{"id":110697,"date":"2020-01-22T12:28:57","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T17:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=110697"},"modified":"2020-01-22T12:28:57","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T17:28:57","slug":"wintry-roads-increase-possibility-of-driving-fatalities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=110697","title":{"rendered":"Wintry roads increase possibility of driving fatalities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"226\" height=\"138\" src=\"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/AAA-logo.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/AAA-logo.jpg 226w, https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/AAA-logo-150x91.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>New AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety data analysis finds\nthat almost half a million crashes and over 2,000 deaths occur during severe\nweather and hazardous road conditions annually. This is especially true in the\nnortheastern part of the United States. AAA recommends that all drivers take\nextra caution and avoid all distractions when driving in winter conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRain, snow and sleet can reduce your visibility, making it\ndifficult to safely maneuver or even bring the car to a stop if necessary,\u201d\nsaid John Paul, AAA Northeast Senior Manager of Traffic Safety. \u201cEveryone needs\nto be diligent when driving in these conditions, especially if the road is wet\nor covered in ice or snow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The AAA Foundation analyzed 2017 regional data of crashes\noccurring in adverse weather including what the roadway surface conditions were\nat the time of the crash. Researchers found that adverse weather and roadway\nsurface conditions were involved in 29 percent of all crashes and 25 percent of\nall deaths that occurred during the winter (December-February) \u2013 much higher\nthan during any other season.&nbsp;In the northeast, 40.8 percent of all\ncrashes and 32.3 percent of deaths happened during those winter months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When faced with snowy or icy conditions, AAA recommends:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Stay\n     home<\/strong>. If you really don\u2019t have to go out, don\u2019t. Even if you can drive\n     well in bad weather, it\u2019s better to avoid taking unnecessary risks by\n     venturing out.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Drive\n     slowly<\/strong>. Always adjust your speed to account for less traction when\n     driving on snow or ice.<\/li><li><strong>Accelerate\n     and decelerate slowly<\/strong>. Apply the gas slowly to retain traction and\n     avoid skids. Don\u2019t try to get moving in a hurry and take time to slow down\n     for a stoplight. Remember: it takes longer to slow down on icy roads.<\/li><li><strong>Increase\n     your following distance.&nbsp;<\/strong>Allow five to six seconds of following\n     distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you. This extra\n     space will allow you time to stop safely if the other driver suddenly\n     brakes.<\/li><li><strong>Brake\n     very smoothly<\/strong>. Whether you have antilock brakes or not, keep the heel\n     of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to smoothly apply\n     firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal. Don\u2019t pump the brakes.<\/li><li><strong>Don\u2019t\n     stop if you can avoid it<\/strong>. There\u2019s a big difference in the amount of\n     energy it takes to start moving from a full stop versus how much it takes\n     to get moving while still rolling. If you can slow down enough to keep\n     rolling until a traffic light changes, do it.<\/li><li><strong>Don\u2019t\n     power up hills<\/strong>. Applying extra gas on snow-covered roads may cause\n     your wheels to spin. Try to get a little momentum before you reach the\n     hill and let that carry you to the top. As you reach the crest of the\n     hill, reduce your speed and proceed downhill slowly.<\/li><li><strong>Don\u2019t\n     stop going up a hill<\/strong>. There\u2019s nothing worse than trying to get moving\n     up a hill on an icy road. Get some momentum going on a flat roadway before\n     making your way up the hill.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>AAA Northeast is a not-for-profit auto club with 64\noffices in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire\nand New York, providing more than 5.7 million local AAA members with travel,\ninsurance, finance and auto-related services.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety data analysis finds that almost half a million crashes and over 2,000 deaths occur during severe weather and hazardous road conditions annually. This is especially true in the northeastern part of the United States. AAA recommends that all drivers take extra caution and avoid all distractions when driving in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23810,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}