The roads are icy and the snow is blowing. The windshield is freezing and cars will not warm up. These are many of the things expected during the winter season. Many students hope for school to be canceled in these icy winter weather conditions.

According to the Auburn-Washburn District website, Auburn-Washburn School District will not cancel school unless the district feels that it is not safe for students to be transported to school. To determine the danger of the roads, the superintendent, director of support services, transportation supervisor and head mechanic will drive the routes that all the buses travel.

After evaluating the conditions, they meet together and compare reviews and reports from outside sources.

If school is closed, the decision is always made by 6 a.m. and the local news channels will be notified.

Just because school may not be canceled does not mean that one should not take necessary precautions while driving. According to www.whatdiesel.co.uk, “an astounding 55 percent of all road accidents occur in the winter months.”

This is the time to be extra careful on the roads. Here are some simple handy tips:

One: Always have an ice scraper. This will be needed to scrape the layers of ice off the windows before one leaves the house. After a couple of hours there is a chance that the windshield will be covered with ice again.

Tip two: Let the car warm up and really warm up. If needed, get up earlier in the morning to start the car. It is important that the defroster is warm enough to work efficiently.

Tip three: Cover the car’s windshield with cardboard while the car is parked. This keeps part of the windshield iceless.

Tip four: Decrease one’s speed and leave plenty of room to stop. One should allow at least three times more space than usual between you and the car in front.

Tip five: While breaking, don’t expect that the car will stop like usual. Pump the brakes.

If one’s rear wheels start to skid to the right, turn to the right. If the rear wheels are skidding to the left, turn to the left. If the front wheels skid, take foot of the gas and shift to neutral.

Do everything possible to reduce accidents in the snow. This will help oneself and everyone around.

For more tips on safe winter weather driving, log onto www.weather.com.