Automobile club Luxembourg

Advice for driving in winter

Drivers need to be especially careful when temperatures are close to freezing, as weather and road conditions can change quickly. Here is some advice on how to drive safely in winter.

Alternate freezing and thawing means that the road surface is constantly changing. On top of that, a layer of ice is even more slippery at zero than with a severe frost, as an additional film of water can form. When this happens, and in winter conditions generally, winter or all-season tyres (marked M.S. or M+S or M&S or with the Alpine symbol) are compulsory. ACL advises the choice of a tyre with an Alpine symbol, as tyres with this logo have to meet various tests carried out in winter conditions.
 
Winter conditions refers to “black ice, packed snow, melting snow, sheet ice and frost”. Driving with summer tyres in these conditions incurs a warning and a fine of 74 euros.
 
And the law says that the minimum tyre tread is 1.6 mm, summer and winter. For safety reasons, ACL recommends not going below 4 mm.
 
Winter is definitely the season when drivers need to be even more careful than usual. Changing weather conditions, reduced light and other safety hazards require us to adapt our behaviour to all of these situations.