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How to Prepare Your Car for a Road Trip in the Winter
Or if you are like me – you just choose to forget all about driving in ice and snow during summer.
1. Your mechanic should perform a basic tune-up.
2. Have a mechanic ensure your car is in optimal condition for winter
As your mechanic to go through a vehicle safety inspection checklist with you. Let them know you where you will be going and what type of conditions you might drive through. They should be familiar with traction laws (see the tips) and requirements for mountain driving.
3. Check the lights and blinkers
4. Check the windshields and wipers are in optimal condition
Caution: Be Prepared with this Winter Driving Safety Checklist
Get Your FREE Copy Now!! Receive the Winter Driving Checklist to prepare your car for your winter road trip as a FREE gift for signing up for the newsletter. Plus, you will receive inspiration and tips to launch into your next family adventure.
Snow or all-weather tires are vital to keeping control of your car in the winter. One time I assumed that my tires had plenty of tread heading into winter, unfortunately, I was wrong.
I was alone with 4 kids on a 200-mile winter road trip and spun out. Fortunately, I was able to gain control of the war before hitting someone or sliding off the mountain. My poor kids were panicked though. The 4-year old was so scared he threw up when we came to a stop. Poor little guy.
5. Check the age, tread, and inflation on your tires
6. Get new snow or all-weather and chains if necessary

7. Plan your route, have the information about the roads you will be driving and tell someone where you are going.
Make a plan to check in with them throughout your journey.
8. Check the Weather and Road Conditions
Prepare your car and make sure you are stocked up for winter stocked up
You should carry basic snow supplies, as well as supplies to help in case of an emergency, in your vehicle.
9. Brush and scraper
Every autumn as winter sets in, I find myself trying to warm up the car and scrape my windshield with my library card. Fortunately, I am usually at home, and my fingers take enough of a beating that I remember to buy a scraper.
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10. Winter grade washer Fluid
Stock an extra gallon (or two or three) of winter-grade windshield washer fluid. Water or regular washer fluid will freeze to your windshield in cold weather.
The mag chloride sprayed on the roads is like a sticky mess on your windshield. You will go through more fluid than you can imagine.
11. Start with a Full Tank of Gas
If you are stopped or stuck waiting for help you may need to stay warm. (Keep the tailpipe clear and run the engine intermittently to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. More on emergencies in at the end)
12. Pack you tire chains and know how to use them
Not only chain a good idea, but some also stated such as Colorado and California may require all vehicles to use chains in winter driving conditions.
Embarrassingly, I borrowed Charles’s car one time and couldn’t get the chains on. Fortunately, I was a small side street in town and was able to maneuver to another street.
13. Snow Removal and Traction Supplies
Prepare and Pack a Winter Emergency Kit
14. Buy a winter emergency roadside kit
15. Check the kit for essential supplies and add extra if needed
16. Be prepared to survive a winter night in your car
17. Pack snow clothes and warm blankets
18. Keep the cold weather gear accessible

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Tips on Winter Driving
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19. Drive slowly and cautiously, even with 4-wheel drive.
20. Know how to use your 4-wheel drive
21. Accelerate and decelerate slowly
22. Keep going slow and steady.
23. Do not over-correct if you slide
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24. If you encounter animals on the road, do not swerve.

Safety Tips While on the Road in Winter Conditions
Keeping kids safe inside the car is important.
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25. Keep Kids activities and blankets within their reach
This tip actually comes straight from our article – 17 Tips for a Road Trip with a Toddler
Reaching into the backseat to hand young children a blanket or drawing pad is dangerous anytime but especially in winter. Keep blankets,
26. Dress warmly even inside the car
27. Beware of the dangers of wearing a coat under the car seat harness
28. Wear seatbelts properly
29. Keep kids in 5 point harness car seat.
I was in a small fender bender with my son when he was 2 years old. Fortunately, it was just a small accident but he slept soundly in his car seat through the entire ordeal.
Have the car seats installed correctly before driving? Check NHTSA’s child passenger safety recommendations. This car seat is the one we use to get 3 across in a small car.
What to do In a Winter Roadside Emergency
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30. Do not leave your car
In an emergency do not, I repeat do not, leave your car and venture into a snowstorm unless you’re in a very unsafe situation such as on railroad tracks or balanced on the edge of a cliff. The “I shouldn’t be alive TV series” had a couple of episodes where people left the car.
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31. Bundle up and wait for help
.If you do stop, bundle up, have some snacks and stay hydrated. Place the bright markers and flares out so emergency workers can see you and calling on your phone. If you don’t have service, check if your GPS will send an emergency notification on your cell phone or GPS device.
32. Run your car with caution
If you do need to run your car, make sure the tailpipe is clear of snow or debris. The NHTSA advises running your car and heater intermittently to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning and asphyxiation.
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33. Remain calm for you and your kid’s sake
We have found our kids are cooperative and understand problem situations but, if we are calm or even playful, they are generally unfazed by the stress.
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Concluding Thoughts
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A winter road trip can be fun and safe. We have more road trip resources to help you make your family vacation a success.
- 17 Tips for a road trip with a toddler
- How to Make a DIY Travel Binder for Kids
- The best vacation packing checklist for families
- 60 Inspirational Family Travel Quotes Sure to Ignite Travel Fever
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These are great tips! I live in New England and we’re gearing up for winter here. I’m going to use this post to make sure that I’m good to go.
Also, I always forget to turn my windshield wipers off before I turn the car off. I need to find a way to remember that this year!
The roads in New England get so icy! I hope you find the 6-page checklist helpful. I included tips I didn’t find elsewhere but have been so important for me.
A very sensible and smart approach to winter driving. Thanks for sharing these tips!
Your welcome. I hope the checklist helps too!
I lived in Alaska for 10 years and had got plenty of experience driving in snow. These are all great and very useful tips, and ones I have used myself. Another important tip is to not slam on the breaks, which is what your reflexes will tell you to do, but all that does is make you slide across the ice. Instead, you pump the breaks, so your tired can get more of a grip on an icy road.
Yes, thank you for adding that. Yes, slamming on the breaks will send you sliding, especially if you don’t have ABS.
These are all very good and sound tips. We made the mistake of leaving once without checking the weather forecast and had the horrible experience of getting caught in a blizzard. And then we made it worse by not turning back right away and thinking it would be over soon. After six hours of terrifying driving and sliding all over the road, we finally cleared the storm.I kept thinking we were going to end up in a snow bank without proper supplies. We were lucky but not prepared at all.
Yes, getting caught in a blizzard can be so scary! When I am prepared to spend the night in the car, I feel much more confident and calm.
Wow, what an awesome and detailed post. Realizing how unprepared we are for snow driving. I also love your “year round” tip about the size of your tires affecting your “miles till empty” display. Never thought about that….
Thanks. I’m glad you can learn from my mistakes. The checklist is 6-pages to help you prepare before leaving home and tips during driving.
Thanks for the tips. Now that I live in a warm climate, I sometimes forget all these things that need maintained…especially when going on a road trip up north. I like the ruler shot, great way to check your own tire treads.
Thanks. I am happy that it is helpful. It so easy to forget! Seems like I am always surprised by snow in the high country.