Photo: Irina Yankovaya, Pexels
This guide covers Chapters 10 and 11 of the MPI Driver’s Handbook: driving in Manitoba’s snow, ice, gravel, fog and darkness, and what to do in an emergency or collision. Two points learners often get wrong: on gravel you need at least six seconds of following distance, and you don’t have to report a property-damage-only collision to police in Manitoba, whatever the cost of the damage.
Snow, ice and sleet
- Start slowly and test your steering and brakes gently.
- Reduce speed. Even snow tires can slide on ice or packed snow.
- Without anti-lock brakes: use steady pressure without locking the wheels (threshold braking). With anti-lock brakes: press firmly and hold, and you can still steer.
- Leave more following distance than the usual four seconds.
- Watch for slippery bridges, blind intersections, snow plows and graders.
- Keep every window clear and your lights on. Manitoba law requires a vehicle to keep the windshield, rear window and side windows free of frost from 1 November to 31 March.
- Check that your defroster and wipers work. You are responsible for keeping full control in any conditions.
- Studded tires are illegal between 30 April and 1 October.
Prairie whiteouts, fog and blowing snow
By law, your headlights must be on whenever visibility drops to 60 m. When you can barely see:
- Slow down sharply and use low beams. Fog lamps are better still.
- Slow further when you see lights ahead. They could be a car in the middle of the road or one that has stopped.
- At greatly reduced speed, turn on your hazard lights.
- If you can barely see, pull carefully off the pavement, stop, and wait for visibility to improve.
Winter survival advice for the whole country is in winter driving in Canada for new drivers.
What to keep in your car in a Manitoba winter
| Kit | Contents (MPI handbook) |
|---|---|
| Standard | Shovel, tow rope or chain, booster cables, flashlight, first-aid kit, basic tool kit, flares, fire extinguisher |
| Winter | Standard kit plus hatchet, chains or metal mats, scraper, snow brush, gas line antifreeze, winter clothing, boots, hat, mitts and blankets |
| Winter survival | Both kits plus waterproof matches, compact stove and fuel, candles, plastic or canvas sheet, light rope, blaze orange flag, carbon dioxide indicator, foil, tissues, metal cans with lids, dry foods and soups, plastic utensils |
Keep your fuel tank full in winter. If you get stranded, MPI says your chances are better if you stay with your vehicle. Plug in your block heater on a timer about four hours before you drive, not overnight.
Gravel roads
- Slow down as you move onto gravel. Stopping distances are longer.
- Avoid sudden swerves, hard braking and fast acceleration.
- Stay at least six seconds behind other vehicles, more on washboard, potholes or loose gravel. This also keeps you out of dust and flying rocks.
- Avoiding a rollover: if your wheels drift off the edge, don’t jerk the wheel or slam the brakes. Ease off the gas, follow the edge of the road, then steer back gradually.
Northern winter roads
Manitoba’s winter roads to remote northern communities cross muskeg, rivers and lakes and have no posted speed limits. The recommended limit for vehicles of seven tonnes or more is 15 km/h on all ice roads. Don’t travel until a section officially opens. Bring proper clothing, medication, enough fuel, survival gear and a cellular or satellite phone. Tell someone at your destination when you expect to arrive. Pass and meet other vehicles with great care, because swirling snow cuts visibility. Heavy trucks and slow maintenance equipment use these roads, and MPI recommends night travel so traffic is easier to see. Road users are responsible for removing their own garbage and abandoned vehicles.
Hills
- Slow down at the top of a hill to allow for the longer braking distance on the way down.
- Before a steep descent, shift to a lower gear so the engine helps you brake. Never coast downhill in neutral or with the clutch down.
- Don’t pass near the crest, where your view ends. Stay behind slow vehicles until you are over the top, and obey the markings and signs.
Night driving
- Low beams light about 30 m ahead and high beams about 110 m. Never drive faster than you can stop within your lit distance.
- Dim your high beams at least 450 m from oncoming vehicles and 60 m when following another vehicle.
- Headlights go on from half an hour before sunset to half an hour after sunrise.
- Use high beams only in open country with no vehicles near. Use low beams under street lights, in fog and when following or meeting another vehicle.
- Headlights on in the daytime make you easier to see and cut your collision risk.
- If you are dazzled, look at the right edge of the road and slow down until your eyes recover.
- For glare from behind, adjust your mirror or use the day-night setting. Keep your headlights and both sides of the windshield clean and your interior lights off. Watch for pedestrians, stopped vehicles and signs, which are harder to see at night. If you must stop, pull onto the shoulder and use your flashers or flares.
Skids, blowouts and leaving the pavement
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Skid | Take your foot off the gas or brake, and look and steer where you want to go. Straighten the wheels as the car straightens. To prevent skids, slow down before danger spots and avoid sudden acceleration, braking or steering. Many injury skids happen on dry roads. |
| Tire blowout | Grip the wheel, ease off the gas, and brake only once you have slowed enough to stay in control. A front blowout pulls the car toward that side, and a rear one makes the back sway. Don’t turn onto the shoulder until you have control. If it pushes you onto the shoulder, stay there and coast to a stop. Losing a wheel calls for the same steps. |
| Wheels on the shoulder | Stay on the shoulder, steer straight, ease off the gas and brake gently. Ease back on when traffic allows, without overshooting the centre line. |
| Oncoming car in your lane | Brake hard, move right onto the shoulder and sound your horn. Never swerve left. If you still can’t avoid a crash, steer for something that absorbs energy, such as a bush or snowbank, and take a glancing blow rather than a head-on one. |
| Car in water | You have only about one minute. Seatbelts off, oldest children first so you can help the youngest, open or break a window right away, send children out first, then get out. |
| Live wires on the car | Stay inside and drive clear if you can. If you can’t get free, turn on your hazard lights, move off the road as far as you can, stay inside, and warn rescuers to keep away and call police. If you must leave because of fire, jump clear without touching the car and the ground at the same time. |
| Animal in your path | Brake firmly and avoid swerving. |
| Emergency stop | Without anti-lock brakes, slamming the brakes locks the wheels and you lose steering, so use threshold braking if you have practised it. Anti-lock brakes leave you some steering when the brakes are fully on. Check your owner’s manual. |
| Vehicle on fire | Turn off the ignition at once, as this is usually an electrical short. Put out a small fire with an extinguisher, earth, sand or heavy clothing. If it is large, move away and call the fire department. |
| Wet brakes | Test them lightly after deep water, since they may pull to one side or not work at all. Dry them by driving slowly and braking lightly. |
| Flooded engine | Too much gas and not enough air stops it from firing. Check your owner’s manual. |
Breakdowns
- Get all four wheels off the travelled part of the highway if you can.
- Use your hazard lights. Place flares or reflective signs 60 m in front of and behind the vehicle.
- If you can’t move the vehicle, raise the hood to warn other drivers.
Manitoba collision rules: when do you have to report to police?
| Situation | Report to police? |
|---|---|
| Property damage only, any amount | No |
| Someone seriously injured (hospitalized) or killed, and no report made to an officer at the scene | Yes, within 7 days |
| Unlicensed driver, unregistered or unidentified vehicle, or you couldn’t get the other party’s details | Yes, within 7 days |
| You suspect drugs or alcohol in the other driver contributed | Yes, within 7 days |
| Domestic animal hurt or killed and not removed from the road | Yes |
| Domestic animal hurt or killed and already removed from the road, with no police report | Report to the owner if known, otherwise to the municipal clerk |
At every collision, you must:
- Stop immediately and check for injuries. Call 911 in Winnipeg, Brandon and most rural areas. Elsewhere, contact local police or the RCMP.
- If no one is seriously hurt, move the vehicles off a major road as soon as possible.
- Give your name and address, licence number and expiry, vehicle registration, and insurance policy number to anyone whose vehicle or property is damaged. If you aren’t the owner, give the owner’s details too.
- If you hit an unattended vehicle or property, try to find the owner. If you can’t, leave your name and address on it.
- Report the claim to MPI, by phone if you like, with your licence, registration and collision details to hand. You need a damage estimate before repairs. Your adjusting team checks your coverage, assesses fault and can explain your repair and appeal options.
If you come upon a collision
- Park off the road. For serious injury, call 911 or the nearest police station and ambulance.
- Turn off the ignition of the vehicles involved to prevent a fire.
- Place flares or reflective signs 60 m in front of and behind the scene, or use your four-way flashers. Have people stand off the road on both approaches to warn traffic, and put out the flares when they are no longer needed.
- Don’t move an injured person unless the vehicle is on fire, and then support the head and spine firmly. You may help someone who is pinned but unhurt to get free.
- Even without first-aid training, you can clear the airway of an unconscious person, press a clean cloth on bleeding (not on a serious head injury) and stay with the injured until help comes.
- Tell the ambulance attendant and police what help you gave.
Common questions
Do I have to call the police after a fender bender in Manitoba?
No. If only property is damaged, you don’t have to report to police, no matter how much the damage costs. You must still exchange details and report the claim to MPI.
When must I have my headlights on in Manitoba?
From half an hour before sunset to half an hour after sunrise, and any time visibility is 60 m or less.
Are winter tires mandatory in Manitoba?
The handbook bans studded tires from 30 April to 1 October. Check the current winter tire rule with MPI.
What following distance should I use on gravel?
At least six seconds, and more on rough or loose gravel.
Should I stay with my car if I get stuck in a storm?
Yes. MPI says your chances of survival are better when you stay with your vehicle.
Back to the full guide to learning to drive in Manitoba. Related: sharing Manitoba roads, Manitoba turning and backing and wildlife collisions in Canada.
Sources
- Manitoba Public Insurance, “Driver’s Handbook: Ice, Sleet and Snow”, “Gravel Roads”, “Winter Roads”, “Reduced Visibility” and “Night Driving” (apps.mpi.mb.ca)
- Manitoba Public Insurance, “Driver’s Handbook: Emergency Equipment” and “Fuel-Efficient Driving” (apps.mpi.mb.ca)
- Manitoba Public Insurance, “Driver’s Handbook: Skid Control”, “Blowouts”, “Running Off the Pavement”, “Direct Collision”, “Vehicle in Water”, “Vehicle Electrical Wires” and “Disabled Vehicles” (apps.mpi.mb.ca)
- Manitoba Public Insurance, “Driver’s Handbook: Hills”, “Daytime Use of Headlights”, “Losing a Wheel”, “Emergency Braking”, “Flooded Engine”, “Wet Brakes” and “Vehicle on Fire” (apps.mpi.mb.ca)
- Manitoba Public Insurance, “Driver’s Handbook: Collision”, “At the Scene of a Collision” and “Claim Reporting” (apps.mpi.mb.ca)
- Manitoba Public Insurance, “Driver’s Handbook: Required Equipment” and “Animals” (apps.mpi.mb.ca)