Winter driving — Colorado Permit Test

Vehicles with 4-wheel drive have increased traction but cannot stop any sooner than a conventional car.

Four driven wheels help you get going, and stopping uses the brakes on all four wheels either way. Drivers of these vehicles routinely forget it.

Vehicles with 4-wheel drive have increased traction, but they cannot stop any sooner than a conventional car

In winter, chains, snow tires or alternative traction devices are preferable and may be required on highways, though even chains and snow tires will slip on slick pavement.

They are a large improvement and not a cure. A driver who fits them and then drives as though the road were dry has spent the benefit.

(However, remember that even chains and snow tires will slip on slick pavement)

Make sure your brakes are in good condition and properly adjusted so the braking power of each wheel is uniform.

Uneven braking turns the car while it stops, and on ice that is the start of a spin. The handbook asks for the adjustment, not for the explanation.

Make sure your brakes are in good condition and properly adjusted so that the braking power of each wheel is uniform

With anti-lock brakes, if you begin to skid let up on the accelerator and push on the brake, then turn the front wheels in the direction you want the car to go.

The system is built to be pushed hard and held. Pumping it, which is right without ABS, stops it working.

If you have anti-lock brakes: If you begin to skid, let up on the accelerator and push on the brake, then turn the front wheels in the direction you want the car to go

Without anti-lock brakes, use threshold braking in slippery conditions by applying brake pressure to a point just short of locking up the brakes.

A locked wheel slides and cannot steer. Just short of locking is where the tire is still turning and still doing something useful.

Apply brake pressure to a point just short of locking up the brakes

Threshold braking can be used on a vehicle with anti-lock brakes, but anti-lock braking techniques cannot be used on a vehicle without an anti-lock brake system.

The technique that works everywhere is the safer habit to learn. The one that needs the equipment fails badly in a car that has none.

You can use threshold braking on a vehicle with anti-lock brakes, but you cannot use anti-lock braking techniques on a vehicle without an anti-lock brake system (ABS)

Use a good window scraper to remove all ice, snow and frost even if you are only traveling a short distance, and keep the defrosters and wipers working.

A porthole scraped in the frost leaves you blind to everything at the sides. Short trips are where most people take the risk.

Use a good window scraper to remove all ice, snow and frost even if you are just traveling a short distance

Fogging or condensation on the inside of the windshield can quickly be removed by opening a window.

Fog forms because the air inside is warmer and wetter than the glass. Letting in cold dry air fixes it faster than the blower alone.

Fogging or condensation on the inside of the windshield can quickly be removed by opening a window

Snow plows and sanding trucks use flashing yellow and blue lights as a warning to use extreme caution when approaching or passing them.

Those two colors together mean a working vehicle rather than a stopped one, and it may change speed or direction at any moment.

They use flashing yellow and blue lights as a warning for you to use extreme caution when approaching or passing them

Maintain an extra large space between you and the vehicle ahead in conditions that affect stopping distance such as snow and ice.

Space is the only thing that works whatever the road is doing. It costs nothing and it is the first thing drivers give up in traffic.

Maintain an extra large space between you and the vehicle ahead, especially when driving in conditions that affect stopping distance such as snow and ice and don’t forget to slow down

Give pedestrians and bicyclists extra space in winter because they might need to maneuver around snow or ice on sidewalks or in the roadway.

When the sidewalk is under a snow bank, people walk in the road. They have nowhere else to be.

Give pedestrians and bicyclists extra space because they might need to maneuver around snow or ice on sidewalks or in the roadway

What can a 4-wheel drive vehicle not do better than a normal car?

Stop in a shorter distance. Four driven wheels help you get going, and stopping uses the brakes on all four wheels either way. Drivers of these vehicles routinely forget it. Colorado Driver Handbook, p.17: “Vehicles with 4-wheel drive have increased traction, but they cannot stop any sooner than a conventional car”