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Driving Dilemmas: Preparing your vehicle and your mindset for winter
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Tom Schadl, manager of Flynn’s Tire & Auto Servicein Youngstown, is pushing the snow tires this year for winter driving.
By Kristine Gill
YOUNGSTOWN
Flynn’s Tire & Auto Service store manager Tom Schadl has two words for anyone looking to winterize their car this season: snow tires.
“A lot of people think snow tires are a thing of the past, but we’re actually selling more snow tires than ever,” Schadl said.
Schadl manages the store at 655 Mahoning Ave. and said the cost of a set of snow tires is comparable to a set of all-season tires.
As winter creeps up on Ohio, Schadl has been selling snow tires and performing full checks on vehicles to make sure headlights, windshield wipers, batteries and all fluids are in working order.
“When you winterize a car, that’s when you get the major inspection,” he said. “You look at everything so you have no issues out on the road.”
Schadl recommends adding more weight to a vehicle’s trunk to help with winter driving. He said a candle can keep you warm enough if your car doesn’t start and you become stranded. He also recommends jumper cables for batteries that have weakened over the summer.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has two slogans to keep drivers safe in wintery weather: “Ice and Snow, Take it Slow” and “Don’t Crowd the Plow.”
“The first is self-explanatory,” said Justin Chesnic, ODOT District 4 spokesman. “When it’s icy and snowy outside, just slow down. Give yourself more time between vehicles. Hitting the brakes is not easy because cars can slide.”
Chesnic said the first or second snowfall of the year is usually the worst because people forget how to drive in severe weather. When plows are out, drivers are expected to take more precautions.
“Give our drivers room to do their job,” Chesnic said of the second slogan. “Keep a safe distance because they’re dropping materials, and they can make sudden stops and turns and sometimes drive under the speed limit. You can pass a plow, but do so carefully.”
Chesnic also reminds drivers to remember the little things including brushing snow off of headlights and brake lights. Drivers are encouraged to check www.buckeyetraffic.org for traffic updates throughout the state.
Talks are in progress regarding a Twitter feed of congestion and accident warnings for the Youngstown area similar to one the department launched for Akron recently.
Chesnic said ODOT will use its new two-lane snow plow for the first time this year.
Marilyn Kenner, chief deputy engineer for Mahoning County, said the county will purchase 8,000 tons of road salt for the season.
“We’re preparing for the same type of winter we had last year,” Kenner said, adding that there are 20 routes for snow plows when snow is on the roads.
“But we don’t come out if snow is anticipated,” Kenner said. “We wait until the snow hits or is falling until we come out.”
This year marks the first winter season when all county snow plows will be outfitted with Global Positioning Systems to follow those routes. When drivers call the engineer’s office to ask about whether roads have been plowed, the GPS can pinpoint the time when a truck last plowed a certain street.
Kenner said the county will mix salt with an aggregate to provide traction for tires and will treat the salt with magnesium chloride on the coldest days to help the salt work in lower teen temperatures.
Sara Rossler is a licensed driving instructor overseeing the start of three driving schools in Austintown, Canfield and Boardman. All Star Driver Education Inc. is a company based out of Michigan that most recently opened a location in Newton Falls.
Rossler said she trains student drivers for winter weather in class and on the road. “We’ve been teaching kids just to drive on wet roads because that complicates it. Multiply that by ice and gravity,” Rossler said.
Students are told to carry a snow shovel and blankets in their car if they get stuck or stranded. They also learn to give themselves more time to get places in the winter, to drive a different route if necessary and to consider the importance of the trip in the first place.
“Our drivers are inexperienced,” Rossler said. “Sometimes they get their license, and driving on snow is their first time.”
There are on average more crashes in Ohio during the winter months of November, December, January and February than in other months likely due to severe weather, according to statistics from the Ohio State Highway Patrol Canfield Post.