Echoing the classic words of Dad’s Army’s Corporal Jones, ex F1 driver and current F1 commentator David Coulthard says that the best advice for motorists facing a journey in the snow and ice is: “Don’t Panic!”
The 40 year old Scot, who won 13 grands prix during 15 years in F1 adds.
“As soon as drivers feel the car starting to slide they freeze then ram on the brakes, that is about the worst thing they could do. As long as you allow all the wheels to keep turning the car will eventually regain grip, and when you have grip, you have control. Another measure drivers should take is only to drive at a speed that they can recover from if the tyres start sliding. It sounds obvious but the most important thing in slippery conditions is to have time to get things under control again.”
“If you feel the car starting to oversteer, you really don’t want to spin because you’ve got no idea where you’re going to end up. So to stop that happening, come off the power and turn the wheels in the direction of the slide, doing that should keep you going forwards and give the tyres a chance to regain grip. The big problem is that drivers aren’t trained for losing control, so the first time it happens can be in a critical situation on a public road. Although it might be too late for this lot of snow, undergoing training in a controlled environment will mean car owners know what skidding feels like and can react in the right way when it happens for real.”
With No Claims Bonus becoming ever more important in securing reasonable motor trade insurance premiums these days, as a motorist it may be worth investing in a wet weather driving and car control experience, the lessons learned in wet weather slides and skids and be transferred as a slower speed onto ice and snow.
Even I’ll admit, I’ve got out of shape a few times in the wet:
