Black Ice Trivia Quiz

Answer: Glare ice

The most dangerous thing about black ice is that you generally cannot see it. It is not actually black, it's transparent, but gets the name because it is so often associated with tarmacadam roads. It often occurs on roads that are damp at freezing or sub-freezing temperatures.

Answer: Drive slowly in as high a gear as possible

In the UK, Which?.co.uk recommends: "Drive more slowly than usual, accelerating and braking gently and selecting a higher gear than you normally would, to avoid wheel-spin. Stick to main routes where the volume of traffic will clear the surface of snow. If the car begins to slide, take your foot off the brake and the throttle, steering into the skid until the car is back under control."

Answer: Both on the rear

Regardless of whether your car is front-wheel, rear-wheel or all-wheel drive, put the new tyres on the rear wheels. This is because if you have more tread on the rear tyres the car will tend to under-steer. If you have more on the front, it will over-steer. Over-steer is much more dangerous.
"It's good practice for safety to fit the best/newest tyres on the rear - in wet conditions, this favours under-steer rather than over-steer. So if you have the front tyres renewed it's best to have the rear ones moved to the front and the new tyres fitted to the rear." [Source: theaa.com]
Under-steer occurs when you turn a car into a bend but it does not respond and keeps going straight, or does not turn as much as you want.
Over-steer occurs when you steer a car into a bend but it turns much more sharply than you anticipated.

Answer: False

Not necessarily; a two-wheel drive car fitted with 'winter tyres' will serve you just as well as a 4WD with 'summer tyres'.
Four-wheel drive is all very well for traction, but when you have to stop, it's of no advantage.
This is a useful reminder:
"Best grip: 4WD on winter compound tyres.
Next best: 2WD on winter compound tyres.
Next best: 4WD on all year tyres.
Next best: 2WD on all year tyres.
3rd worst: 4WD on wide, low profile tyres.
2nd worst: 2WD FWD on wide, low profile tyres.
Worst: 2WD RWD on wide, low profile tyres."
[Direct quote from honestjohn.co.uk]

Answer: 4,000

According to the National Research Council there were 4,000 fewer fatalities in 1974 than in 1973. [Source: Transportation Research Board. 1984. 55: a decade of experience. Special Report 204. Washington, DC.]
Before 1973, US states set their own limits and The National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 removed the federal national limit and again allowed states to set their own.

Answer: Afghanistan

The figures for the Year 2000 were: Afghanistan 39.0; Albania 13.9; Angola 37.7; Argentina 13.7, and are per 100,000 inhabitants. The world figure in this comparison was 20.00.
According to the World Heath Organization, road traffic collisions are the sixth most common cause of death in what it calls "developed nations".
FunTrivia regulars around the world may like to know that in some of their areas the figures looked like this: Australia 6.8; Canada 9.2; Ireland 7.8; Israel 5.7; New Zealand 8.6; UK 3.59 and USA 12. 3.
Want to feel safe? Move to the Marshall Islands, where the figure was 1.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Answer: False

Too much speed could create a bow wave and swamp your engine, and that of any other car nearby. The best way through is slowly, but keeping the revs up so that water cannot enter the exhaust pipe. You should also be careful not to enter any water that could reach your engine's air intake. [Source: www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/seasonal/winter_motoring.html]
By the way, good luck in getting that invitation to Nightmare's house. I'm still waiting on mine.

Answer: Green Cross Code

David Prowse, MBE, was born in Bristol on 1st July 1935. He had an early career as a weightlifter and bodybuilder before turning to acting. He had roles in "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) and "Vampire Circus" in 1972. He had several TV roles including "Dr Who", "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "Callan".
He also starred as "Green Cross Code Man" in a series of TV adverts aimed as educating young people on the safest way to cross the road. ("The Tufty Club" was an earlier similar campaign.)
Prowse performed the physical role of Darth Vader in the original "Star Wars" trilogy (1977, 1980, and 1983). James Earl Jones provided the voice.
"Clunk Click every trip" was a campaign to promote the wearing of seatbelts and "Think once, think twice, think bike!" called on car drivers to look out more closely for motorcycles.

Answer: Jensen

The Jensen FF of 1966 featured offered all-wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes and traction control. The car was visually similar to the Jensen Interceptor. The car needed all of those gizmos to handle its 325bhp, and it could reach 140mph. 'Autocar' magazine drove an FF up a Swiss ski slope and immediately dubbed it "the safest car in the world."
Incidentally, Mercedes-Benz claims to the the first to introduce ABS to production cars, it was standard on the 1985 Mercedes-Benz S-class. Fourteen years before that, Chrysler had ABS as an option on the Imperial. Also in 1971, General Motors had rear-wheel ABS as an option on some Cadillac models and Nissan offered Japan's first electronic ABS as an option on the President.
It has been a standard feature on most new cars since 2004.
ABS offers the ability to steer a car while under heavy braking and, if used correctly should minimise skidding.
WARNING: ABS does not necessarily mean a shorter braking distance, that can be affected by the road surface.
According to ukcar.com: "One thing that has to be remembered is that although ABS will help in bringing the car safely to rest, it will not be able to assist if the vehicle is placed in an unrecoverable situation. Some drivers tend to brake later and a lot harder relying on the ABS, but there still has to be the safe braking distance from the car in front. The practice of 'tail-gating' the car in front has been shown to result in more accidents than before ABS was introduced."

Answer: 96 metres (105 yards)

As the 'Highway Code' in the UK explains, you will need 24 metres just to think about hitting the brakes and another 75 to come to a halt.
Let's put that into perspective, a standard American Football pitch is 110 metres long (120 yards) and in soccer, international games played under FIFA rules are on pitches 105 metres long (115 yards).
If anyone answered 25 and is thinking of driving in Northern Ireland anytime soon, please let me know so that I can stay off the roads that day.