Winter Road Trip Tips
When you choose Rite Price Rentals, you’ll be able to book the perfect car rental/ car hire for your trip. We have plenty of options to suit you and your family or friends.
With our chilly winter well and truly here, we thought we’d offer our top tips for driving in these chilly, icy or snowy conditions.
Our biggest tip, for the safety of yourself and other road users, is, always drive to the conditions and if you’re not sure how safe it is, then the best thing to do is avoid driving until the weather settles. However, sometimes it’s simply not possible, so here are our top tips for driving in wild winter weather.
Leave plenty of time
If the roads have the potential to be icy and slippery and Just because you may feel safe to continue at normal speeds, you should adjust your speed and drive to the conditions. Always be aware that other drivers will also likely adjust their speeds to a level they feel more secure at. Always leave with an extra 30-60 minutes if the weather is playing up. You never know what could slow you down. Lastly, always make sure there is enough distance between you and the car ahead. They could stop at any minute and with bad driving conditions, this could result in an awful accident. Your stopping distance can be over 10 times greater when driving in snow, so no tailgating! Keep your headlights on low beam, this will not only help oncoming traffic see you but also vehicles behind you. Remember if you cannot see more than 100m ahead, use your fog lights!! It pays to be aware and always “drive to arrive”.
Clear your vehicle
If your driving somewhere that it’s snowing and you find your vehicle is covered in snow, make sure you clear it before setting off. Snow on your windscreen will easily block your vision and snow on your roof could fall off at speed and collide with another road user or pedestrian, which could result in an accident and serious injury. Another thing to note is to make sure your lights aren’t obstructed, you’ll need them for those darker days, nights and evenings.
Pack supplies!
It always pays to be prepared when you head off on a road trip. We recommend you have plenty of charge on your mobile phone because should you get stuck, you may need to call someone for assistance. The great thing these days is, most cars will have a USB port so you can charge your phone while on the road (but, no texting or calling while driving!) Consider these extra supplies to take in your vehicle should you become stranded:
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De-icer and scraper
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Blanket to keep warm
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Jump leads
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First aid kit
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Hi-vis clothing
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Torches
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USB cable to charge your phones
Losing traction
Should you be unfortunate enough to lose traction and start to skid, the biggest tip is to not panic. Going straight for the brakes in a slide is likely to make things a lot worse. Steering into the skid and removing your foot from the accelerator is best. So, if the rear of your vehicle starts to slide to the left, steer left and stop accelerating, you should come to a controlled stop.
At Rite Price Rentals, we love a good road trip, so we hope these winter road trip tips will helpt to keep you safe and prepared while on the road!
Explore New Zealand with Rite Price Rentals! Rent a car from Rotorua, Hamilton or Tauranga and explore everything that New Zealand has to offer. We have car or van hire options depending on the size of your family or group. Rite Price Rentals is New Zealand’s trusted car rental company.
