National Highways are urging motorists to check their tyres and plan their journeys before setting off this bank holiday.
Research commissioned by National Highways shows that only one in six drivers check their tyres before setting off on a long journey, meaning some could be taking to the road with a potentially serious vehicle defect. To underline the risks, separate figures show that a fifth of motorway breakdowns are caused by worn or incorrectly inflated tyres.
With dark mornings, icy roads, fog and sudden heavy snowfall, wintry weather throws plenty of challenges at motorists.
To help you stay safe on the road, ex-Thames Valley police officer Graham Jones gives a quick refresher on winter driving – sharing the skills and techniques you can use to prevent any incident when the worst of the weather hits.
Watch the video to discover why you should use a high gear, match your speed with your vision and brake in a straight line when the roads are icy or snow-covered.
RoSPA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) has a useful page on Winter driving.
Driving in the winter is very different than in other times of the year. Adverse weather and longer periods of darkness (especially after the clocks go back at the end of October) makes driving more hazardous. Sometimes conditions can be extreme, as we have found out over the last two winters in particular, with prolonged periods of heavy snow and floods.
This means that we need to adapt the way we drive.
Make sure you stay safe whilst you are driving in the snow with this advice from the AA:
If you don't want to change your current car, there are still ways you can drive greener:
Don't drive around with unnecessary weight in your car - the engine will have to work harder and use more fuel. Empty your car of anything that you don't need to carry around all the time. Remove roof boxes and roof racks when you're not using them - they cause extra aerodynamic drag, which will raise your fuel consumption. Open windows and sunroofs do the same; and for the same reason, get any loose items of external trim fixed.