Online Quotes, Five Winter Driving Tips: It maybe hard to believe, but the auto insurance nightmare of winter is rapidly approaching. Drivers all across the North are now prepping for blizzards, ice and all the fun of shoveling. Here are a few tips to get you prepped for that winter fun while reducing your trips to the auto insurance agent:

1. Get dedicated snow tires

The first line of defense against that fluffy white stuff is snow tires. These tires are designed to give you the best grip possible, while keeping the snow out from under your tires.

If you can’t afford snow tires, make sure you have a decent set of all-weather tires to ride on. Driving around with bald slicks will only end up with you talking to the auto insurance agent about how you ended up in the ditch.

2. Seeing is believing

Keeping your windows cleaned off should be a no-brainer to avoid an auto insurance nightmare. You may even have to stop on the side of the road to clean your wipers and scrape your windows from time to time. How can you avoid a potential accident if you can’t even see?

3. Lighting conditions are good

Keeping your headlights cleared and working is a great way to avoid an auto insurance claim. Having working headlights will provide you two major benefits. The first of these benefits is lighting your way through the blinding snowstorm. If you can see, you can’t avoid possible collisions. Working headlights also provide you a way to signal for help if the event of an emergency.

The second benefit is to your fellow drivers. Turning your headlights on will make you more visible to oncoming traffic. This is a big step in safety for you and your fellow road mates.

4. Technology provides you no miracles

Even with all the miracles of GPS, ESC, ABS, and sweet electronic voices can’t help you during bad weather. The first line of auto insurance defense is you. Don’t assume that those anti-lock brakes are going to keep you from sliding into a ditch because you were cruising to fast down the road. Drive smart, drive safe, and drive to your abilities.

5. Practice in an empty parking lot

You’ve heard just how much practice makes perfect. Why not hit a parking lot for a bit of a refresher course on how to handle winter driving. Find a big empty parking lot when that first snow falls and start remembering how to drive in the snow.

Things you might want to practice is how to recover from a slide, how to break without locking up the breaks, and how to make emergency maneuvers to avoid hazards in front of you. Make sure you choose a parking lot with enough open space that you won’t cause yourself any auto insurance headaches.

Winter should mean the time of happy snow forts, snowball fights, and snowmen going up in your front lawn. Winter does not need to mean several trips to the auto insurance agent thanks to car crashes. These tips will help keep you playing in the snow instead of cursing the snow.