During the winter, it can be very cold and treacherous outside. So be PREPARED and stock up on food and bottled water in case the power goes out for any reason.

For your vehicle and safety

1. Traction: Make sure to rotate your tires so the best traction is on your drive tires. Also, have a set of chains if your tires are not in the best shape. But be sure to only chain your wheels if you’re stuck or traveling on treacherous roadways. Check guides and manuals for maximum speed with chained wheels.

2. Traction Control: Traction control is a misnomer. It’s a feature in all modern vehicles today. It helps with braking. It also prevents loss of traction. This stops the vehicle from sliding even if your foot is on the brake or accelerator. However, traction control does not help you get up a slippery hill.

The system will spin the wheel with the least amount of traction. You will remain stationary and spin out. If you have a traction control button in your vehicle, turn it OFF. This action will engage both wheels to spin in uniform. It will double your traction.

You’re looking for a button to disengage the traction control. It will be in one of the 3 locations.

1. In the center console under or above the entertainment system
2. Under the steering wheel next to your left knee
3. In the vehicle settings on the instrument cluster, (which is the dumbest place to but it in my opinion)

If you do not see any of these options, your vehicle does not have traction control. This is a good thing.

3. Visibility: Have an ice scraper on hand. Cover your vehicle with plastic or a snow protector. This way, you don’t have ice on your vehicle the next day.

4. Warming Up Your Vehicle: Start your vehicle well in advance before leaving (at least 10 minutes). When temperatures drop, oil thickens and does not move very quickly. Think of your oil being the consistency of molasses when it’s 20 degrees or less.

You load your engine when you start your vehicle and just put it in gear. This action causes high friction on your cylinders and engine block with almost no oil. The oil is too thick. As a result, the cylinder arms on the crankshaft cannot bring enough oil into the cylinder housing. This situation prevents proper lubrication of the block and cylinders. Therefore, your engine needs time to warm up the oil to provide proper lubrication before taking off.

In summary: Take care of your cold vehicles. Just as you wouldn’t want to wake up in a 20-degree room, and immediately start running outside. Your vehicle needs time to warm up too.

Be careful out there on the roads. There’s ice and snow everywhere. The roads are slicker than snot. Keep more than enough space between you and vehicles in front of you. Drive at least 5 miles an hour under the posted speed limit.