Warming To Safe Winter Driving

Numerous stories of multi-car pileups are popping up lately, as Old Man Winter takes out his wrath on motorists.

But there are many techniques that will help when you're behind the wheel on snow-and-ice-covered roads.

Robert Sinclair of the American Automobile Association delivered advice on The Early Show.

For instance, asked co-anchor Julie Chen, what do you do if there's a huge patch of ice on a downhill road and you see cars piling up?

If you don't have antilock brakes, Sinclair points out, your wheels won't turn at all if you keep your foot firmly on the brakes. So you'll have no control. And you should go against your instincts: "In that case," he says, "you have to modulate your brakes. You have to come off your brakes, steer around the difficulty and apply the brakes in what we call a 'threshold manner,' where you step on the brakes until the wheels just begin to lock, and then come off. The wheels have to be turning so you can maintain steering control. That's the key.

"You should be using your toes. Your heel is on the floor and you're pressing on the brake with your toes, because you don't want to lift your foot up off the floor, because then you start using your calf muscle and thigh muscle and you overwhelm the brakes. The pressure from squeezing with your toes is enough. Not with a real, you know, serious pumping action, but a more gentle, threshold action.

"You have to feel what the wheels are doing. If they begin to lock, you come off slightly and maintain that pressure and then steer around the difficulty. Just stepping on the brakes and locking them up, you're not going to do anything for yourself."

Also, Sinclair notes, getting out of your vehicle "is a very bad thing to do. The vehicles have all sorts of safety systems: crumple zones, air bags, seat belts, seats with specially designed headrests. You have all of these systems to take care of you, and then you're going to abandon the vehicle and let flesh and bone take the crash? Steel and plastic do much better job. Vehicles can handle crashes up to very high speeds.

"If you're on a highway and people are doing 70 and 80 miles per hour and you can safely abandon the vehicle, you're by the shoulder of the road and you can get out of the vehicle, under those circumstances, get out, get well on the shoulder, and get ahead of the crash, so you can avoid any future people coming to join the party, so to speak.

"Generally, it's best to stay in the vehicle until the emergency people come. That way, the road will be blocked off and there won't be any more cars coming. If you're getting out, get off to the side of the road."

More tips: Buy snow tires. Even on sheer ice, they give you an edge. They have a special tread that bites into the snow and ice to give you an extra bit of traction.

Check your tire pressure frequently. That's very important. Ideally, do it once a week.

Always drive with lights on.

Wear seat belts.

One more word of wisdom: In any weather, avoid floodwaters "like the plague. Six inches of moving water can sweep a person off their feet. Twelve inches of moving water can take a vehicle away. So avoid any standing water at all, especially at night, because you don't know how deep it is and you can't tell if it's moving. It could be a river."

FOR ADDITIONAL WINTER DRIVING TIPS FROM AAA, CLICK HERE.