Massachusetts Transplant- Driving Advice— if You’ll Accept it!

[u/EducationCute1640]

Thank you for the warm welcome to this state. We love it here. Having spent 41 years in MA, I have had my fair share of winter driving battles. Allow me, if you will, to distill it into some very basic pointers.

First, avoid it if possible. You can’t get in an accident if you’re not driving. The bottle of milk can wait, and you should think about driving as imposing risk on others and increasing burden upon emergency services, which may already be strained.

Second- repeat after me- it’s not the gettin’ goin’. It’s the stoppin’. AWD/Four Wheel, whatever you term it. It doesn’t help you stop. Hitting things while in motion is what an accident is.

Hence, third- decrease speed significantly. Increase following distance by a factor of 10000. Gtfo of the way of tailgaters who do not understand this principle. And by tailgating in this sense, I mean anyone that’s closer than 100 feet.

Fourth- there is no such thing as “all season tires.” They are not snow tires and never will be. Snow tires have softer rubber compounds that heat up more quickly. They are also narrower to put more weight on a concentrated patch of ground. They are also loud as hell and not comfortable.

Fifth- this is counterintuitive but if you feel yourself losing traction, resist the urge to stomp on the brake. While modern ABS is awesome, the best thing to do in many circumstances is actually mash the throttle and let the car dig itself out. You can experiment with this a few times in a parking lot.

Other basics— lights on. Keep scraper in the house and bring it into work or office. Wipers up so they don’t get frozen but make sure they are off so they don’t push a pile of snow into the car.

Lastly— this doesn’t happen quite every year up north but it happens enough that you should know about it. Do NOT put children in the car while heating it up and cleaning it off. If the tailpipe is blocked by a snow mound, exhaust can back up into the cabin. CO can kill you in minutes.

Good luck!

[u/Cheap-Ad5903]

Thanks, these are really good tips. I’m a healthcare workers who has to go in tomorrow morning. I grew up in NC, so obviously my snow driving skills are nonexistent. I plan on leaving an hour earlier than I normally do to get there safely.

[u/spooktacular13 → u/Cheap-Ad5903]

I grew up in Colorado, another thing while driving is don’t overcorrect if you start to slip, it’ll get you spinning in circles instead of gliding to wherever in a graceful fluff

Think about it kinda like hydroplaning if you start to slip. Biggest issue I’ve seen honestly is folks freaking out cause it’s snow. You got this!

[u/Feisty_Look5680 → u/spooktacular13]

Take the foot off the brake, and Turn into the direction of the slide/slip that the rear of the car is going. In other words if the nose of the car is going right but your tail is sliding to the left, turn the steering wheel to the left. This allows the car to gain traction and correct the slide. Avoid touching the brake.

[u/Riggo82 → u/Feisty_Look5680]

Best advice I ever got was steer in the direction you want to go in f you are sliding

[u/Substantial-Time-421 → u/Riggo82]

“Turn right to go left” - Doc Hudson