Black ice driving tips as snow melts, freezes on roads

The weekend storm that dumped up to two feet of snow on parts of Long Island may be over, but the dangerous driving conditions it created will continue through the rest of the week, according to AAA Northeast spokesman Robert Sinclair.

Sinclair said he is especially worried about black ice, a glaze of hazardous ice that forms when moisture on roads freezes as temperatures drop. Although temperatures are expected to remain at freezing or below through Tuesday, salt spread on Long Island roads will melt snow piled along the sides, spreading moisture that will freeze after dark.

Wednesday and Thursday will be warmer, which will melt snow and ice even faster — and make roads even riskier when temperatures drop at night, Sinclair said.

"It’s the warming that has me the most concerned," Sinclair said.

Sinclair gave these tips:

• Look at the tires of the vehicle in front of you, he said. In wet, warmer conditions, water will visibly spray from the tires. That spray won’t be visible in black ice conditions.
• Drive at slower speeds and keep additional distance between your vehicle and other cars. "Speed limits are for ideal conditions, when it is bright and sunny," Sinclair said. "You have to adjust to what the conditions are."
• Keep tires properly inflated in the winter. Sinclair said underinflated tires have much less traction.
• Drivers who find their vehicles sliding on black ice should gently step on their brakes and steer the car in the direction they wish to go. Older motorists who learned to drive on rear-wheel vehicles and without anti-lock brakes were told to steer in the direction of the vehicle’s slide, but most cars now on the road are all-wheel drive or front-wheel drive and have those braking systems, Sinclair said.