Driving in wet/icy conditions

Good afternoon!

It's certainly getting much chillier outside these past couple of weeks, and it feels like winter is well and truly on its way!

Given the drop in temperature, I thought it might be worth a reminder in this weather of vehicle maintenance. Make sure your vehicle's tyres are roadworthy and suitable for the change in road conditions, and ensure that you have checked your vehicle for defects in its lights and brakes. 

Did you know that the stopping distances in icy weather can be up to ten times further than on dry roads? We've seen logs come in for more Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs) especially in our rural areas, so please ensure that in wet/icy weather, you're leaving plenty of room between you and the car in front, leaving plenty of time to exit/enter a junction, and ensuring your car is roadworthy. 

If you're parking, please ensure you're following the highway code, and especially in wet and icy weather, not obstructing a junction, or parking in a way that would put others in danger trying to exit or enter the junction.

Speaking of vehicle crime, now we're getting closer to Christmas and lots of us will be doing our Christmas shopping, please make sure you leave all your valuables out of sight in the car and make sure it is locked when leaving it unattended, even just for a few minutes! Vehicle crime is often opportunistic, so please do everything you can to keep your vehicles and valuables safe.

As always, if you need our help, please dial 101 for a non-emergency, and 999 in an emergency.

Best wishes

Em