Here in the UK, freezing conditions are encountered on occasions resulting in ice and snow on our roads that make it more dangerous to drive. An interesting survey has recently been produced on behalf of Direct Line that, amongst other things arranges car insurance, and Brake that is a road safety charity.
In wintry conditions you should drive with extra care as it takes longer to stop your car.
Some of the highlights from the survey found that 66% of motorists felt that other drivers did not leave a sufficient gap between their vehicle and the one in front to be able to come to a halt safely if the vehicle in front were to brake. Another interesting thing found in the survey was that 71% of motorists taking part in the survey have a poor idea of how long it takes a vehicle to stop in wintry driving conditions. It was also found that 54% of those taking part in the survey felt that, in adverse weather, other motorists drive too quickly.
For instance, 11% of motorists were of the opinion that it would take them twice as long to stop their vehicle when there is ice on the road. There were 33% of drivers who believed it would take four times as long to stop in such conditions. There were 27% of motorists who believed it would take five times the normal distance to stop their vehicle. There were 23% of motorists who felt it would take up to ten times as long to come to a halt in icy conditions. There were 6% of drivers who felt it could take up to twenty times as long to stop their vehicle in wintry conditions.
You may be interested to know that, if you are travelling at 30mph on an icy road and need to brake suddenly, it could actually take you ten times longer than normal to come to a halt. So, whereas in normal road conditions i.e. when the road is dry, it could take 23 metres to stop your car when driving at 30mph, in icy conditions it may take you up to 230 metres to come to a halt. If you are driving faster than 30mph then it will take you an even greater distance to stop.
The survey is rather timely as we have some wintry weather forecast in the UK in the next few days. Do adjust your driving in such conditions. After all, you would not wish to be involved in a road traffic accident that, amongst other potential consequences, may lead to you having to make a claim on your car insurance policy that may result in your car insurance premium increasing.
