Driving during the colder months can be perilous. Felicity Cousins asks the experts how to approach the roads this winter
Anyone who had to drive a car during the worst of last winter’s snow and ice is unlikely to have forgotten the experience. The coldest period recorded for the UK in more than 30 years, it showed up only too clearly the weaknesses of the country’s transport network. And with the authorities warning of another bitter winter ahead, it doesn’t bode well if you will be hiring a car at home or abroad in the coming months.
Thankfully, car rental companies are well prepared for the winter season, in many instances fitting special tyres to their vehicles for the duration. In the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, winter tyres are not a legal requirement – if you asked for them to be fitted, you may even get some funny looks – but in many other European countries, such as Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Norway, Latvia and Sweden, they are mandatory.
According to Per Voegerl, commercial director of car rental company Sixt, 95 per cent of its fleet in Germany, Switzerland and Austria will have them fitted from November 1 until April 15. “Winter tyres in continental Europe are a day-by-day business,” he says.
If adverse conditions are likely where you are going, it is advisable to request such a car when you book. Fabrice Quinquenel, Hertz’s vice-president of sales for Europe, says: “In some countries the fleet is moving from one place to the other and we do our best to provide four-wheel drive and winter tyres [where they are needed], but if you are arriving in the evening you can sometimes end up with whatever is there – that’s a logistical challenge for us. So the tip is to book a car with winter tyres in advance.”
Changing a whole fleet of cars’ tyres is a huge undertaking and one that is costly for the rental companies. For business travellers, this means rental prices rise as winter surcharges are added during the colder months. Quinquenel says: “There is a winter fee or surcharge but only in the countries where winter tyres are mandatory. They are expensive.”
Voegerl agrees. “You have to pay extra for [the tyres] because not everybody wants them,” he says. Voegerl says a business traveller hiring a standard-category car for 24 hours could expect a surcharge of E16 in Germany, E6 in Austria and E9 in Switzerland. The price in Germany is greater because demand is lower than in Switzerland and Austria, countries almost entirely landlocked by Alpine regions. Prices are reduced for longer rentals. Hertz and Avis have similar winter surcharges.
If this winter is going to be as harsh as last year’s, will car rental companies in the UK soon have to start providing the tyres too? Quinquenel says: “Everybody is talking about global warming so it is very difficult to say. If you order them and no one wants them then you end up with a cost nightmare, but given the past two winters, we are starting to look at these options.”
The rental firms also make other changes to their fleets during colder weather to ensure they are fit for purpose. David Ames, Avis’s UK health and safety manager, says: “Every vehicle goes through a pre-rental checklist – making sure the tyres are the right pressure, that the fluid levels are right, and that the lights and horn work. In winter we also pay particular attention to things such as windscreen wipers. We change the windscreen fluid to a thicker one so it doesn’t freeze, and provide an ice scraper in every vehicle.”
While rental companies have the logistical problem of making sure their fleet is in the right place at the right time, business travellers may find themselves being charged for dropping off a car late because of poor weather. But Voegerl says Sixt tries to be flexible. “We give our corporate customers an extra hour [before being charged for the next 24-hour period] but it is difficult. We know the traveller is not responsible for the weather and neither is Sixt, so we look at it on a case-by-case basis,” he says.
Quinquenel at Hertz says: “You have to help the customer but, yes, you would be charged. We have to adapt our policy, like we did during the ash cloud, when we allowed customers to cancel five days in advance without charge.” (Usually you have to cancel seven days before.)
So what is the best way to approach a journey in inclement weather? Avis’s Ames says: “There are three areas to consider – the driver, the vehicle and the driving style. You need to be prepared for delays and breakdowns – if you have to spend some time in your car it can get extremely cold, so pack warm clothing and a flask of hot water.”
Four-wheel drive vehicles will, of course, be more stable in freezing conditions, but Ames also advises that if you are hiring a smaller vehicle, you should opt for a front-wheel drive, as rear-wheel drives are more likely to skid on winter roads.
And what about driving style? Ames says: “Expect the journey to take longer. The best tip is to be smooth in terms of acceleration, breaking and gears. People will often break heavily and move from fourth into second or first, whereas if you slow down more gently and work your way down through the gears, it helps to prevent skidding and losing control.”
Hertz’s Quinquenel agrees: “Always allow extra time – rushing in a snowy world is not good. Leave a meeting early or plan a later flight, make sure your mobile is charged and try as much as possible to use the major roads.”
Voegerl highlights the need to anticipate what other road users will do.“Plan far ahead – the problem is not your driving, it’s how other people drive,” he says. “Keep your distance and use things such as satnav to make the journey easier.” And if it’s really bad out there, don’t drive at all.
