Rules for driving in winter conditions

1. Dont.
2. Seriously. Don't drive in bad weather.
3. Turn on your lights. There's no reason you can't flip that little switch, and it makes you more visible to other motorists.
4. Clean off your car. No, that doesn't mean a little square on your windshield - the ENTIRE CAR. Scrape all windshields and mirrors. Brush the 3-4 inches of snow from your hood, roof, and trunk. Clear your headlights, turn signals, and taillights.
5. Turn down the temp on your defroster. In "icy rain" conditions, you will keep your windshield cleaner if you have a "cooler" defroster than a "full hot" defroster.
6. Get dedicated winter tires. A front wheel drive car with winter tires will handle and stop better than an all wheel drive with all-season tires.
7. Pay attention! No cell phones, no texting, no NOTHING. Just drive. If you have to make a call, pull over into a parking lot.
8. Make every effort to match your wheelspeed with your vehicle speed. If you are spinning your tires, or if they are locked up you no longer have control over your car. You aren't Sebastian Loeb, now is not the time to slide the car around with a little bit of throttle.
9. As a last resort - if you are having problems getting around, try reducing the pressure in your tires. You do have that tire pressure gauge in your car, right? You can usually drop a few pounds from the recommended pressures in the manual/door sill and still be safe. For example - if you run 35PSI, drop that to 28 or 29. Remember to repressurize when the roads dry up.

Finally: PAY ATTENTION! You are responsible for knowing and driving within the conditions. It's highly likely the road conditions 1 or 2 miles from your house will be completely different than the conditions at your house. Learn how to "read the road" - see what other cars are doing. Are they sliding? Increase your distance to other cars. Are YOU sliding? Slow down. Does the road look "wet"? It's probably ice. ("black ice" doesn't exist - that means you aren't paying attention)

Learn how your car handles in an empty parking lot. Be prepared for a slide. If you have a manual, use a lower gear to slow down. If you have an automatic try to shift to "1" or "L". In the worst case scenario try to find an "out" - if you are sliding downhill, pick the grass/ditch instead of the car in front of you (obviously if there are people there, pick the car).