Preparing for Dangerous Roads

As the temperature dips down Sunday night into Monday morning the threat of precipitation forming on the roads could be a hazard to drivers.

Aside from snow, sleet and ice are possibilities for tonight. With ice being hard to see on the roads drivers need to slow down.

You never know at what particular point in the road rains is actually ice, and so you've got to really back off on the speed, give yourself more distance," said Don Lindsey with Triple A.

And make sure you have proper tires. Tread and air pressure are very important to staying on the road.

"There's only 4 patches about this size holding, of rubber, holding your car on the road, that's where the tire meets the road, if those patches aren't good, forget everything else," said Lindsey.

Lt. Larry French says high ground temperature will prevent any accumulation from freezing on the roads tonight, but says the Tennessee Highway Patrol is prepared for the snow season.

"We just make sure that our troopers are in the areas, from the Kentucky state line we'll have troopers up there to Roane county, and they basically let dispatch know if they have snow, and what road conditions are," said French.

Dispatch would then notify TDOT so roads can be cleared and treated before conditions worsen.

"If the rain came down during the night and it's freezing, of course the bridges where the wind blows underneath it could possibly freeze before they had a chance to actually thaw out," said French.

And if you must travel during dangerous conditions...

"Just understand when the temperature is close to freezing and there's moisture out there, take it slow, look for the places where ice could be, don't do anything jerky," said Lindsey.


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