THE WEATHER – OUR EXCUSE FOR POOR DRIVING

One element, we as drivers are constantly exposed to, is the weather. We believe that many collision statistics gathered each year are weather related. The fact is that the majority of collisions throughout the year happen in the daytime, on bare, paved roads, in bright sunshine and normal traffic situations. Then comes the winter season and collisions are way out of proportion to the few days a year we are driving on snow and or poorer visibility. Many drivers don’t distinguish between summer and winter driving, while others treat winter driving with respect.

In winter it takes the first two storms or so to finally sink in that we have to adjust our driving from the other 3 seasons. Because this time of year has some unique weather situations it becomes an expensive lesson to learn.

Visibility. In cold weather, frost appears on the windows of parked vehicles, especially overnight. Do we take the time to clear all the windows before setting the vehicle in motion? This same cold weather can affect the inside of our windows as well. Realize that not cleaning the exterior air louvers at the base of the windshield could be the culprit. Cold air entering the heating system from the outside louvers warms and condenses. That same saturated air is now directed back up onto the cold windshield inside and the interior, freezing and causing more problems as you drive away.

What about an overnight snowfall and you fail to clean off the flat surfaces of your vehicle - roof, hood and trunk? As you drive away, the snow drifts back from the hood, onto the windshield and into those intake louvers you had just cleaned setting up a vapour or fogging of the window. The snow that is still on the roof now drifts back onto your rear window and the time you took to clear that window is now a problem again. Speaking of the roof, if snow or ice flies off your vehicle and strikes or causes a problem with following traffic, you’re responsible for any damage or any resulting collision to the traffic following, from that snow or ice.

See and be seen. Visibility is also the “see” and “be seen” of driving. If you cleaned all your windows but haven’t cleared the snow from your lights in front and back, you have satisfied the “see” aspect, but not the “be seen” part of the equation. For example, do you clean snow from your trunk? If not, vehicle momentum will cause that accumulation to drift down towards the taillights. As you drive there is a low pressure built behind your vehicle and the snow off the trunk will spiral downward and accumulate on your lights and rear bumper. This same effect happens with owners of vans and SUVs.

Does your vehicle windows fog up as you head out in summer or winter? In winter the transition of cold outside air onto warm glass may quickly produce condensation on the inside of your vehicle. In summer if it is raining and your windows are up, again the accumulation of condensation. If you have air conditioning put it on for 20 or 30 minutes. This will reduce humid conditions quite quickly inside the car. Periodically running the air conditioner throughout the year will keep your “conditioner” in top running order.

Black ice Then there is the curse of many drivers who dread the encounter of “black ice”. The problem is the lack of recognizing this hazard. This phenomenon can easily be detected, but many are oblivious to its presence. Black ice needs two elements, a change in temperature and the presence of moisture. This can’t be a surprise as we have 24/7 weather forecasts. We know when there is moisture present. It’s called snow, whether falling lightly or present as snow banks. When the temperature rises or the sun comes out, that snow melts and becomes water, which makes its way across the highway. When the temperature drops, that water freezes and there is the recipe for black ice. Once you have the ingredients, you must check for its presence. Look in your rear view mirror, when there is no traffic present, slow down and gently touch your brakes. You probably will be the first to know that black ice is there and can adjust your driving accordingly.

The hazard of widening roads It is not a widely known fact but it certainly makes sense in that we increase our speed when the road gets wider. Most winter collisions don’t occur on the day of, or the day following a snowstorm. We are operating our vehicles with caution at those times, as we should. On succeeding days though, the snowplows push the snow back and widen the roads. For every foot or 30 centimetres of widen road, traffic speed increases by 10 kilometres per hour. So as our roads are widened in winter, drivers become more complacent and increase their speed. We forget about all the other hazards that are still present: visibility, loss of traction, etc.

Hydroplaning – This is a weather condition drivers like to blame for their collision or loss of control. The motoring public rarely understands the full effects of hydroplaning because we don’t spend enough time on the subject. Hydroplaning is when a level of water comes between the tires and the road surface. When can that occur? At speeds as low as 50 km/h. Several factors determine when hydroplaning can occur. The coefficient of the road surface (road friction), vehicle speed, vehicle weight, amount of water on the road and condition of the tires. The best analogy I can use to make drivers aware of this danger is to state the following: If you were to put 4 brand new tires on your car and travel down the highway at 100 km/h in a heavy downpour, you would not have one tire touching the road, as even a new tire cannot channel away that amount of water. Your vehicle would be “water-skiing” on the highway. “But my vehicle will go off the road” you say! No it wouldn’t, at least not for the moment.

Have you ever watched a water-skier? They have a flat board, with no treads on a pure body of water (lake), several meters deep. The water-skier can manoeuvre left and right, do 360 degree turns in either direction, do front and back flips and some positions are done on one leg. So if they have this dexterity with a flat board and no treads on a body of water, what makes drivers think their vehicle can’t water ski? You can float on the road’s surface for many kilometres and do this on many occasions throughout your driving career until someday in that downpour your turn is a little sharper than you expected or something or someone appears unexpectedly in front of your vehicle. You will now lose control and have a collision because of side slippage or the inability to stop. Unfortunately when one travels fast in a heavy downpour one doesn’t realize their car is hydroplaning completely, totally off the road surface. This is the major cause of many collisions in wet weather and the ignorance of its dynamics cause us to push the envelope in pouring rain.

Fog – The only weather condition that makes one nearsighted. Think of it as made up of millions of tiny water droplets that mimic mirrors reflecting any light back to us and creating a white wall of emptiness. The danger of fog is not our inability to drive through it but our inability to see beyond it. Collisions in fog for the driver in a familiar area are running into an object (animal, pedestrian, vehicle), beyond their line of sight. Collisions in fog for the driver in an unfamiliar area are the inability to adjust to signs (speed, curves, intersections, etc.), which will give the driver the required information to maintain or adjust speed, to control the vehicle in an unexpected situation.

Wind – In some instances it can take periodic control away from you in a fraction of a second. The factors here are the size and shape of your vehicle and the velocity and angle of the wind. Buffeting effects of wind on a long drive, even with power steering, can be tiring and a moment of inattention can have you leaving the road or crossing the centre line. The change in velocity can occur when exiting a forested area into an open field, near bridges or on causeways or areas where wind funnels up a valley. We also must recognize the buffeting effect of larger vehicles passing in either direction.

Other hazards The result of inclement weather in winter are narrow streets that limit our manoeuvrability and clearance between oncoming and parked vehicles. Piled snow banks that cause our wheels to catch at their base and pull our vehicles out of control. Drifts that hide fixed objects, large and small. Loss of hearing with closed windows, high heater blower settings, turned up radios and CDs. Outside influences such as driving in a heavy snowfall, which hypnotizes and limits visibility, especially at night. Snow drifting at eye level from the side of the road that blows across the driver’s field of vision.

These are some of the adverse situations one can encounter when we speak of weather. The main solution, when the effects of weather are abnormal, is to SLOW DOWN and give yourself time to adjust to unusual situations.

Remember, the next time someone says “I lost control” or “I had a collision due to the weather” the one argument that flies in the face of that reasoning is “HOW DID ALL THE VEHICLES BEFORE YOU, AND AFTER YOU, MANAGE TO PASS THAT SAME AREA, AT THAT APPROXIMATE TIME, AND NEVER LOSE CONTROL???”

A TIP FROM THE PROS

Two tips, actually…for crime prevention.

  • Many provinces allow one to personalize license plates. Some are coded, known only to the owner, some are straight forward and of those some send the wrong message, such as the person’s name (Tom’s toy) or the gender (Mom’s taxi, Grandma’s coupe, etc.) or approximate age (My 1st Car or Retired). Unfortunately with the violence and crime today against anyone criminals may assume is vulnerable, one’s license plates can send a message to those who do not have the best of intentions. Don’t help a stranger evaluate who, in an isolated area or at night, may enter or approach that parked car, male or female.
  • Women (or anyone carrying some type of shoulder bag containing money), make a habit of snapping your seatbelt around your shoulder bag or purse straps so on hot days when the windows are partially or completely open it will be difficult for a would-be thief to reach in and snatch easy money at a red light or stop sign. (Make sure, of course, that there is not anything heavy/sharp in that bag, like a portable cd player, that might cause injury in a collision).

Look for my next topic, which will be posted on this website in about two months’ time: It will be the one collision in which you “don’t have a leg to stand on” to defend your actions.

Wayne Loftus