Driving in snow - does anyone have this problem?
Question:
I drive a 2006 ford crown victoria police interceptor. My car came from Texas and it has all-season tires. I am in NY. Well, when i drive in the snow, it's manageable if you take your time and travel slow. When I come to a complete stop at a stop sign and try to get going again it feels like the car wants to fishtail. Even when I’m sitting at a red light, the moment it turns green and I take my foot of the break and lightly press on the gas it feels like it wants to fishtail (sometimes the car goes ZiGzAG for a few seconds till I get it under control). I’m wondering if this is a result of the all-season tires. Today was just snow & slush. Does anyone have this problem sometimes? What do you do? Do you think it is because I don’t have snow tires?
Also, about a block down the road from where I live is a road that is just a little unbalanced, it’s just a slight hill at the stop sign. Anyway, when I approach this stop sign, I will slow down but I won’t actually stop…I will drive straight through as long as I’m confident there are no cars coming. I drove through it like that a few times this winter just because when I made a complete stop there before and took my foot of the brake, obviously the car is not going to move since I’m on a hill so I had to tap the gas just a little, and the moment I pressed the gas, it forced me to make a left hand turn. Fortunately, I was the only car on that road at the time. it’s a small street, not too many cars are there all at once so it’s not heavy traffic. I want to get an opinion about what you think when I slow down but I drive through the stop sign without stopping. I pass the stop sign at about 12 mph. Given the conditions of the road, do you think I’m okay doing that as long as I’m sure I can do it safely and I know no cars are coming?
I hate driving in the winter. Do any of you have these sort of issues with the snow?
My car also has rear wheel drive…many cars have front wheel drive. I wonder if that is part of the problem. What do u think?
Answer:
I live in NY and do not have snow tires, and I do fine. I drive slow on the local streets and highways, keep my distance from cars-extra space more than usual. If you slide while approaching stop signs or signals, consider slowing down sooner than you normally, do not brake hard, keep your steering wheel straight. Also make sure there is no soap on your tires from a recent car wash.
Most accidents at stop signs occur because one driver did not see the other while crossing the intersection. So you may have gotten by all this time accident free, please stop. The other reason is brake failure or drunk driving, which is not you.
Do not drive up or down hills. I was an eyewitness to an accident involving a minivan trying to turn on a hill and ended up flipping over after hitting the sidewalk and landing on a parked car. This is after seeing lots of cars sliding down that hill prior. Avoid hill completely if your car slides even on flat land, it will do worse on hills.
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