26 MANY TRICKS

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26 MANY TRICKS

If you talk to an older driver about the little tricks and manoeuvres that he learned and practices to keep out of a crash and stay safe, you could hear some pretty interesting things. The thing is, as long as its not illegal and conforms to the rules of the road, keeping yourself and others safe should be the most important thing we do while driving. Getting to our destination is something we can think about when we get there.

Many of the tricks that I have learned can be learned by staying in school, kids, and learning physics, math and practical science.

An example of this is that when you find that the road is completely frozen over and is just a sheet of ice and you start sliding, angle your wheels to drive along the edge of the road. No one has traveled there and the snow is soft just before the drop into the ditch. If you do not hit it at a sharp angle, your tires can find enough traction there to stop sliding and keep you on the road.

Another is that when you are travelling on ice, where it is lighter is where you will find the best traction. The darker the ice means that it is packed hard; the darker it is the harder it is. The whiter the ice means that it is not packed as hard and when the weight of your tires presses the tread onto the ice, it will have enough give to allow the tread to grip some and keep you straight.

And the one that I have told you about before, as soon as you spin your tires you have lost your traction and are doing less than the guy that’s trying to push you through the snow bank. Easy pressure on the gas and let your motor lug down, it will work better than if you mash the gas and spin your tires.

Just a comment for that guy that’s behind your car pushing you while you are stuck; don’t just get down and push straight away from yourself. Get your hands under something that you can lift on, like the back bumper or a wheel well; then lift and push the car away from yourself. By lifting first, you push your boots into the snow, adding weight to your position and making yourself more stable; then all you have to do is push the car away from yourself or away from where your feet are planted firmly in the snow. Remember, you don’t have to push the car out of the snow bank to get it unstuck; you just have to help it get moving and, if the driver is working it right, it should do most of the pulling from there on.

A car gets stuck because the snow under it is packing down and making the weight, that normally sits on the drive wheels, less; causing the drive wheels to have less traction. If the car is sitting on a lot of snow, try lifting it by the bumper that is closest to the drive wheels and letting it drop; do this a couple of times and you will be packing the snow down under the car adding the weight back to the wheels instead of the snow holding the car off the ground by its frame.

When you’re going to push a car, try finding a pole or a dirt shovel; then stick one end under the car at the end that you are going to push, and lift at the bumper, using the shovel as a lever. Try to get as much push as you have lift by adjusting how far you put it under the car and the angle that the shovel touches the ground. This gives you more pushing power because you have added the distances of the lever from the fulcrum [the bumper] to your hands.

Isn’t snow and ice fun? Enjoy!