First things first – you should carry a snow shovel in your vehicle during winter. You should also put together a small kit of essential survival items in case you have to spend the night in your car or hike miles home in freezing weather. It could literally mean the difference between life and death…
Even if you have a snow shovel, if the road is frozen hard, it can still be difficult to gain traction and get un-stuck. In this situation, the tip below can help you get traction and get moving again. It can also help even if you didn’t have a snow shovel.
This tip works best on hard surfaces such as roads, driveways, and car parks, but it can also help gain traction in the snow and mud too. If you are stuck anywhere, it is worth trying…
If there is snow and you have a snow shovel, dig out as much snow around the wheels as possible. No snow shovel, skip to the next step!
Now take out the floor mats in your car, turn them upside down and place them in front/underneath the wheels which are spinning, this will obviously depend on whether your car is front or rear-wheel drive.
Jump back in the car and try to drive forward slowly and steadily. If you escape, be sure to run back and pick up your floor mats. If your car simply moved over the floor mats and immediately got stuck again, you can keep repeating the process and inch forward until you are free.
Please share this page with others – most of us have floor mats in our vehicles, but I am not sure many of us would consider using them to help us get un-stuck in ice and snow.
(Photo from: Daniel Veazey)
