With the temperatures dropping sharply recently and winter truly upon us, here are a few tips to help you identify and deal with black ice when driving on Irish roads, should you be unfortunate enough to encounter it,
How to spot Black Ice
Black Ice is actually clear. It forms without creating any bubbles so it blends in with the road surface or footpath. Black ice is dangerous precisely because it’s hard to detect in advance. Black Ice forms on surfaces like roads and footpaths because of a light freezing rain or because of melting and re-freezing of snow, water or ice.
Black ice almost always forms in very smooth, very glossy sheets. This glossy surface is your indication of potential black ice. If the majority of the road you’re driving on appears a dull black colour, but the patch just ahead of you appears shiny, you may be about to drive onto black ice.
Where will I find Black Ice?
- Black ice forms most commonly at night or in the early morning when the temperatures are at their lowest, or when the sun isn’t around to warm the roads.
- Black ice tends to form on parts of the road without much sunshine, such as along a tree-lined route or a tunnel. It will also form more frequently on roads that are less travelled on.
- Black ice forms readily on bridges, overpasses and the road beneath overpasses. This is because the cold air is able to cool both the top and under the bridge or overpass, bringing about faster freezing.
What should I do if I hit black ice?
Firstly, don’t panic! Stay calm and don’t overreact.
- Try to do as little as possible
- Come completely off the accelerator
- Do not brake
- Try to keep the steering wheel as straight as possible
- If you feel the back of your car sliding to the left, steer gently to the left. The same applies to the right. Over-steering may cause you to spin.
- If you can, go down the gears. Selecting a lower gear will give you more control.
- If you do skid apply the minimum pressure to your brakes. If your car is fitted with ABS (anti-lock braking system) stay on the brakes. Even if you feel a shudder/banging below your foot, this the the ABS doing it’s job. If you don’t have ABS pump the brakes by quickly pressing them and releasing them but do this gently.
How to avoid an accident or at least minimise the risk
There are several things that you can do to reduce the chances of being surprised by black ice. While knowing how to drive on it remains a number one priority, here are some other things to do:
- Travel slowly. Don’t try to speed during icy weather as this will take away any control you might have had on the black ice.
- Don’t tailgate.
- Keep your windscreen clear of ice, snow, dirt, and anything else that can prevent you from seeing out of it properly. To get snow and ice off the windscreen of your car, you might be tempted to turn on your windscreen wipers. It might seem like the wipers and the washer fluid will work, but they don’t. In fact, if you use your windscreen wipers to get ice off the windscreen, you could ruin them. Use a scraper to scrape the ice from the windscreen of your car before starting the vehicle.
- Turn your headlights on early in the afternoon to help you see any possible sheen from black ice.
- Check your tyre tread. Worn tread causes accidents in any conditions, and will ensure you lack traction when needed on black ice. In addition, consider having snow tyres fitted. Your tread depth should be at least 1.6mm but preferably be at least 3mm for winter driving
- An important thing to remember is to NEVER drive in potentially icy conditions with your cruise control active.
