XENIA — Winter Storm Landon made its way through the United States and the Miami Valley was no stranger to its effects.
Rain, sleet and heavy snow have led to slick and dangerous driving conditions.
In many neighborhoods, new snow caused many people’s tires to keep spinning and not able to get enough traction to pull away from the curb and onto the street — which has proved to be an exhausting task.
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“I’m pretty tired already, I’ve only been out here 15 minutes,” Ethan Brownlee in Xenia told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell.
After shoveling, Brownless had to take a layer of ice off of his vehicles before anyone could drive.
That work just to get behind the wheel often makes us more impatient and careless in winter driving, and that can be deadly.
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John Fraley is a driving instructor at D&D Driving School and he said the best thing you can do when driving in the winter is defensive driving.
Fraley said that defensive driving is more than just slowing down in the winter.
It also means signaling earlier to let other drivers know what you’re doing, slowing down your turns and your stopping process — not suddenly jamming on the breaks.
Suddenly hitting your breaks or gas will cause you to skid, Fraley said, and many will start to panic.
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Fraley teaches dozens of new drivers a month about driving in clear or snowy conditions.
He worked for a few years as a tow truck driver before becoming an instructor.
One thing he emphasizes is that slick snow or ice is a problem for all vehicles; whether you have two-wheel drive or four-wheel, Fraley said you are not bulletproof against winter road conditions.
Defensive driving isn’t just something for new drivers in their teens, Fraley said everyone can benefit especially in bad weather conditions.
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