Get ready for the winter with these important winter driving tips

Driving in winters can be especially challenging in places like Alberta because winters here are very cold. But if you are prepared for the challenges you can face on the road, you can keep yourself and others safe. Preparing for winter includes preparing your vehicle in different ways to make it ready for the cold weather, and it also includes safe driving on your part so that you don’t make the common winter driving mistakes. We, at Advance Driving School Calgary, prepare our students for the driving challenges they can face in winters.

Don’t use all-season tires in winters

All-season tires may sound like they are good for summers as well as winters. But the truth is, if you drive in Alberta, all-season tires are not going to be very useful for you. Winters in Alberta are very cold, and you need winter tires to stay safe on the road. The rubber used for summer tires and all-season tires will get very hard in the winters, which means you will get less traction. The distance required to stop the vehicle will also increase, and you will have less control over the vehicle.

If you use winter tires, you will get better traction and control over the vehicle because the rubber used for winter tires will not lose its rubbery quality in extremely cold weather. Because of this, you will have more control over the vehicle, and you will be able to stop a little bit quicker.

Sign up for our defensive driving course

Defensive driving is especially useful in winters because defensive driving is all about safety. Advance Driving School Calgary has been providing defensive driving lessons for a long time. Defensive driving is one of the best driving techniques because it is all about keeping yourself and everyone else safe on the road. In winter, this method of driving is going to be even more useful because you need to be extra careful when roads are slippery.

Learning defensive driving from professional instructors is exactly what you need to stay safe on the road in different conditions.

Maintain a safe distance and drive slowly

One of the biggest challenges that you will face on the road in winter is stopping your vehicle in time. Slippery roads make it very difficult to stop your vehicle suddenly, and this is a challenge that even an experienced driver can face. The easiest way to tackle this problem is to maintain a safe distance from other vehicles. If you maintain a big gap from the vehicle in front of you, you will get a lot more time to stop your vehicle when the other vehicles apply brakes.

Along with maintaining a safe distance, you will also have to drive slowly to stay safe in winter. Even if you see a big gap or an empty road, don’t drive your vehicle too fast because it is very common to lose control of the vehicle in such situations.

Store Important Tools and Emergency Supplies

Preparing for winter roads also includes preparing for accidents, disasters, and emergency situations. There are a lot of important tools and supplies that you should store if you want to make sure that you stay safe on the road. Everyone needs a first aid kit, it can be very helpful in all weathers. Along with that, you need a battery jump start kit and a spare tire. These things are very important in all weathers, but there is a higher chance of things going bad in winters.

These emergency supplies can rescue you in tough situations, or help you get to a location from where you can get more help.

Make sure your vehicle is running perfectly

In tough weather conditions, you need a vehicle that is capable of delivering its maximum. You may have a vehicle that requires a little bit of work, but make sure you check and fix everything before the winter. Replace the battery if it is weak, and make sure that the charging system is working properly. You also need to make sure that the heating and cooling system is working properly, and that there is sufficient antifreeze. Also remember to check the front and rear defrosters because, in tough conditions, you will need all these things to be working properly. These are some important tips that you can only learn from the best driving schools in Calgary.

All the lights including hazard lights, headlights, turn signals, and tail lamps need to be in working perfectly. In winters, it can be very risky to drive a vehicle with weak headlights or broken tail lights.

Check the weather forecast and prepare in advance

Checking the weather forecast is one of the most important things to do while planning journeys in winters. Checking the weather forecast can save you a lot of trouble because if you go out in a storm or heavy snowfall, you can get stuck for hours or days, so don’t forget to do this simple thing that doesn’t take much time. In case you have to go out in bad weather, make sure that you are fully prepared. Store all the emergency supplies that you might need in case you might get stuck.

Don’t just check the weather forecast for the area you are in currently, but also check it for the area you are going in and the route that you are going to take. Make sure that you are preparing for the journey in advance, and avoid last-minute travel.

These are some of the important winter driving tips that can be very useful for all those drivers who have to drive in winter. We always make sure that all the students at our driving school in Calgary know about the things they can do to prepare for the extreme weather conditions. Good driving habits can be life-saving in bad situations, that is why we make sure that all our students develop good driving habits and learn defensive driving. No matter what type of weather you are going to face, it is very important to prepare for the worst. Keeping emergency supplies in your car can be very useful in tough situations.