A 3-minute lesson from the Wyoming course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Wyoming roads can turn slick, icy and treacherous fast when a winter storm hits. Move slowly, check the surface, and expect ice where you can't see it. Patience gets you through quicker than speed.
Know the rule
When traffic permits, test the surface: touch the brakes and see if your vehicle begins to slow down or swerve.
Invisible, treacherous ice. Road surfaces can change suddenly from wet to extremely icy, often on bridge decks, overpasses, high fills, deep cuts and near snow fences.
To start on snow and ice, accelerate slowly, steadily and carefully with the front wheels pointed straight ahead. Many drivers use second gear, or "drive" in an automatic.
Four-wheel-drive and front-wheel-drive vehicles usually have better traction, but can skid with sudden changes in power, such as quickly releasing the accelerator. High four-wheel-drive vehicles are more likely to tip over in a skid.
Increase your following distance: when the car ahead passes a landmark, count "one-thousand-one" through "one-thousand-four." If you reach the landmark first, you're following too closely.
A car ahead passes a mile marker on a snowy highway. You count "one-thousand-one" and reach the marker at "one-thousand-three." You're following too closely for these conditions. Ease off until you can count to four.
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
Black ice is easy to see, so you can spot it before you reach it.
True
False
Answer: False
Black ice is invisible and treacherous; watch for sudden changes from wet to extremely icy, especially on bridges and overpasses.
