Winter driving tips to stay safe on the roads

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — You may be heading up the mountains to hit the slopes this weekend, but the roads can be tricky as we start driving in the snow again.

Last weekend’s Thanksgiving storm caused more than 100 crashes throughout the state, so officials are urging drivers to be extremely cautious in these conditions.

The Utah Department of Transportation recommends checking the tread on your tires, making sure your windshield wipers are working, and having an emergency kit in your vehicle — as well as extra food, water, blankets, and clothes, in case you were to get stuck.

And when you’re on the roads, it may seem obvious, but the most important thing to remember is to slow down.

“All of us want to get to where we’re going as quickly as possible. We have to get there safely as well. In the couple minutes that you think you may be saving by speeding through, you know, a snowstorm on the road, it just doesn’t make any sense. You don’t want it to cost your life or the lives of other people,” said John Gleason, Public Relations Director for UDOT.

Give yourself enough distance between you and the vehicle in front of you and keep your distance from snowplows. Gleason says a football field behind a plow is a safe distance.

“Stay back. Give them plenty of space to work,” he said. “They’re out there trying to make it safe for all of us and so we want to make it safe for them as well and not have them have to worry about cars crashing into the wing blade on the side there.”