AAA Chicago Offers Tips for Driving on Icy Roads

    AURORA, Ill., Feb. 12 -- When temperatures reach at or just
above 32-degrees, a thin layer of water on the roads and highways can turn to
slick ice, making for extremely dangerous driving conditions.  AAA Chicago
offers the following tips to motorists:

    Know your vehicle and how it operates.  Not all cars respond the same to
icy, slippery roads.  For that reason, knowing how to handle your vehicle and
how it responds in various weather conditions is important.  You should page
through your vehicle's owner's manual, familiarizing yourself with your
vehicle's braking system and tire traction.

    Familiarize yourself with your vehicle's braking system.  Your owner's
manual will provide information about your braking system.  Find out which
type of brakes your vehicle uses and then follow the safety steps below:

    -- Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) offer significant advantages on slick
       roads, if used correctly.  To operate ABS effectively, motorists should
       apply steady pressure to the brake pedal during the entire stop.  ABS
       will automatically pump the brakes, if necessary, to keep the wheels
       from locking.  Never manually pump ABS brakes yourself.  Apply only
       steady pressure continuously until you come to a complete stop.
    -- If you don't have ABS, you should gently apply pumping pressure to your
       brakes during slippery conditions.  Do not apply steady pressure to
       your brakes.  Standing on your brakes will only cause wheel lock, and
       may result in your car spinning out of control.

    Watch for black ice on the roads.  Black ice commonly forms on roads that
wind around lakes and rivers, in tunnels, on overpasses and in highly shaded,
rural areas.  Black ice is almost invisible to the naked eye.  Be especially
leery when driving your car into shaded areas, and slow your vehicle down
during your approach.

    Always maintain a good distance from vehicles in front of you. The most
important thing to remember when driving on slick roads is that you must
travel, steer and brake more slowly than usual.  The distance needed to stop
on ice is twice as long as that you would need to brake under normal driving
circumstances.  This means you should keep at least a three-car distance from
the vehicle directly in front of you.

    Never brake while driving on ice.  If you are approaching a patch of ice,
brake during your approach.  Applying pressure to your brakes while on ice
will only throw you into a skid.  Use the tips below to learn how to handle
your vehicle when it skids.

    -- Front wheel drive: Front wheel drive vehicles handle better than rear
       wheel drive on slippery roads because the weight of the engine is on
       the drive wheels, which helps to improve your traction.
    -- Rear wheel drive: Because there is virtually no weight on the rear
       wheels of your car, vehicles that operate by using rear wheel drive
       tend to slide from side to side during turns on icy roads.  Cars and
       light duty truck owners can place bags of sand or kitty litter in the
       bed of the truck or trunk to help balance the weight, and distribute it
       equally.

    AAA Chicago offers automotive, travel, insurance and financial services.
It is part of The Auto Club Group (ACG), the largest affiliation of AAA clubs
in the Midwest, with 4.1 million members in eight states.  ACG clubs belong to
the national AAA federation, a not-for-profit organization, with more than
45 million members in the United States and Canada.