According to safemotorist.com, making sure your vehicle is prepared for the weather before a storm hits is key to staying safe. Tires and tire pressure, brakes, oil, lights, and heater/defroster are all items to get checked out.

Safe Motorist  also recommends keeping your gas tank half full. The safest way to handle slippery roads is to drive slower, be gentle with stopping and turning, and allow a bigger distance between you and the car in front of you. Be alert and watch out for slippery or icy spots. Never start driving before all of the windows are cleared of snow and are able to see out of.

According to ops.gov, 22% of car crashes are related to the weather. From 2004 to 2010, there were over 200,000 crashes due to snow and over 150,000 crashes due to icy conditions throughout the US.

Weather.com states that the next predicted snowfall for the Hartland area will be on Saturday, January 9. Less than an inch is expected to accumulate.

Diya Ramanathan, a senior at Arrowhead said, “The other day when it snowed a bunch, I was driving around with my dad and there were so many cars in the ditch and more accidents than normal.  We had to drive so slowly because how slippery it was. It was coming down so fast it made it hard to see out the window.”

According to newsplex.com, “Make sure you keep a safe distance from the car in front of you. You want to be able to brake and not have any fear of the vehicle in front of you,” said Albemarle County Police spokeswoman Carter Johnson.

Lexi Bartz, a senior at Arrowhead said, “My parents won’t even let me drive anywhere if it’s snowing too much. It sucks because I’m in my house and there’s nothing to do, but I understand because it can get pretty dangerous.”

According to cartalk.com, it is important to clean off all the snow that is on your car before driving, not just a little peephole in the windshield.  They say you need just as much, if not more, visibility in poor conditions because you have to keep your eyes peeled for pedestrians, and everyone else on the road.

Fox 2 News in St. Louis reported that if the cold temperatures have kept you from properly clearing the snow and ice off of your car before driving, you are breaking the law in Missouri and Illinois.

Mia Rocco, a senior at Arrowhead said, “I am really bad at remembering to clean off my car. I can’t see very well when I drive and I would feel really bad[ly] if the snow was blowing into another car’s view of the road all because I was too lazy to wipe my car down.”

On the Village of Hartland official website are the winter changes in the street parking laws. Winter parking restrictions are in effect from November 1st through March 31st. Parking restrictions prohibits parking on all Village streets between the hours of 2:00 AM to 8:00 AM. If you wish to park on the street, call 367-2323 after 3:00 PM each day to determine if parking permission is approved or denied for each morning. If you fail to oblige by these rules in the Village of Hartland, you will be issued a citation.

According to OSHA.gov, you should always keep in mind the three P’s of Safe Winter Driving: PREPARE for the trip; PROTECT yourself; and PREVENT crashes on the road. They say that you will feel more at ease and drive better if you follow these simple steps this winter.