Driving in snow/ice without salt is absolutely possible, but requires better driver education.
Can you elaborate on what the education would cover? My experience driving in the midwest for 30 years has been that if at any given moment, physics decides you, even as an abundantly cautious driver are going for a slip and slide, you're going for a slip and slide.
A sliding car doesn't have to be an uncontrollable car. When it's only snow on the road, it's just a bit of sliding here and there, but most drivers can still drive safely.
I consider myself a highly skilled driver but I agree that when there's a mirror-like icy spot hidden under the nice fluffy snow on top, and you hit it at the wrong moment, you're just going.
It doesn't answer my question though. What kind of education, besides the education we already give about being a safe driver is the kind of education needed to be "good" at driving on snow and ice?
Asking as someone who is reaching a point where training a younger human how to drive is about to be a thing, and I'm always curious what others think of how to drive in this mess.
I've got all kinds of strategies and tactics passed down from my old man, and you know what? After researching I learned that almost all of them are orally traditional wives-tales and actually have more anecdotal histories of helping my dad avoid a tree than any actual real value when the rubber meets the ice..
The only thing that saves your ass when the rubber meets the ice (and your car's stability assist fails) are your own lightning fast reflexes and loads of experience.
There can be the usual "do this when the car oversteers, don't do this when it understeers", but it's crucial that the beginner driver experiences it all in a safe and controlled manner. A parking lot, an old airfield, a safe road in the middle of nowhere. Literally the fun stuff we did behind our parents' backs. Pulling the e-brake on FWD cars, drifting the RWD cars, getting a feel for the different sounds of different surfaces under the tires. When doing this on snow and ice it's not even that hard on the car and it's fun and also educational.
A car sliding a bit on a snowy road when you've been expecting it is a non-event. A car sliding unexpectedly with a beginner behind the wheel is a terrifying experience and often a dice roll between stuck-in-a-snow-bank or a head-on collision.
>What kind of education, besides the education we already give about being a safe driver is the kind of education needed to be "good" at driving on snow and ice?
You gotta drill into people's heads that "more of what you're already doing" makes losing traction worse instead of better.
If it were up to me the crappy driver's ed videos would have someone who's obviously really high telling people "you gotta just chill and go with the flow, man"
Can you elaborate on what the education would cover? My experience driving in the midwest for 30 years has been that if at any given moment, physics decides you, even as an abundantly cautious driver are going for a slip and slide, you're going for a slip and slide.