you’re in a turn, the limit of grip is much lower, so asking more of the tyres by trying to make them slow you down on top making you turn just isn’t going to work. The consequences are worse in a corner because momentum and the weight of the car are pulling to the outside of the car, so when you lose grip, you spin out.

This might seem obvious, but it’s always remarkable how many stupid people you spot on the roads after snowfall. Leaving snow on your car can not only reduce visibility, it can fall off at speed and cause carnage behind you. You might think it looks cool having snow all over your car, but everyone else just thinks you’re stupid.

It’s also important to clean your windscreen regularly in winter, as the low sun can be blinding if you’ve let weeks of muck and grime build up on the glass.

Unless you have absolutely no choice, try not to stop on steep inclines when it’s icy. When going up hill try to keep your momentum up without revving too high to ensure you don’t spin the wheels, and when heading downhill, aim for as low a gear as possible to utilise engine braking without having to touch the brakes. Heed this advice and you won’t end up like the people above…

Got any more advice for driving in bad weather? Let us know in the comments!