Winter Driving Tips

We hope you and yours are safe and sound this winter. However, if you are seeking an accident lawyer in Kansas City, you can turn to the staff of Woods Law KC. Our firm is known for having a premier personal injury lawyer in Kansas City MO, and we also serve clients on the other side of the state line.

To encourage your friends and family to drive carefully throughout the holidays and winter, consider sharing these winter driving tips on your social media page.

Driving Tips for Cold-Weather Climates

According to AAA, safe driving begins before you leave your home. Here are some pre-driving and driving tips to help keep you safe over the winter.

1. Make sure your tires have plenty of tread and are properly inflated.

If your car was manufactured before 2008, your vehicle might not have a tire-pressure monitoring system. Unfortunately, this means you need to be especially vigilant with your tires.

2. Keep a bundle of cold-weather gear in your vehicle.

Keep things such as blankets, warm clothing, a flashlight, an ice scraper, etc., in your vehicle – especially if you will be driving through rural areas of Missouri and Kansas.

3. Fuel up often.

Being stuck on the side of the road is stressful enough, but being stuck on the side of the road and running out of fuel can be a dangerous situation during freezing weather. So keep at least half a tank of fuel in your vehicle at all times.

4. Turn off your cruise control.

Turn off your cruise control if you are driving in icy or snowy conditions.

5. Slow down.

So many winter accidents could be prevented if people simply slowed down on both highways and side streets. Also, don’t accelerate or brake quickly.

6. Understand your brake system.

People who learned to drive on older cars may have been instructed to pump their brakes during a skid on ice. However, this is not the right advice for vehicles with ABS (anti-lock braking systems). Instead, keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply steady pressure on the brake pedal.

7. Be aware of the weather.

If you haven’t lived in the Midwest all your life, you may not understand how quickly our weather can change. So pay attention to the weather reports and temperature before you leave your home in the winter.

An early morning trip to get donuts in the morning may turn disastrous if you aren’t aware of black ice that sometimes plagues our overpasses and exit ramps. Of course, being caught out in a snow shower may also affect your ability to get home safely.

8. Stay home.

One of the best things about living in the Midwest is that you can always use the weather as an excuse to stay home.

Seek Help From a Kansas City Auto Accident Lawyer if You Were the Victim of an Accident

If you or a loved one was hurt due to a winter-related car crash in Kansas City, reach out to Woods Law KC. Don’t wait to contact us. After all, we want to interview witnesses when they remember the details of the accident.

Call Woods Law KC at (816) 398-7877 or chat with a staff representative when visiting their website.