Winter, Mountain and Rural Driving Safety
Winter, mountain and rural driving safety
Idaho's roads run from icy interstate passes to gravel county roads with open-range cattle. This domain tests whether you can adapt speed, spacing and technique to conditions you can't control.
Winter and ice
- Slow down and stretch following distance to eight to ten seconds on snow or ice.
- Turn off cruise control; it will try to hold speed when you need to ease off.
- Brake gently and steer smoothly. If the rear slides, look and steer where you want to go.
- Watch for black ice on bridges, overpasses, shaded curves and at dawn. Idaho permits studded snow tires from October 1 through April 30.
- In fog use low beams-high beams reflect off the moisture and cut visibility.
Mountains
Going downhill, shift to a lower gear and let the engine hold your speed, braking in short applications instead of riding the pedal, which can fade the brakes. Watch for chain-up areas and runaway truck ramps on steep grades, and use turnouts to let a line of cars by.
Rural roads
Expect gravel and dust, farm equipment wider than your lane, wildlife at dawn and dusk, livestock on open range, unmarked intersections, and long gaps between services or cell coverage. Slow before a curve you can't see through, and never pass a snowplow on the right.
Worked example
You're descending a long pass and your speed keeps creeping up. Reasoning: continuous braking overheats the brakes and can fade them, so downshifting lets engine compression hold the speed with short brake applications to trim it.
Traps that cost marks
Leaving cruise control on in snow; using high beams in fog; running studded tires in summer; passing a plow or a truck on a curve; assuming a rural road is clear because it looks empty.