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Autumn Driving Safety Tips

Autumn

As the weather and road conditions change with the arrival of the fall season, We figured it was a great time to post some driving safety tips that will help keep you safe as you enjoy the cool crisp air and the beautiful colors of the autumn leaves. Also, a friendly reminder, for the month of October we (Kimberley Vassal Insurance) our running a rewards programs, if you know someone looking for insurance and refer them to us you will recieve a $10.00 Wawa gift card!

Many leaves seem to accumulate on the roadways this time of year and this causes extremely slippery conditions, its very similar to driving on ice at some points. Also as colder temperature develop throughout Fall wet leaves can freeze and turn into dangerous icy leaves on the roadway. Here are a couple tips to remember when driving on these leafy roadways:

  • Slow down if you are driving on a road covered with leaves, especially when driving around turns.
  • Allow yourself plenty of room to stop in an emergency. Keep a greater distance between you and the car in front of you.
  • Leaves make it difficult to see potholes and bumps in the road.
  • A pile of leaves raked to the side of the road is an inviting place to a child. Children enjoy jumping into the leaf piles or burrowing down into them and hiding. Never drive through a leaf pile. Use caution going around turns and where children are playing.
  • Keep your windshield leaf free to avoid wet leaves getting stuck under the windshield wiper blades.
  • In order to avoid the possibility of a fire hazard from the exhaust system or catalytic converter, never park your vehicle over a pile of leaves.

In many cases, autumn is considered very damp and wet time of year. There are many rainy or foggy days and nights. As the temperatures drop, frost often coats the ground at night, it is important to remember:

  • When driving in fog, set your headlight to low beam. This setting aims the beam of light down toward the roadway.
  • In the fall as temperatures drop, frost often forms on the roadway, causing hazardous driving conditions. Drive slowly and break gently at overpasses and bridges as these areas frost over more quickly than other roadway surfaces.
  • Be aware of areas where black ice forms on the roadway.
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