While the winter season can bring beauty in the shape of fluffy snow and glittering ice hockey, it may also bring risks. Around your home and while you’re driving, winter precipitation poses potential hazards like black ice, which may cause accidental slips and slides on paths, driveways along with the road.
What Is Black Ice?
Despite its nickname, black ice is actually clear. It’s often compared to a “glaze” that also can form on a variety of surfaces, particularly roads, sidewalks, and driveways.
Since black ice is transparent, it coats and blends into whatever it covers, and that’s part of what makes it so dangerous. Black ice is also slippery and has many causes, such as freezing rain and the melting and re-freezing of snow.
How Does Black Ice Form?
If roadways are wet -from rain, melting snow, etc. – when the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, black ice can form. Another cause is when “humidity from the air condenses and forms dew or fog, and then the temperature drops below freezing,” according to The Weather Channel. Black snow happens on highways when the heat of tires on the asphalt mixes with freezing conditions.
Keeping an eye on weather reports is essential in the winter months, and buying your very own thermometer isn’t a bad idea either. Black Ice Protection Winter can bring many hazards, like damaging winds and heavy snow. To defend your belongings this winter, make sure your home and auto insurance plans are up-to-date. When vehicle accidents or falls and slips happen and you’re accountable for causing personal injury to someone else, these legalities must cover you.
“Still, unlike the expense of repairing your vehicle, damages can be far bigger,” states Ray Eng, AAA Northeast VP of insurance earnings. “That’s why we typically tell our members to consider an umbrella policy that offers more liability coverage more than the coverage offered in someone’s auto or home coverage. ” What to Do in the Car If the temperature is at or below freezing, try to avoid driving if you can. If you’ve to be on the road when it’s freezing, keep these tips in mind.
Let Your Car Warm Up
Today’s vehicles only must a moment or two to heat up in cold weather. “Unnecessary engine idling wastes fuel, pollutes the air, and only destroys the engine — not the other mechanical portions of the vehicle,” states John Paul, AAA Car Physician. It’s best to go easy on the gas till you begin to feel the heat coming from the vents.
Improve Visibility
Clear snow/ice off of your windshield and windows to have the best visibility possible. Many northeastern states have laws about eliminating snow or debris from your vehicle before driving, and failing to comply could cause a fine.
For more information stay tuned for future blog posts!