As most of us do, when I passed my driving test 5 years ago, I couldn’t wait to tear up the streets with my buddies. I passed the test in November, along with another close friend of mine and within just a few short weeks, all of my friends and I were given a real scare when the friend that I passed with had an accident. As it happened, the accident was not my friend’s fault and thanks to the guys at Christensen & Hymas law firm, he was cleared of guilt, as well as being able to walk away without a scratch.

I have always driven cautiously ever since that event and especially more so in winter time. Not enough people alter their driving habits during the winter months and if you fall into that category, here are just a few reasons why you really should drive differently in winter.

Weather

It will no doubt be nothing new to you to find out that during the winter time, the weather changes drastically for the worse. During the winter months we have rain, snow, sleet and ice to deal with, all of which adversely affect the driving conditions. Instead of altering your style of driving depending on what the exact weather conditions will be, the best approach is to apply a new driving style for the whole duration of the winter months. This means that braking distances should be increased, you should drive far slower, signal much earlier when turning and generally drive with added caution in order to avoid problems.

Other Driving Styles

There is no cast iron guarantee that a change in your driving style in the winter conditions will help you to completely avoid accidents, but it will greatly help. In order to further improve your chances of avoiding issues, you also must be aware of the way in which others drive. Whilst you may have taken a smart decision to drive with extra caution, this is not to say that the other road users have too, in fact it is unlikely. The best approach here then is to assume that everyone has driving like crazy, this will keep you on guard for just about any mistake that is made.

External Factors

There are also other factors in the winter that you must be cautious of, giving you even more reasons as to why you should alter your driving style. The first thing to think about is that many cars have maintenance problems during this time of year such as parts seizing up and this can be exacerbated by an erratic driving style, nobody wants to break down, especially not in winter weather. Finally it is also worth considering that car accidents go up during this time of year not only because of the worsening conditions, but sadly because those driving whilst under the influence also go up during these months, being aware is the only thing that you can do to counter such a situation.