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Winter Driving and Safety Tips
How
to prepare for winter driving
Winter driving tips
Where to find current road
and weather conditions
What to do if you are stranded in a winter
storm
What Mn/DOT does to control snow and
ice
Avoid unnecessary
travel during winter storms. Always call 511 or log on to www.511mn.org to check road conditions before your trip.
- Get your
vehicle winterized.
- Have your
anti-freeze, battery, brakes, heater, exhaust system and lights
tested. Never travel with less than a half tank of gas.
- Equip you're
vehicle with: booster cables, road flares, a shovel, salt, extra
warm clothes, sleeping bag or blankets, hat, mittens, and boots,
windshield scraper and towrope.
- Always carry
a winter survival kit. Include flashlights, blankets, hand/foot
warmer packets, first aid supplies, high energy candy or snacks,
bright fabric to tie on the antenna for help if stranded, candles
to melt snow for drinking water, pencil, paper and cell phone
or change for phone calls.
- Notify others
of travel plans. Tell someone where you are going and the route.
Report a safe arrival.
- Slow down and stay behind the snowplows. Drivers should allow at least five car lengths between their vehicles and snowplows. The road behind the plow will be the safest place to drive.
- Be particularly aware of black ice conditions on surfaces such as bridge decks and entrance and exit ramps.
- Turn on headlights and turn off cruise control settings.
- Call 511
or visit www.511mn.org to get
current information on road conditions.
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 Stay
in your vehicle. Walking away in a storm is very dangerous. You
can lose your way, wander out of reach and/or become exhausted. Your vehicle
is your best shelter.
Keep fresh
air in your vehicle. It's better to be chilly and awake than
to be comfortably warm and be overcome with carbon monoxide fumes.
Keep your exhaust pipe free of snow and run your engine only for
short periods of time, leaving a downwind window slightly open.
Keep warm
without fuel. Keep your blood circulating freely. Loosen tight
clothing and change positions frequently. Move your arms and legs,
massage fingers and toes; tuck your hands between your legs or under
your armpits. Cuddle with each other to share heat. Elevate your
feet to improve circulation.
Call 911
if you have a cell phone. Describe your location, the condition
of those in the car and what happened. Stay on the line until you
know who you have spoken with and what will happen next.
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Mn/DOT snow fighters will climb into the snowplows to clear miles of state roadway this winter. The snow plow operators do not work alone. Maintenance supervisors will use technology to guide them with constant updates on weather, pavement and traffic conditions.
 Mn/DOT uses three techniques to inhibit ice formation and improve the roadway surface for plowing. They include:
- Anti-icing
- Anti-icing prevents the formation of frost and bonding between snow and ice and pavement.
- Anti-icing chemicals are primarily liquids applied before or early in a snowfall.
- Pre-wetting
- Pre-wetting adds brine or other commercial chemical solutions to the salt and sand mixture. This causes the mixture to stick to the road instead of blowing off to the shoulder.
- De-icing
- De-icing uses chemical or mechanical means to break the bond that has formed between ice and the pavement.
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24 hour Mn/DOT Road Information Dial 511 or Visit 511mn.org
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