Car Stuck In Snow? Try These 5 Tips Before You Get Out And Push

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1. Home
2. Maintenance
3. More Features
4. Winter Driving

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Some people are able to maintain their calm and chill in the moments after finding out they’ve become stuck in the snow. I have nothing in common with these people.

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If you’re like me, it goes something like this: upon first realizing your car has become stuck in the snow, you find you’re dressed completely inappropriately for the situation, and running late for something important.

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This is called Murphy’s Law.

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Next, you’ll be tempted to swear, flail, shout at your stupid car, and blame the universe for your inconvenience. This means you’re a normal human being.

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You may feel a strong urge to channel your anger into the throttle pedal, smashing it to the floorboards to turn your frustration into forward momentum. This is a bad idea, and will probably make your problem worse.

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Do not attempt to free a stuck car by spinning its wheels at 200 km/h. Sometimes, you’ll get lucky, and it works. Others, you grenade your differential. In general, there’s a smarter way to approach the situation.

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If you’re unable to get your vehicle free of snow or ice, what should you do?

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Below, we’ll cover the first things you should do when you realize you’re stuck. For these tips, we’re focusing specifically on the steps to take before you even take off your seat belt and exit the car to assess the situation.

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If you’ve completely borked things and found yourself in the ditch, buried to the hood in powder, or sitting in a vehicle that has fewer than four of its wheels touching the ground, these tips won’t work for you — though they often do, if you’re fairly stuck but with a little hope remaining.

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Here’s what to do next.

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1. Straighten Out the Steering

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Science has proven it’s much easier for a vehicle to move when its wheels are all pointing straight ahead. So, step one, straighten out that steering wheel, and make sure those front wheels are pointing forwards. Depending on what you drive and how badly stuck you are, this step alone can be sufficient to regain enough traction to see the vehicle off.

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