The winter season is officially upon us and this means — much to the delight of many children — that our neighborhoods will be filled with snow. However, even though we all love to see our neighborhoods transformed into a winter wonderland, when it comes to driving in snow, it can be very dangerous.

Here are a few tips that drivers can use to stay safe when driving in snowy conditions:

• Change your speeds slowly. Apply your brakes carefully, and decelerate carefully. This will ensure that your tires have as much traction as possible on potentially slippery and icy streets.
• Drive slow. When you drive slower, you can come to a stop faster and you’ll have more time to react to potential accident situation.
• Give as much space as possible. Normally, drivers should provide three to four seconds of safe distance between themselves and other drivers. In snowy conditions, this should be increased up to eight to 10 seconds.
• Understand how your brakes work. If you have antilock brakes, then you should simply step down on your brake with steady pressure when you want to come to a stop. If you don’t have antilock brakes, you may need to pulsate your brakes. Test them out in an empty parking lot by picking up speed and slamming on the brakes to make sure yours work.
• Don’t drive quickly up hills: Hills can be the slipperiest of all situations during snow. Get some inertia behind you before you start to climb, but when you start to climb the hill, don’t press down too quickly on the acceleration pedal.

These driving tips should help you to stay safe on the road. If you get into a serious accident and suffer injuries during snowy conditions — because another driver was unlawful or negligent — you might be able to file a lawsuit to recover financial compensation relating to your injuries.

Source: AAA, “Winter Driving Tips,” accessed Dec. 20, 2017