At Byers Chiropractic and Massage: Car Accident Urgent Care, we help many people that suffer from car accident injuries. Our effective methods include spinal adjustments, dietary advice, massage therapy, and more. However, the best way to take care of yourself is to avoid getting into a car accident in the first place. We want our patients to be safe, and for them to live healthy, pain-free lives. During winter-time, it is very important that you know safety tips for driving in icy weather conditions so that you don’t get injured in a car accident. Here, we are going to go over some icy road driving tips.
The most important thing when it comes to driving on icy roads is that you should reduce your speed. If you are driving on ice or snow, you should remember to slow down your vehicle. When you are traveling at high speeds, it’s easier to lose control, and it takes longer to stop. If the roads are icy, you should never drive your vehicle above 45 miles per hour. This is true even if you are on a highway. In many situations, you need to drive much slower than that on icy roads. Even if you are traveling at 10 miles per hour or less, you could slide right off the road if there is black ice. If your vehicle is sliding or fishtailing, even a little, it means that you are driving too fast for the current weather conditions. You are not the protagonist of an action movie; you do not have the skills to drive safely on icy roads at normal or fast speeds.
A big factor behind a lot of fatal and serious car accident injuries is a driver being overconfident in their driving abilities, or overconfident in their car equipment (such as antilock brakes, winter tires, chains, traction control, and stability control). Some people insist that they have lots of experience with winter driving, and so they pretend like nothing is different, and they drive at normal speeds. Some people will purposefully drive faster and more recklessly on icy roads for the thrill of it. However, when a car fishtails on an icy road while it is traveling at highway speeds, not even the most experienced and quick-witted driver will be able to safely recover control of the vehicle.
Even if you practice with slides in parking lots at slow speeds, it’s next to useless for preparing someone for a vehicle slide at highway speeds. By the time somebody enters a high-speed slide and realizes that they can’t handle it, it’s often too late.
One of the simplest ways to avoid car accident injuries from icy roads is to just not drive on icy roads in the first place. If you can help it, it’s best to stay off of the roads under the dangerous conditions are gone. This could mean waiting a couple of hours until the ice melts. It’s better to be safe at home than in a wreck in the middle of the winter.
This driving safety tip is true in general, but you should always make sure that you are wearing your seatbelt. Although wearing your seatbelt is a smart thing to do at any time of the year, it’s even more crucial during the winter. A shockingly high number of car accident injuries and fatalities happen in minor accidents where the occupants of the vehicle did not have their seatbelts on.
Paying attention to what the weather currently is, and what it will be like while you are driving is important. It’s a great idea to have checking the weather forecast as a part of your daily morning routine. When you are aware of weather conditions, you can be better prepared for them. It’s also smart to know the warning signs that indicate a road is icing up while you are driving.
One thing that many people don’t really know to do while driving on icy roads is to go easy on the brakes. Applying your brakes can trigger a slide where you lose control of your vehicle. Antilock brakes (ABS) are not well-equipped for snowy and icy weather. Because of this, they can lock up your wheels anyway. When your wheels are sliding, input from the steering wheel will do little to change the vehicle’s direction.
If you are sliding or fishtailing on ice, in most situations it means that you are driving too fast. If you slow down, you probably will not have to worry about this happening. When it comes to slides at high speeds, they can be hard or impossible to correct. If you start sliding, turn your wheels in the same direction that the back of your car is going. However, it’s easy to overcorrect and steer too far, which will make the car slide in the opposite direction.
It’s a noble thing to want to help others, but if you stop for stranded vehicles and people in accidents on an icy road, you could end up making the situation worse. When someone is parked on the side of an icy road, it can make passing drivers hit the brakes and then lose control of their vehicle. This puts everybody involved in more danger than before. The best thing that you can do is reach out to the authorities. They will be properly equipped to help the person.
If you have been in a car accident, even if it was seemingly minor, you should reach out to Byers Chiropractic and Massage: Car Accident Urgent Care so that we can give you a health examination. Our expert chiropractors are highly experienced in helping relieve pain, stiffness, and other symptoms from injuries such as whiplash. Sometimes, people that were in car accidents were injured and don’t realize it until later. Shock and stress can mask symptoms. At Byers Chiropractic and Massage: Car Accident Urgent Care, we customize treatment plans to best fit the needs of each patient. Get in contact with us to get started on your road to recovery.
