Drive like grandma is sitting next to you with a crockpot full on her lap.

Easy on the gas, easy on the brakes, easy in the turns. And like others have said, allow plenty of extra time if you need to be somewhere. It's better to arrive 20 minutes early and chill in your car than trying to rush and end up in a lamp post.

Expect a drive to take 50% longer than it would in clear weather and plan accordingly. People get into a rush because they don't plan for the trip to take longer and then drive unsafely.

Always have a snow brush/scraper in the trunk.

Have an emergency kit with jumper cables, reflective pylons, emergency blankets, food and water, small shovel, sand or kitty litter, etc. I also have a battery jump pack.

If you start to slide or lose control let off the accelerator gently and try to slow down, jamming on the brakes can make things worse. Steer into the skid.

You don't need to go home, you just need to obey the law.

Most states have a law that says you need to pull over to the shoulder if you're blocking traffic for 5+ cars behind you, but everyone thinks that law goes out the window when there's snow on the ground.

If you have a rear wheel drive with all seasons, or God forbid normal tires, do not impede traffic for people who do have cars for winter driving.

Yup. If it's not urgent, stay home. I saw 3 car accidents today on the 78. I was doing 40mph and driving very slowly.

Drive like your brakes don't work and don't assume anyone else's brakes work either

Go as fast as you can brake, don't ride the brakes but slowly apply as needed (abs only does so much), and avoid hills.

If you live in a hilly area chains are key; always have them in the vehicle just in case.

Practice helps a lot, drive around your neighborhood after a decent snow just to get used to it. If you get stuck you won't be far from home.

Don't park on the street if you have snowplows.

Keep warm clothes/blanket in your vehicle just in case you do get stuck.

I know it sounds pretty rough, but go outside on a full moon with snow on the ground and it makes up for the above issues imho.

Best of luck.

Never slam on your breaks. Even though modern cars have abs you will always stop faster if you pump the breaks to keep your wheels spinning until you stop. If you slam on your breaks you surely will slide. And stop slowly, keep around 4-5 seconds behind the vehicle in front of you if possible as a just in case you need to stop and ease onto the gas.

Also get winter tires. Trust me they are absolutely worth the cost

Just don’t drive if you don’t have 4x4

Slow down.

Always add 20-30 minutes for travel time, then drive either at or slightly below the speed limit. Always assume that you are the only sane driver on the roads. Get SNOW tires (the ones with the snowflake in the mountain icon), or studded tires if your area allows it.

Find an empty parking lot... Then try some panic stops and try to break traction while turning or upsetting the car's balance. Do some hand brake turns to get the car to slide and get used to steering where you want to go to recover.

Good to learn the car in a controlled environment before it happens in traffic or at speed.

Drive like you have your grandma in the seat next to you with a hot pot of gravy and you're going to a church potluck lunch.

Since everyone already suggested some tips, I suggest finding a parking lot and doing handbrake skids lol

Drive cautious and conservative, brake easily and earlier than you anticipate you’ll need to, easy and smooth wheel movements, make sure you have a full tank of windshield washer fluid for shitty crummy slush being thrown up from vehicles ahead of you. Leave good distance between you and vehicles ahead. Especially if you have all season rubbers on versus winters

What the previous guy said is all great tips. Just take your time. If someone is up your ass, let them be.

Have the mindset that every driver is worse than you so watch them all carefully.

Turn lights on. Increase following distances, so you dont have to make sudden moves. Keep up with the flow of traffic. Dont panic. If you're not able to do these things, get off the road.

Slow down.

Increase following distances.

No distractions.

Avoid slamming on the brakes. 

Turn on lights.

Allow yourself more travel time, avoid rushing.

Keep car well maintained — good windshield wipers, tires, lights, etc. 

Clear your car of snow and ice thoroughly before driving it.

Always slow down and get out there when traffic is light learn how you car will drive in those conditions. Also, think about your tire choice if snow is common get a winter set.

The biggest safety tip is not to drive in such weather. If you want to make a trip to the store during bad weather, wait and go when the weather improves. It's unlikely they will run out of everything during the storm.

But if you have to have to go out in such weather, take it easy. Speed limits are the MAXIMUM speed you are allowed to drive, not the only speed. You can drive slower if the conditions call for it.

Also keep your vehicle well maintained. Don't ignore tires that the treads are worn down. Make sure your lights are working. Have good windshield wiper blades that don't smear. and so on.

TL;DR - if you hydroplane, hold the steering wheel straight as you can an keep your feet off both pedals. Also, never use cruise control in the rain.

I suck at snow driving. Idk why. I guess b/c only once every year or two.

But I can tell you about the wet, specifically hydroplaning.

Hydroplaning is when the tires basically skim across the water, no contact with pavement. Similar to how a rock can skip over water. You will feel it.

I've been passenger in multiple wrecks where the driver freaked out at a hydroplane; over-correcting, slamming on brakes, etc.

Unless you are on a sharp curve, this is what you do when you hydroplane: hold the wheel straight. Foot off the pedals, hold the wheel straight as you can.

The car will regain traction. And when it does, it will go whichever way the wheel is pointing, or whichever way the brakes are applied harder. (slam on brakes, right side is hydroplaning, but left side is not so you get two different brake forces and it can super easily spin the car out) I've gotten it down to an art form, holding steady when I hydroplane. It works.

I've ended up in two ditches and an interstate median because the drivers did the things I mentioned - over corrected at the first hint of a wiggle, or slam on brakes (we did three 360 spins, bounced off guard rail and landed in the median after she slammed on brakes)

Now, it's a bit more tricky on some curves, but depending on speed and degrees of curve, it's usually manageable. In the worst scenario where your car just instantly starts spinning before you even know what's going on... well all you can do is pucker the old sphincter and keep your arms out of the way of the airbags.

Finally, idk if it's a problem with modern cruise control, but for a long time cruise control could contribute to spinning out in heavy rain, especially if it's the drive wheel that hydroplanes. Idk if that ever got fixed or is still an issue, but I just keep myself to that rule - no cruise control in the rain.

Your AC can be a real friend, too!

If you get a lot of snow in your car from your boots or from opening the door and having snow fall in, it can cause your car to fog up a lot. If you run your AC (even on warm) the compressor will work to pull the moisture out of the air and prevent (or at least mitigate) the fogged up windows!

Additional tips:

**Sliding during a turn:**having your wheels go in the same direction of the car instead of sideways will give you a lot more control. As soon as you have some control you can steer out of the slide.,

Changing Lanes: often times snow will be built up between lanes and it can be a little choppy to change lanes. The best way to maintain control is to keep a steady angle on your steering wheel while moving over for the duration of the change. Don't change the angle of your turn by adjusting the wheel mid-change. A good slow and steady angle will get you over and help you maintain control if you have 1 tire that starts to slide from the buildup.

If you get stuck and the rocking method isn't working, take your floor mats and place them under the tires in the direction you want to go. This can help you get enough traction to get out. Try not to spin your wheels if you get stuck, you just end up creating ice and lose all traction.

I drive in the snow like I'm eating a bowl of cereal.

Your traction control button is your friend if you get stuck -- turn traction control off.

And for gods sake clear ALL of your windows and remove the snow from the top of your car so that you don't have a cloud of snow behind you that blinds everyone else!

Absolutely. A lot slower. I don’t care how good your Land Rover/Subaru/F350 is in the snow or that you grew up in Northern Minnesota and these roads are nothing to you. Drive slowly and don’t be an a-hole.

This needs to be higher on the list. Snow tires may be an expensive choice but it makes a big difference in handling and stopping.

Hey, Kiddo. I'm a son of Kentucky living in Southwestern Montana.

Have a block heater installed as soon as possible after you move. Plug it in whenever the weather drops to 15 degrees or below. They will tell you it's ok to plug it in an hour before you're supposed to drive, but it makes a difference if you leave it plugged overnight.

When it gets below freezing, start your car 30 minutes before you need to go anywhere.

Plan for slower trips. It's best to slow down and get there - too many people end up on the side of the road before they think they can still drive at full speed.

If you can, invest in snow studded tires. They will be worth it.

Keep up with your fluids. And have a tune up by early October.

When the weather is bad, don't go anywhere with less than half a tank. That way, if you get stranded, you will be able to keep warm until help arrives.

Keep a winter emergency kit in your car too.

Plan on taking twice as long to drive anywhere. Plan on it taking 3 times longer to stop. Don’t spike the brake. Step on the pedal gently.

You will want snow tires. Ask locals if they use snow chains or studs in their tires. Laws vary by location.

I keep a foldable snow shovel and tow strap in my car in the winter. I normally keep winter clothes with me. A blanket and hand warmers are good to have also.

Replace the battery if it is 5 years old or older. Have good all season radial tires.

Keep cold weather gear for you and your passengers in the car. Also some hi energy snacks. You can get electric hot water heaters that plug in to the 12v socket so you can boil snow for a hot drink (it should be clean, just make sure it isn't yellow!)

Cover your windshield with a heavy blanket overnight, that will mean it takes less time to defrost and clear in the morning. Scrape ice from all your windows so you have good visibility. Or get a Ford which has their quick clear windshield, that will save you minutes every day.

When driving leave big gaps. Accelerate and brake slowly. Look at the stop lights of the car three cars ahead. Your aim is to keep rolling slowly rather than drive stop start like you would in good weather. Imagine you've got a cup of water balanced on your dashboard, your aim is to spill nothing.

If you start to skid remove the cause of the skid - in snow that's usually too much steering angle or too much brake although ABS does a good job of improving braking on modern cars (I have a Volvo 940 Wagon without it and it's also rear wheel drive - very different driving experience to a modern car but being Swedish actually very good because the steering isn't affected by the engine drive).

Main thing for driving on slick roads is slow down,and give yourself plenty of room to slow down.

Don’t hit the brakes if you’re on ice or sliding, it’ll only make it worse

Go fuck around in a snowy parking lot! In teaching my children to drive in snow. I always took them to a snowy parking lot to practice what it feels like to hit the brakes hard. To feel what it’s like to slide and turn at the same time so they could feel the lack of control and understand how to maneuver more safely.

Gentle inputs. No hard acceleration, braking or direction changes.

Practice sliding around in an empty parking lot. That way, if and when it happens while driving, you will be comfortable with it and not panic.

Only do one function at a time. Acceleration, braking or steering. Doing more than one increases the chances of losing traction.

But the best advice is find an empty parking lot and practice. Get to know how your vehicle reacts in different situations, and how it responds to your inputs.

What kills me is people not clearing their rear window or by the looks of it not turning on the defrost setting! It’s pretty basic winter driving. You can only assume they don’t know the setting exists because who would be too lazy to push a button…

I think a minority of those drivers are just idiots but the majority would have to be newcomers driving in winter conditions for the first time and that’s an issue because they’re essentially a danger to themselves and the public.

If you find yourself losing control, you dont need to crank the wheel in whatever direction you're trying to adjust to. Small steering wheel movements are your freind when you feel yourself drifting and losing control, if you overturn in your correction, all you're going to do is make yourself drift in the other direction, and that will quickly lead to spinning out and fully losing control of the vehicle.

I understand this can be hard for alot of new drivers, because new drivers tend to panic when things go wrong. If you can help it, try to fight through the panic and keep yourself calm, because panicking can also cause you to misjudge situations.

If you have ABS, you should hold the brake during a skid

I think these suggestions to newcomers are like giving house league players 1-2-2 trap forecheck tips when they’re still holding their stick with one hand.

Driving class should be as important as ESL.

During winter, it's smart to keep some supplies in the trunk too that don't take up too much space. An emergency roadside kit (including jumper cables), wiper fluid, a snow brush, a small roll blanketn, and if you're car is prone to getting stuck (no 4x4 or AWD) some form of traction sand is good to keep as well. I don't have all of these things in my vehicle, but pick and choose what's necessary for yourself. I also drive down cottage roads in Muskoka for work in the winter so our work van has tire chains as well.

One thing I learned from living in Alberta: Winter tires are phenomenal.

People can barely drive here when the streets are clear

Lots of sketchy people on the road that have no business being out there!

Love a helpful guide for people

And if you do need to go out - clear the damn snow off your car and windows so you aren’t an additional hazard to everybody else.