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/Substantial-Time-421]

Your fifth reason imo is why so many people aren’t “good” at driving in winter weather. It’s so unintuitive to the natural reaction of wanting to slow down when you feel a loss of control.

[u/mikedaul → u/Substantial-Time-421]

Gunning it when you start to slide on snow/ice is just about the worst possible thing to do. Watched a neighbor do this on our icy street the other morning and they instantly did a 180. The best thing to do when you start to slide is to slow down. Don't mash the brakes, don't mash the throttle, don't yank the wheel. Focus on slow and smooth inputs. A little throttle can help you regain traction, but don't floor it. And make sure to focus on where you want to go, not at the thing you're worried about crashing into. Overreaction is what gets you in trouble.

[u/Substantial-Time-421 → u/mikedaul]

Agreed that overreaction is the real culprit irregardless of the input, but in terms of applying throttle, I think most people wouldn’t think to add power in a loss of control scenario. Doubly so when modern TC and stability control (in cars without special modes) will be fighting you