The holiday season means beautiful snowfall, cozy days inside, and the chance to visit family. However, holiday travel can involve driving on icy or snowy roads. These environments pose several challenges, and you don’t want to face them unprepared. Here are a few do’s and don’ts for navigating slick winter roads so you can avoid emergency towing. 

Do:

Get your tires checked before winter.

Properly inflated tires with enough tread are critical for safely navigating winter roads. If you haven’t had your tires checked and rotated in a while, now is the best time to do so. Your mechanic can replace any tires that are too old, and you’ll be sure your car will handle well before the worst weather arrives.

Reduce your speed.

If you’re running late or feeling impatient, it’s easy to push your car faster than it should go. On snowy or icy roads, this can put you in danger. The faster you’re going, the harder it will be to recover control if your car starts sliding. To avoid an emergency call to your towing company, keep your speed slow and stay alert.

Don’t:

Panic if you lose control.

Even if your tires are brand new and you’re carefully watching your speed, you may lose control of your car at some point. When this happens, don’t panic. Your instinct will be to stomp on the brakes and turn against the skid, but this will only exacerbate the problem. Instead, steer into the skid and let the car slow naturally. You’ll maintain more control over the car and increase your chances of recovering it before you end up in a ditch.

Use cruise control.

Cruise control is a wonderful asset for long trips, but it shouldn’t be used if snow and ice are present on the road. Because this system is designed to maintain a specific speed, the wheels will spin more rapidly if your car starts to skid, making it harder for you to control the vehicle. Wait until warmer weather returns to use this feature.

Even if you follow these steps, you might end up skidding into a ditch and getting stuck. If that happens, don’t panic; give the experts at Garrett's Towing & Recovery LLC a call. Since 1969, they’ve offered 24-hour emergency roadside assistance throughout Thomasville, NC and the Triad. They also provide fuel delivery, battery jumps, and tire changes. Keep the number (336) 476-3153 handy for emergency service, and visit their website to learn more about this towing company.