On eve of winter, experts offer tips on safe driving

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - Local weather experts are predicting that a storm system arriving this weekend will yield the season's first snow accumulation and will kick off another hectic winter for motorists navigating Valley roadways.

The ability to drive safely during the winter months is part practice and part preparation. Anyone who has lived through a Massachusetts winter knows that driving safety goes well beyond braking early and slowing down.

Mary Ellen Paciorek, owner of Pioneer Valley Driving School, said the best lesson is experience.

"If weather permits, we do what we call skid school on a back road, where we let the younger drivers slide around and pump their brakes," Paciorek said. "If they get a chance to experience what sliding is like beforehand, they are much less likely to panic when it happens in a real situation."

She also instructs students never to drive faster than weather conditions allow; always drive slower than normal on a slippery surface; be aware of the temperature and of areas like bridges and underpasses where roads freeze earlier than on typical roadways; and make a point of testing their brakes every season before they go out on the road.

As for other helpful tips, local experts said it is often what drivers do before they hit the road that can be the difference between making it home and ending up in a seasonal fender-bender.

As with hiking, having the proper footgear is essential to safe driving and a car's ability to stop, turn and maintain traction during icy conditions.

William Groot, manager of Town Fair Tire on King Street in Northampton where employees are working through the busy snow tire change-over season, said the "penny trick" is a quick and easy way to check the tread on your tires. Groot said motorists are told to insert a penny into their tire treads and if they can still see Abe's head, its time to get them replaced.

"You always want to make sure that you have safe, legal treads before venturing out in the winter months," said Groot. "People should just use common sense. If you're saying 'Wow, I was sliding in those wet leaves the other day or I wasn't braking like I used to,' you probably need to get them replaced."

Groot said and said there is "no magic product" when it comes to gripping the road.

Modern snow tires, he said, come in two main varieties, the more common studdable snow tires and silica-based rubber compounds that remain flexible when the temperature drops.

Groot said the biggest misconception he hears from his customers is the notion that if they have front-wheel drive, they should have their best tires on the front of their car.

"If you have front-wheel drive and you put the best tires in the front, it can cause the car to oversteer and can result in sliding or fishtailing," Groot said. "It is recommended that they put the best tires in the rear because it helps control the car when you go around corners. It is always more dangerous to oversteer than understeer because if you are going to slide with the snow tires in the back at least you are going to slide straight."

In addition to getting cars tuned up for the winter by checking brakes, fluids, lights and wipers, the state's Department of Transportation recommends motorists always use their headlights, leave extra space between them and the cars ahead, and to be sure to brush all snow and ice off of the vehicle before driving.

Another MassDOT recommendation is to put a driving safety kit on the trunk, complete with jumper cables, cat litter or sand for additional tire traction, a shovel, an ice scraper, warm clothes, including extra gloves, a hat, sturdy boots, a warm jacket and even a complete change of clothes, blankets to keep warm inside the vehicle if trapped, flashlights and extra batteries, a first aid kit, food items containing protein such as nuts and energy bars, and road flares.

And Paciorek, the driving teacher, has one more word to the wise.

"My last bit of advice is always if the weather is bad and it's not an emergency, they should just stay at home," Paciorek said.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.