Hi everybody!
I’m Alex Ostanin, HUDWAY CTO & Co-Founder. I’m in charge of hardware development which involves numerous rounds of testing in real environment. I’m an engineer who loves driving. A few years before Ivan & I launched HUDWAY, I had been mad about rally racing. This is where I learnt quite a few life-saving tricks and techniques.
I did a lot of extreme driving and frequently practised offroad, in challenging weather conditions. Forgive me the pun but it was extensive off-season practice that seasoned me most. I hope that my experience and advice will help you feel more comfortable and confident in the everchanging winter-to-spring environment.
1. Forget the hand brake
When the weather is changing, it often happens that you park the car for the night and put it on the handbrake — just to find that because of the night frost the rear pads got locked and it won’t let you drive. I’d put myself in such a situation quite a number of times, and that wasn’t an inspiring discovery given the fact that I was typically in a hurry and Uber was not an option (yep, I learnt this trick long before Uber was founded).
Mind the weather.
2. When waiting to turn, keep the wheels of the vehicle straight.
When waiting to turn in a lane with heavy traffic, some drivers would in advance turn the wheels in the direction they plan to turn. The danger is that any vehicle ramming into yours from behind will get you thrown into the oncoming lane.
Therefore, if you are waiting to turn but are still waiting to move — keep the wheels straight forward. Only turn them when you starting to ride.
3. Test and get used to braking.
You may have noticed that with the onset of cold weather, the car accelerates slower than usual. Mind you, braking gets slower, too. At the transit from fall to winter and from winter to spring, when the weather changes fast — the roads becomes more dangerous and less predictable.
After you change summer tires to winter and back, check how the car slows down on the new tires — it will brake differently.
Novice drivers have little experience to take such nuance into account, and risk bumping into the vehicle ahead at the traffic lights when braking suddenly takes longer than they planned.
When you press the pedal, but realise that the car doesn’t slow down and continues to move — first of all, force yourself to remove your foot from the brake for a while. This is necessary for the car to steer and avoid the collision. Then, when you have adjusted the direction of the car, press the brake again.
4. Overtake correctly
Young drivers often incorrectly underestimate the snow accumulating between the lanes. When overtaking, they first accelerate and then release the gas, expecting to break through the snow rolling. Instead, the car may overturn. The same is true when getting back in the lane after overtaking — relerasing the gas may result in overturning.
When you start overtaking, always keep your foot on the gas pedal, even after you’ve overtaken the car, and already entered your lane. Try to do this smoothly and at right angle.
5. Keep an eye on the rearview mirror while waiting at the traffic lights
This is how you may notice if someone is about to bump into you. In such situation, loosen the brake. This way, you’ll minimize the impact of the blow.
6. Gaining control at a sharp turn
When entering a sharp turn you understand that the car is not slowing down, try releasing the brake and turning. If it won’t turn, keep the steering wheel straight — this may send the car front diving into the ditch, but at least it won’t turn over.
On the contrary, when you keep braking with the wheels turned the car may turn over and capsize at the very edge of the turn.
That’s pretty it for today. I welcome your questions and comments.
Thank you for reading — and drive safely!
