Hey Lori, You better listen to Marla ! In no case in winter driving should you put it in neutral ! Especially on a hill ! Freewheeling as Marla said is not allowed with semi trailers and for a car it should not be used either unless you are an experienced driver ( many good drivers with a manual transmissions do freewheel but only in optimum road conditions). There are 4 or five speeds on your transmission use the one for the speed you go that will keep your traction in check. If you're on a hill and have an automatic transmission then do the same as a manual drive use 1-2-or 3, whichever will keep you at the speed necessary to keep your car in control. The auto trans.,drive gear will always want to advance your car faster. Learn to use your 1-2-3 at the speed that each one is made for before you attempt to use is them in a slippery or an emergency situation. Keeping control of your car in winter requires a lot of practice and patience. I've had at least 14 cars and 477 months in my driving experience, front wheel drive, rear wheel drive 4 wheel drive, off road experience, race track experience. I haven't had a fender bender (knock on wood) for at least 15 yrs. now. But you should never slide down a slippery winter hill in neutral. It's like going down in a toboggan, your car will go where the hill wants it to go!!

 

Romko

slow down, but not too much, especially on interstate.  One of the most dangerous situations is when one car in the travel lane, which is usually clear of snow, goes too slow, cars back up behind and many cars start passing which leads to many accidents.  And when an accident happens, stay in your car until all traffic comes to a halt or if you need to get out watch for other vehicles because the same conditions that caused initial crash means vehicles approaching accident might also loose control.

No mention of winter tires.  They make an unbelievable difference while accelerating cornering and stopping.  I don't mean all-season tires I mean winter tires.  They do cost money but I'd rather spend it there than at a body shop or hospital. 

Driven through a lot of winter storms and blizzards the past 40 years, and have had to invoke the towing companies only twice. When I was younger, I was invincible, now I just call in and stay home. A tow bill can be expensive compared to what one earns in a day. With many states prohibiting tow trucks from even going out one can miss more than a day or two until your vehicle is recovered.

 

Number six on the list should be... Don't use your cruise control and #7 don't think that just because the snow is blowing hard and visibility is poor, the snow plow up ahead may have powdery snow covering up its lights and strobes. The plow will look just like more blowing snow.

 

If you still want to have fun in the snow driving go to a large vacant parking lot and do donuts, skids and speed racing. One can learn a lot about how your vehicle handles.

Lori-

Who gave you that horrible advice and where do you live? I live in WI and have been driving in snow since I got my license in '78 . In fact I had my temps during the one of the worst winters for snow and jumped in the car with my parents every time they went anywhere. (That was the most time we spent together when I was a teenager lol)The following year we got a lot of snow and 8" didn't even close schools back then.

If you keep on going up a hill no matter what and flooring then start to slide, you will end up in a ditch. The best advice is to have a kit in your car stay home if you've only driven in snow a couple of times. Also floor makes a great for getting you out of ditches! So what if they cost a a hundred dollars or whatever some of the ridiculous prices I've seen.

I miss the rear wheel drives because for me they handled a slide much easier than front, or maybe it's because I learned how to drive in snow originally with a rear wheel. A big honking '69 green ford station wagon with no power steering or power brakes to be exact.

Anyone living out east just stay home!