Winter Driving Tips

Snow plows, wet roads and icy patches can make winter driving treacherous.

While you should only drive when it's absolutely necessary, if you must drive: travel during the day; don't travel alone; keep others informed of your schedule; and, stay on main roads. Follow these and other tips for driving in winter conditions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):

• Drive slowly. It's harder to control or stop your vehicle on a slick or snow-covered surface. Increase your following distance so that you'll have plenty of time to stop for vehicles ahead of you.
• Know what kind of brakes your vehicle has and how to use them properly. In general, if you have antilock brakes, apply firm, continuous pressure. If you don't have antilock brakes, pump the brakes gently.
• If you find yourself in a skid, stay calm and ease your foot off the gas while carefully steering in the direction you want the front of your vehicle to go. Continue to stay off the pedals (gas and brake) until you can regain control of your vehicle.

• Don't follow too closely behind a snow plow or travel beside it. Snow plows can throw up a cloud of snow that can reduce your visibility to zero in less time than you can react.
• The road behind an active snow plow is safer to drive on because it is clear.
• Always pass a snow plow in the left. Never pass a snow plow on the right because plows are pushing the snow in that direction.

Free Preparedness Resources

The New Year is a good time to restock your preparedness materials. 

FEMA's Individual and Community Preparedness Division offers print materials at no cost, including CERT Training Manuals, Youth Preparedness Curriculum, and America's PrepareAthon! preparedness resources. Here are a few tips to help you with your order:

• Make orders by email, mail, phone or fax. The contact information is on the Individual and Community Preparedness Print Publications form.
• Some publications have order limits; however, you can make requests for greater amounts. If you are interested in ordering more than the limit, just provide a brief description as to your need for the publication and we  will work to verify your request. 
• CERT publications that specify ‘All Orders Require Approval' mean that you must have a registered CERT team to receive these publications.

Apply Now for a Wildfire Safety Grant

How can you and your community apply for a $500 grant to make your community safer from wildfire? Find out in a free 45-minute webinar on January 16 at 3:00 pm EST. In the webinar, you will learn about the wildfire grant funding opportunity.

In the meantime, the following project resources provide information  on how to prepare your grant application, template press releases, project ideas and more. You can even check out success stories from 2016 for inspiration.

Project Resources

• Best practices for your project grant application: Applications will be accepted starting on January 9. Take steps to develop an outstanding work plan for your project. 
• Safety tips and safety gear: Before starting a project, it's important to review the safety tips and safety gear .
• Customizable flyer: The Preparedness Day customizable flyer provides an opportunity to add local event information. 
• News release: Use this news release template to announce your community is participating in Wildfire Community Preparedness Day.
• Logo: The Wildfire Community Preparedness Day logo can be used to promote local campaign efforts. Download the logo .
• Social media: Use the hashtag #WildfirePrepDay and share your project on Twitter. Promote involvement in your community by using these pre-written Twitter and Facebook posts .
• Web/E-mail banners: Add the Wildfire Community Preparedness web banner to your site or event's landing page.

Important Dates to Remember

• January 16: National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day Webinar
• January 16: Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service
• January 25-27: Working Together Emergency Services Midwest Conference and Exposition
• February 4-7: National Sheriff's Association Winter Conference