From BZ/dpa
Anticipatory driving is particularly important in winter. When ice and snow demand even more feeling from drivers, adjustments are the order of the day.
Winter wonderland or winter hell? This can be close together in ice and snow on the road. Anticipatory driving is now even more important than usual.
According to the GTÜ, the following questions are now even more important:
* Where could pedestrians or cyclists suddenly appear unexpectedly?
* Does the speed match the next corner?
* Could there be wet leaves or even black ice in the shady parts of a forest passage at temperatures around freezing point?
The following applies to curves: Take your foot off the gas in good time beforehand and drive through them at an appropriate speed. If possible, neither accelerate nor brake, but keep the pace. Don’t steer abruptly, but with feeling.
The curve suddenly becomes very, very tight – what to do?
There is no simple answer to what you can do if the car begins to skid in a corner. “I have to practice that with my car,” says Vincenzo Lucà from Tüv Süd. It depends, among other things, on the type of drive.
Usually slide Front wheel drive cars over the front wheels towards the outside of the corner – they understeer. In general, you can slow down and get the car back on course.
has the car an anti-lock braking system (ABS) can also be braked slightly, according to the GTÜ. The wheels remain steerable when braking.
A Rear wheel drive car oversteered, its tail tends to break out. Disengaging the clutch can shift the weight to the drive axle so that it regains traction. Countersteering can also bring a car back on course.
This needs to be practiced, for example in safety training. This also applies to the possibility of stabilizing the car with targeted gas bursts, which should be left to experts, according to the GTÜ.
Electronic helpers on board? Fine, but they are not a panacea
Four-wheel drive cars have advantages when starting off and greater stability when cornering. Because they distribute the driving forces more evenly to the wheels. When braking, they offer no advantage.
It’s good to have a modern car not only with ABS but also with the ESP stability program in such situations. This can stabilize unstable cars again by braking individual wheels, which can prevent skidding.
As helpful as these systems are, they cannot override the laws of physics either.
Practice, practice, practice
If you don’t have much driving experience on snow, you might look for an open spot to practice where the weather is right, where you don’t endanger anyone. “I should try out how the car reacts to snow,” says Lucà. “How does it feel when the ABS kicks in as soon as you tap the brake pedal?”
According to the experts, however, special winter driving training courses with your own car are best suited. According to GTÜ, you can then better deal with surprises in real traffic afterwards.