Winter Driving: Students Learn to Take Cautionary Measures During the Hazardous Season

“It all happened so fast…after a few seconds I fully realized what [had] happened and got really scared,” senior Lauren Visokay said of her recent car accident. “I felt very nervous and frantic.”

Over one million weather-related car accidents occur and kill over six thousand people annually, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation study. Driving cautiously in winter weather is necessary for teens to avoid joining this statistic.

The majority of these accidents occur on wet pavement (75 percent), specifically during rainfall (47 percent), while 15 percent happen during sleet or snow.

Visokay encountered the hazards of driving in snow as she drove home one day on a country road. Visokay “came up to a sharp curve in the road. I tried to brake for the curve, but the snow made my car slide and the brakes didn’t stop my car,” she said.

“I saw that if I didn’t do anything and my car kept sliding forward, I was going to hit the side of a bridge or possibly run right into a big frozen stream,” Visokay said. “My only other option was to try to turn my car so that I would hit a pole to stop my car, which is what I did.”

Visokay recognized her car was skidding in time to respond because of training she had previously received at an accident prevention class at the Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia.

“My older brother took the class, that’s how I knew about it,” she said. “It was an eight hour class that taught all sorts of things, like how to safely avoid hazards on the road and how to stop suddenly at highway speeds.”

An important aspect of the class was the chance to practice driving on a skid pad, which is a small round track covered with soapy water to create a slippery surface, according to Visokay.

“As you drove around the track, the instructor would control the gas and intentionally put the car into a skid, and then I would use the brakes and the steering wheel to correct the skid and keep driving safely,” Visokay said. “They taught me which way to spin the wheel to stop your car from getting too out of control when you’re skidding.”

Visokay credited the class with her ability to respond to the situation she encountered in the snow. “It taught me the right way to respond quickly when something starts going wrong. The skid pad training especially helped me in the snow, because I could tell right away that my car was skidding since I felt what skidding is like during the class,” she said.

Visokay said “being able to identify that my car was skidding is what helped me; if I hadn’t taken the class I might not have realized what was happening until it was too late to respond.”

“I took [the class] because my mom made [me]; I actually really didn’t want to take it,” Visokay said. “But now I’m glad I did!”

Junior Emily Kostanecki experienced a similar weather-related accident. “I was driving down a back road with about half an inch of snow on the ground,” she said. “When I was on a curve going only about 25 miles an hour I hit a patch of ice and lost control of the steering. The car swerved left across the road and hit a tree.”

After the accident, Kostanecki felt “really scared,” as she knew “cars driving by might also have the same thing happen and I was only just off the road. Also, I knew it would be hard for people to get to me to help, so I was glad I wasn’t injured.”

While taking an accident prevention class like the one Visokay attended is one way for teens to prepare for bad weather encounters on the roads, some general tips about staying cautious can make a difference in driving as well.

Senior Spencer Clem has witnessed the results of many weather-related accidents in his experience as a firefighter/EMT. “Every wreck I have been to where weather was a factor, the driver did not see the ice, slush, etc.,” he said.

“The key is to slow down,” Clem explained. “People drive way too fast for the road conditions…[and] are just way too caught up in what they have to do, where they have to be, and do not consider the effects that speed can have on their lives.”

Clem added that “good maintenance on your vehicle can be vital for winter driving” and advised drivers to make sure they keep their car in good condition.

In addition to these tips, another general piece of advice is to remain calm. Visokay’s class taught her “not to freak out in the moment you realize something is wrong. They emphasized that you have to stay calm and rational until you are safe again,” she said.

Additional suggestions for safe driving in bad weather include turning on headlights, ensuring headlights and windshields are clean, and taking extra precautions on less traveled roads, where the ice will freeze first, according to the Weather Channel. But ultimately, the best thing a teen driver can do is “stay home and avoid driving if possible when the weather is bad,” Visokay said.