How to drive in whiteout conditions

CTV Barrie: Whiteout driving It can be frightening when you drive into a snow squall and it takes some skill to drive out of the whiteout. Katherine Ward reports.

Few drivers who live in our part of the world haven’t experienced a sudden, blinding snow squall. It can be very frightening and it takes some skill to drive out of the whiteout safely.

Police say whiteout conditions have been happening frequently, making the roads more dangerous than other years.

“I haven’t seen anything quite like this in recent years. I think what the motoring public has to realize is that if they are out travelling on area roads and the winds pick up – expect the unexpected,” says OPP Sgt. Peter Leon.

In some cases drivers have been stranded because they just couldn’t see the road well enough to drive any further. People say when roads get bad, it’s scary.

“I was count on the snowbank on each side, I couldn’t get off anywhere, you couldn’t read the signs,” says Sudbury resident Randy Marcotte.

“When you can’t see anything, it’s just white knuckle driving. You can’t go anywhere, you gotta slow down and be worried about getting hit,” says plow operator Kyle Scobie.

Police say white outs can happen without warning. The more snow we get this winter, the higher the snowbanks along highways. And that makes the whiteouts even worse.

“The higher that the snowbanks get the wind that’s coming across open fields is being accelerated by the strong winds – as soon as it hits those snowbanks it does get launched over top and it does creates a blinding situations, like driving into a tunnel of snow,” ads Leon.

Police say darker cars are better during whiteout driving, but no matter what kind of car you should keep a full set of lights on at the front and the back of your vehicle – not just your running lights. But more importantly police want people to slow down.

“We have to remember that posted speed limits are under ideal, dry roads and these roads and these conditions are from ideal,” says Leon.

In some cases drivers have had to pull over because the whiteout conditions have been so bad. Police say if you pull over – stay in your car. They say it’s easy to become disoriented in the snow if you try to walk and you risk being hit by other drivers.