Driving in Snow: What Parents Should Teach New Young Drivers

Parents with new teen drivers in colder climates should not overlook ensuring their teens learn

safe driving habits for adverse road conditions from snow and ice. Young drivers can learn about

the common hazards, safe driving guidelines, and what to expect on icy and snowy roads by

completing a defensive driving course from a traffic school. The purpose of first-time driver

courses is to prepare new drivers by educating them about safe driving techniques, helping them

to identify common distractions, and focusing their efforts on becoming better drivers, reducing

their chances of being involved in an accident.

Many new drivers think they are invincible, thanks to the modern technologies found in today’s

automobiles. Features like AWD, 4WD, antilock brakes, and traction control give a false sense

of security to young drivers. They believe these features will help keep them safe and allow them

to still operate the vehicle at normal speeds, even in adverse road conditions. However, this is

not the case, and young drivers need to be reminded of this every year before the start of winter.

It never hurts to enroll your young driver in a refresher first-time driver course to help strengthen

their safe driving habits and remind them of wintertime road hazards.

Three of the more common mistakes made by new and young drivers on wintry roads are:

1. Not Keeping Safe Following Distances: During icy and snowy road conditions it is

important to triple or even quadruple safe following distances. This allows young drivers

ample time to be prepared in case traffic suddenly stops or the driver in front of them

starts to lose control of their vehicle.

2. Improper Braking: Most new drivers tend to slam on the brakes and attempt to stop the

vehicle in the shortest distances possible. When roads are snowy and icy, it takes much

longer to safely slow and stop the vehicle. Instead, brakes should be tapped gently, or

pumped, to slow and stop the vehicle.

3. Driving Too Fast for Conditions: Icy and snowy road conditions affect traction control

between the tires and the road surface, and cause drivers to lose control of their vehicles

from attempting to drive at normal speeds. Teens are often misled by posted speed limits

and do not realize it is perfectly acceptable to drive well below the posted limit during

adverse road conditions.

In order to develop better driving habits for wintertime driving, parents of a new driver need to

plan ahead and ensure their teen is ready for the first snow fall. By following these tips, you can

help your young driver be ready:

Enroll in traffic school online and complete a defensive driving course focusing on winter

driving. A traffic school can help improve young drivers’ safe driving habits and

reinforce previously learned ones with a refresher course.

Practice driving and braking in a large, empty, and open parking lot with your teen.

Before allowing your young driver on the open roads, let them put their learning into

actual practice in safe locations after the first snow fall. If you are not entirely confident

in your teen’s abilities, do not allow them to drive when it snows on the open roads until

they have had more time develop their skills.

Prepare your teen’s vehicle for winter. Make sure to stock blankets, snow shovel, kitty

litter, food, water, first aid kit, and road flares in your teen’s trunk. In the event they get

stuck in the snow, or are in an accident, they will be able to keep warm until help arrives.

In addition, take your teen’s car to your local service shop for pre-winter maintenance

and to have winter tires put on the vehicle.