Ice on the road: the reflexes to adopt according to the gendarmerie

With the drop in temperatures that we are witnessing, and the repeated yellow snow-ice warnings, the question of road safety arises very concretely. The Jura gendarmerie has therefore published a guide on Facebook for driving on slippery roads while limiting the risks as much as possible. The first, relatively all-encompassing piece of advice is to ride “gently and smoothly” in snowy or icy conditions.

Indeed, the presence of ice on a section of road greatly reduces the grip of the car’s tires on the ground. Braking distances are up to quadrupled! It is advisable to adapt your driving from the start of your journey on icy ground in order to avoid skidding. To do this, just follow a few relatively simple tips…

First, be sure to reduce your speed from what you would do in normal weather conditions. It is also important to drive “smoothly”, without jerks. Drivers should also significantly increase their safe distances from other vehicles.

The braking will be to anticipate, and to be carried out over a longer distance, therefore in a more progressive way. In order to optimize the vehicle’s grip on the ground, the gendarmerie recommends driving at overspeed and using the engine brake. Finally, restarts will also have to be more gradual.

If, despite everything, you find yourself in a situation where your vehicle is skidding, stay calm. There are reflexes to adopt to get out of it unscathed in this case. In the event of a skid, you will simply have to fix the point towards which you want to go, do not brake or accelerate and disengage, avoiding sudden steering movements at all costs. So you can hope to come out unscathed!