Whether it’s ruts in the roads or snowbanks that can sometimes barely be seen around, there’s no shortage of issues facing Winnipeg drivers in the winter.
One of those people is Gurbinder Singh, owner of ProActive Driving Academy, who tells his students to begin preparing before even getting into the driver’s seat.
“It’s very common: rushing. You have to leave home earlier. Why rush it?” Singh says, adding he recommends people wear polarized sunglasses to keep the sun from reflecting off the snow and into their eyes.
“One of the key things I’ve noted in winter, a lot of people wear hoodies. If you wear this and drive, your shoulder checks have pretty much gone, and shoulder check is a huge aspect of a good lane-change.”
Winter driving can present unique challenges, and one issue many in Winnipeg will be familiar with is navigating the deep ruts that form on the roads.
Singh says it’s common for drivers, both experienced or otherwise, to overcompensate when they find themselves starting to slide.
“It’s tough, but you’ve got to take a deep breath, and try to just gently come out of it,” Singh says.
“Lane-changes, always try to micro-turn, which means just a slight turn, because anything more, it’s going to throw your car off.”
In general, Singh advises his students to drive 10 to 15 km/h under the speed limit during the winter, and keep at least four car lengths between themselves and the vehicle ahead.
Under normal conditions, speed is part and parcel for delivery drivers, but Christopher Van Landeghem, owner of Rising Star Courier, says that’s a secondary concern in winter.
“It does slow you down a lot because if your speed limit is 50 (km/h), you can’t always drive 50 because you need the extra time to stop when it’s like a skating rink, like it has been last week,” says Van Landeghem, who notes his team of six drivers and himself are typically faced with 100 to 120 deliveries a day.
“(And) instead of going through intersections at red lights or turning when you get five cars through, you get two maybe.”
On top of that, Van Landeghem says winter roads cause additional headaches for couriers, who need to be extra careful with delicate cargo; particularly around Valentine’s Day, when so many are shuttling flowers across the city.
“You just have to start a little earlier … and if it’s really bad, you have to start phoning some of your customers that are trying to put (orders) in at 3, 4 o’clock and say ‘we’re not going to be able to get there before closing, we’ll do it for you first thing in the morning,” Van Landeghem says.
“Most businesses understand and if it gets later in the day they’ll just let it go to the next day, but then if your next day gets busy — like you can only push it back so far.”
Back in Singh’s car, the driving instructor says the most important thing commuters should do to stay safe is be proactive.
“If you’re aggressive, you are generally going to be reactive. So what proactive means is be farsighted and try to see the dangers,” Singh says, adding that could mean easing onto your brakes well ahead of your stop, or taking an extra look at crosswalks and intersections.
“A lot of people just assume, ‘Ok, he had a signal, I thought he was going to turn,’ driving is an observation … I got a green light, sure, but what if Mr. ‘X’ is on the side and has not seen the red light?”
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