OSHP offers tips, warnings about driving in winter weather

COLUMBUS – The Ohio State High­way Patrol is warn­ing dri­vers about the dan­gers of dri­ving in win­ter weather and is offer­ing some tips on what dri­vers should do in the event of a vehi­cle break down or a crash.

From Decem­ber 2011 through March 2012, 15,526 crashes occurred on snow, ice or slush cov­ered road­ways killing 27 peo­ple and injur­ing 4,529. Speed-related fac­tors were reported as a cause in 72 per­cent of these crashes. To view a break­down of win­ter crashes visit < http://www.statepatrol.ohio.gov/doc/Winter_Driving_Bulletin_2012.pdf >.

In the event of inclement weather, the Patrol is urg­ing motorists to allow extra time to get to their des­ti­na­tion, main­tain a safe dis­tance between their vehi­cle and the traf­fic ahead, pay close atten­tion to bridges and over­passes – as they are often the first to freeze over – and to drive slowly, as every­thing includ­ing accel­er­at­ing, turn­ing and brak­ing, take longer on snow-covered roadways.

“In case of a vehi­cle break­down, motorists should turn on their haz­ard warn­ing lights, safely posi­tion the vehi­cle as far off the road as pos­si­ble, call #677 for assis­tance and remain in the vehi­cle until help arrives,” explained Colonel John Born, Patrol superintendent.

Troop­ers fur­ther sug­gest that if you get stuck in snow; make sure that your tail pipe is free of all snow and debris, to decrease your chance of car­bon monox­ide poisoning.

All motorists are encour­aged to pre­pare their vehi­cle for win­ter dri­ving by ensur­ing that the bat­tery, cool­ing sys­tem, tires, wipers and defroster are all in work­ing order.

Dri­vers are also encour­aged to carry the fol­low­ing win­ter car kit items in their vehi­cle in case of a breakdown:

• Cell phone with car charger

• Road flares or reflectors

• Help or Call Police signs

• First aid kit

• Flash­light

• Blanket/Sleeping bag

• Small shovel

• Bot­tled water and energy foods

• Can­dles and matches

• Tow strap/chain

Up-to-the-minute road con­di­tions are always avail­able by log­ging onto the Ohio Depart­ment of Transportation’s web­site, < www.buckeyetraffic.org >.

Posted by Gary Henery on Jan 2 2013. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.