Surviving the Winter Roads

Winter is fully underway and the weather’s not going to let up anytime soon. As someone who has lived in Montana for nearly twenty years, I think I am able to give some advice about

making it around town during the depths of winter. You really have to take time to decide whether or not you absolutely have to go somewhere — and if you must drive to get there. I often find myself staying home during the winter to just avoid the ice-covered roads all together.

That is one of the main pieces of advice I would give people who are not familiar with the harsh winters we can experience in Bozeman. If you absolutely have to go somewhere, here are my tips for making it to your destination safely:

One of the main things to remember is to accelerate and decelerate slowly! This is going to help prevent your car's tires from spinning out from lack of traction on the road and will help you not slide into the back of the car in front of you.

Something I was told when I first started driving was to pretend like you have a full glass of water sitting on your dashboard and your mission is to not spill a single drop of it. That is one of the best pieces of driving advice that I have ever gotten. Another great piece of advice is to give yourself ten more minutes to get places than you do in the summer, and to make sure that the following distance between you and the car in front of you is extended by around five seconds.

I drove a manual transmission in high school and I will say that it prepared me quite well for driving in the winter. Stick shift cars have a hard time stopping on hills so you often have to get to the top of the hill before stopping. This is something that you should follow during the winter, even in cars with automatic transmissions.

Make sure to layer up when driving long distances as well, just in case the worst-case scenario happens. The best thing to remember when driving in the winter is to think of your car having a bubble around it that cannot get too close to other car’s bubbles. Stay safe out on the roads and make sure to always be prepared!