When you live in an area that sees regular snowfall during the winter months, and sometimes the fall, you have to deal with getting your car stuck in the snow and ice at any given time. With salt being a high priced commodity this winter, many areas are either not salting their roads or have cut way back. Chances are you will get stuck sometime, or many times this winter.
This is what you can do to prepare for the eventuality of getting stuck on the snow and ice.
BE PREPARED
Before the days of the cell phone, we winter survivors would carry items that we might need just in case we got stuck on the snow or ice. What you need to carry in your trunk during the late fall, all winter and early spring are the following: road salt, a shovel, a blanket, an old rug, or a piece of cardboard, kitty litter, non-perishable food, and a cell phone.
WHAT TO PACK IN TRUNK
Before the days of the cell phone and before I could afford a car that didn't die when it was below 50 degrees outside, I would take all of these items with me wherever I went all winter long. It's very easy to get your car stuck in the snow and ice. To get out of the snow and ice you will need kitty litter for traction. Just pour some behind and in front of the wheel that is stuck on ice and this should help.
Road salt will be used to pour around, behind and in front of the tire or tires that are stuck on ice or in the snow. Road salt should melt the ice around the tire so that your vehicle can get going once again. It will also add traction the icy area, to get those wheels going again.
CARRY A SHOVEL
Always carry a shovel with you in the trunk during the winter. Even if you will be driving on an Interstate or in the city, you never know when and where you will get stuck. A sudden snowstorm can erupt anywhere, anytime. Blizzard-like conditions can derail your vehicle into a drift as deep as the car. Even placing a small, shovel, even a sand shovel will do wonders getting you out of any snow pile. You will be able to use the shovel to dig out of a few inches of snow, or a few feet of snow.
Take an old rug, an old car mat, or a blanket with you during the entire winter. The car mat, even the one you use everyday, can be placed under, or behind a tire to help with traction. A rug can do the same thing. Sometimes even a blanket or a large piece of cardboard will do the same wonderful trick.
SURVIVAL METHODS
A blanket, non- perishable food, and a cell phone will be your lifelines just in case you do get stuck in the snow, or on a mountainous road and you can't get out. Call an emergency number as soon as you know you are stuck and can't get out. Stay with the vehicle. Do not venture away from the car in a blizzard, or a snowstorm to get help. You could die before reaching help. Wrap the blanket around yourself for added warmth. Wrap the blanket around the kids and sit as close as possible to everyone for warmth. Candy bars, peanut butter, protein bars, and energy bars are terrific items to have stored in plastic bags in the trunk or glove box for the winter.
When you are in an area that has no cell phone service, leave the phone on so that emergency services can find the ping from the satellite for your phone. They have found many people this way that were trapped in avalanches, and snowstorms.
ROCK THE CAR
When the vehicle is stuck on ice or in a small amount of snow you can rock the vehicle back and forth to get out of it. To rock the car back and forth you will put the car in reverse, and then put it in forward. You will continue doing this until you get the car rocking. This should displace the car from the ice or hole it is in.
Take a friend or relative with you on really bad winter days. A friend can help push the vehicle out of the snow. Just put the car in neutral and push from behind. Don't attempt to rock the vehicle when a person is standing directly behind it. You don't want to run him over.
It is possible to get a car unstuck from the snow and ice. It just takes a little prior planning. Remember to stay calm, always wear a really warm coat and boots. Take extra food along. And by all means remember to take the cell phone with you. You may need to call for help from the frozen tundra outside.