The first snowfall of the year brings a rash of ditch divers and car crashes. My kids had a 1-to-10 rating system for the roadside wrecks. To score a 10, the driver had to cross all four lanes of traffic, clear the guardrail, do a complete roll or somersault and land on their wheels without apparent damage or hitting another car. You can come up with your own way of scoring these esoteric skills.
Preparation
Know the weather and road forecast and give yourself more than ample time to get where you are going. Keep your brakes and winter tires in top condition. Keep your windows, mirrors, signals and headlights clear, and keep the wipers and window washers in good condition. Carry a tow strap, flashlight and cellphone, and have the best winter tires you can afford. All four tires should match in size, wear, tread design and air pressure.
If you drive a pickup truck, secure 400+ pounds in the bed. Unloaded pickups have poor traction and squirrelly braking.
Drive defensively. My wise truck driver father said, "Drive like porcupines make love -- slowly and carefully." Leave lots of room between you and the car ahead of you. You need room for reaction time, stopping and maneuvering. Watch for flashing brake lights ahead of you, and look for soft, safe ditches or shoulders with white snow. The white compacted snow always provides better traction than black ice.
Watch your rearview mirror when you are braking because the driver behind you may not be able to stop as quickly and may rear-end you. Slow down before you get to traffic lights or curves. Avoid all sudden maneuvers if possible. They will cause your tires to break traction and you may lose control.
Concentrate. There are times in life that demand all of our attention. Driving on slick roads in traffic with limited visibility is one that ranks right up there with walking on black ice and encountering an angry moose. Split seconds of inattention can lead to very bad results.
We seem to have a new crop of bad drivers on the road each fall. It would be only an annoyance if they had accidents by themselves, but their stupidity and dangerous conduct often involve many others, often with tragic results. If you can do so safely, get their license numbers, call the police and stay out of their way.
Intelligent and informed driving
Don't slide your wheels by braking or giving too much or too little throttle. You cannot steer, stop or accelerate if your tires are sliding. Most of the braking effort on a car or pickup comes from the front wheels, and if they are sliding, you will get very little braking and no steering.
Prudent winter driving practice requires not changing power or braking applications significantly in a curve. Adjust your speed before the curve. If you lock up your wheels in a curve, your tires will tend to lose their lateral grip and centrifugal force will start taking you to the outside of the curve. If you are in a curve and back off on the accelerator, beware of the so-called trailing throttle phenomena, where the vertical load on the tires shifts from the rear to the front and drive wheels may lose traction and head for the outside ditch tail-first for rear-wheel-drive (oversteer), and front-drive wheels may plow through the corner front-end first at a much wider arc than intended (understeer). Too much throttle will have largely the same effect, but quicker and with much more excitement.
Electronic gremlins
Cruise control, auto transmission and traction control are all marvelous developments, but they can sabotage driving. I recommend not using cruise control on ice grades to eliminate the possibility of a transmission down shift and wheel spin.
If you are using the compression of your engine to hold your vehicle back as you descend a slippery hill, you want to move the gear selector into a lower gear before you start down the hill.
The traction control on many new cars will automatically reduce engine output when a wheel starts spinning. This can frustrate your efforts to get a run at a hill, bust through a snowdrift or rock the vehicle back and forth to get unstuck. Most newer vehicles have a switch to deactivate traction control.
That's it. If you are prepared, have planned ahead, understand the physical principles involved in driving on ice, pay attention and avoid idiot drivers, you should get home safely. If not, bring warm clothes, a flashlight, a good book, toilet paper, snacks and drinking water, baby wipes and a change of underwear.
Winter driving in Alaska can be fraught with anxiety, excitement and life-changing spiritual experiences. There is some evidence that fervent, even panicked prayers may be efficacious. When my wife was looking for comfort for her winter driving fears, she found this Bible verse: "I shall trust in the Lord with all of my integrity and therefore I shall not slide." I hope this all helps you this winter.
Fred Dyson, a former Alaska state senator, is a mechanical engineer who has been collecting and working on cars since childhood. He built, tuned and raced drag racers and sports cars for several years (with very little success) and closely follows automobile technology.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.