State Police caution drivers to go slow with mix of winter weather

BRISTOL, Va. -

Are you ready for winter driving? It seems to be the number one question as people head home from their holiday vacations. With rain, snow, slush, even ice on the interstate, police warn drivers need to be on high-alert.

Cars were moving quickly on Interstate 81 Saturday, but so were the clouds above. Susan Chilton is making a 300 mile journey from her home in North Carolina to Morristown, Tennessee and so far the weather has been unpredictable. "Some rain drizzling, maybe a little sleet, there was some snow," she said.

But drivers in the Tri-Cities beware, driving conditions can be dangerous with wet roads and icy spots especially in the mountains. News 5 even found crews on stand-by ready to start salting roads. "If it's below freezing, more than likely the roadways could be freezing at that point," said Trooper Chris Dixon with Virginia State Police.

Trooper Dixon says when the weather is constantly changing there is always an increase in the number of accidents, but those accidents can be avoided. "The best thing to do is maintain a safe distance between vehicles and expect the unexpected," he said.

Also slow down and never use cruise control on the wet roads. But Trooper Dixon adds to be especially cautious over bridges and keep an eye-out for black ice, "If you start spinning you just really need to not over-correct. Seems like over-correction is what really causes the accident. You just need to steer and try to steer yourself out of it and continue breaking."

We also checked with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, crews in East Tennessee will be working throughout the night monitoring road conditions. It's the same story in Virginia, Virginia Department of Transportation crews are also looking for ice and ready to start salting roads.