Winter Driving in Duluth

Rear View

Rear View

  1. Snow Tires on all 4
  2. Don't Slip, Get a Grip
  3. See and Be Seen
  4. Really Freaking Cold!
  5. At Sub-Zero Temps
  6. Taxi Courtesy for New Year's Eve
  7. Getting Stuck - What to do before you call a Hooker
  8. Benign Design
  9. Winter Motorsports: An Oxymoron?
  10. More Winter Motorsports
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articles by Tim Winker.

Part 2

Don't Slip, Get a Grip

Another Winter season hit Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin with a vengeance over the past week. And it was a particularly bad combination for driving, especially away from the city; rain followed by snow. That means, of course, a layer of ice on the road surface with hard packed snow on top. And the first vehicle that I saw in the ditch? A Jeep Grand Cherokee. "I've got four-wheel drive… I can drive anywhere!" Yeah, right.

The plows do all they can to battle ice on the roads, but the only real solution is lots of ice melting chemicals to reveal the pavement surface. A few days of salting the roads, followed by a few more days of above freezing temperatures, and the highways are pretty much back to normal.

In the few small snowfalls we have had, I have witnessed plenty of poor driving habits, most of which could be resolved by following this week's winter driving tips.

One of Duluth's standrad hills.

Yield to Uphill Traffic

The hills of Duluth present a unique challenge to driving and must come with a few special considerations. An unwritten rule that courteous drivers take to heart is this: "Yield to uphill traffic." If you are traveling downhill on a side street and encounter oncoming traffic, try to give them room to continue the uphill struggle. The side streets with cars parked on one side usually leave only one lane for driving and one driver or the other will have to yield. This is simple physics, folks. Gravity is in favor of the vehicle traveling downhill. It is far easier to start from a stop when going downhill than it is going uphill. When roads are slippery, a driver struggling to travel uphill needs all the momentum they can get. If they have to stop, they may not be able to get moving forward again. Let the uphill driver continue his (her) momentum as long as possible.

Another tip for starting and stopping on the hills is to avoid the slippery tracks where everyone else has been starting and stopping. Instead, drive on the snow, as the tires can get better traction digging in the snow than they can on the ice. Which brings us to the next tip….

Don't come to a complete stop on slippery surfaces.

Locking up the brakes, even for a few inches, causes the snow under the tires to melt and create ice. Spinning the tires, even for a few inches, causes the snow under the tires to melt and create ice. I'm not suggesting the "California Stop" where you roll through a stop sign at 10 mph or more, but try to keep the tires rolling if possible.

Use a light touch on the steering and pedals.

The best advice anyone ever gave on winter driving is to drive like there are eggs under the pedals. A light touch on the accelerator and brakes will get you farther than mashing on the pedals. It allows the tires to get a grip on the surface, which is the ultimate goal, is it not? There are rare occasions where locking the brakes or spinning the tires are the only solution, but they are usually the final desperate options after all of the wiser attempts have failed. Spinning the tires causes the tires to wear out faster, and can cause permanent damage to the transmission and engine.

Anti-lock braking (ABS) and traction control systems (TCS) are common on today's vehicles, but like any other tools at the driver's disposal, their function and capabilities should be learned before they are needed in an accident situation. Under some conditions, ABS can actually be a hazard because braking distance may be increased. The best method of braking in a panic situation is to lean on the pedal to the point just before the brakes lock up or the ABS kicks in. The only way to know that point of impending lockup is to practice a few times, at low speeds on a vacant side street or an empty parking lot.

If your vehicle does not have ABS, then learn to pump the brakes, sort of like pounding a nail with a hammer. Locking the brakes causes the vehicle to go straight in the direction it has been traveling, like a tangent line from the arc you want to travel. If the tires are not rolling, the tire patch is like a puck on an air hockey table and momentum will carry the vehicle in a straight line until it either hits something or it runs out of momentum.

My friend Dick Ewart is a ranger at Yosemite National Park in California. They get a lot of tourists in those mountains, and they get a lot of snow. Often the tourists are in rental cars and have never driven on snow and ice. Ranger Dick tells the story of a family of Japanese tourists who ran their rented minivan off the road and into a shallow ditch. Dick was able to quickly get their vehicle back on the road with a tow strap attached to his truck, but the driver insisted that the steering on the minivan was broken and he would not be able to drive it. Dick realized that the driver had locked up the brakes on some snow and slid straight off the road. No amount of steering could override the locked brakes. Rather than try to explain what had really happened, Ranger Dick opened the hood, banged around with some wrenches and told the driver the steering was fixed. However, he would have to drive slower on slippery corners or it could happen again.

So get out there and learn the capabilities and limitations of your steed. If you are not confident in your own ability to drive in adverse winter conditions, or if your vehicle does not instill confidence, stay home or find another mode of transport. Don't be that "accident waiting to happen".

Tim Winker is a freelance automotive writer who lives west of Twig. He has competed in ice races and winter rallies since the 1970s, and in endurance rallies such as One Lap of America, the Alcan Rally and Targa Newfoundland.