Anyone who drives Warwickshire’s rural roads knows winter changes everything. Between November and March, lanes that feel easy in summer turn into a real test, and the quieter back roads are where it shows most. If you drive these routes daily, here’s what’s worth knowing before the next cold snap.
Why the Quieter Routes Catch Drivers Out
The A426 between Rugby and Lutterworth, the A4071 out towards the A45 and the smaller lanes around Dunchurch and Willoughby share a problem in winter. The unclassified country lanes off these routes are often the last to be treated and the first to catch you out with black ice, standing water and poor visibility.
Warwickshire County Council publishes its gritting routes online, so it’s worth checking whether your daily drive is actually on the schedule. The council grits about 46% of its network, including all A roads and most B roads, so the bigger routes are usually covered. It’s the unclassified lanes that often miss out. If yours isn’t on the schedule, give yourself far more time and assume the surface is worse than it looks, especially first thing in the morning.
You should also keep a few basics in the car through winter. A torch, a blanket, a phone charger and de-icer cover most situations if you get stuck or stranded on a quiet road where help isn’t close by.
How to Handle a Skid Without Making It Worse
If your car starts to slide on a country road, the instinct is to brake hard and yank the wheel. Both make it worse. Ease off the accelerator, keep your movements gentle and steer into the direction the back of the car is going. Sharp corrections are what turn a small slide into a spin.
Switching to winter tyres helps far more than people expect once temperatures drop below around 7 degrees. They grip better on cold, wet and icy surfaces, which buys you time and control on exactly the kind of lanes that catch Midlands drivers out each year.
When Another Driver Hits You on Ice
Bad weather doesn’t remove anyone’s responsibility behind the wheel. Every driver has a duty to adjust their speed and behaviour to the conditions, so if someone is going too fast for an icy road and slides into you, that’s still their fault. It counts as a non-fault accident, and you don’t have to claim through your own insurer.
This matters because going through your own insurer can cost you your excess and put your no-claims discount at risk, even when you did nothing wrong. But there’s another route. When the accident wasn’t your fault, claims management specialists can take the whole thing off your hands instead. You call them first instead of your insurer, they assess what happened, and they get things moving straight away.
From there, they deal directly with the at-fault driver’s insurer, arrange your repairs and sort out a replacement car of a similar standard so you’re not left without transport. If you or your passengers were injured, they can help with that too through their solicitor partners.
All the costs are recovered from the at-fault insurer, so there’s nothing for you to pay and no excess to find. You’ll usually still need to let your own insurer know the accident happened, even though the claim itself runs through the other driver’s insurer.
Points to Remember
Winter on Warwickshire’s quieter roads rewards drivers who slow down, prepare the car and know their routes. If the worst happens and someone else loses control and hits you, remember the accident is theirs to answer for, not yours. Knowing your options before winter sets in means one less thing to worry about when the roads get bad.
Article written by Lydia White
