The leading cause of death during winter months is transportation accidents, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Yet most Americans have never received training for safe winter weather driving.

The Jim Russell Racing Drivers School in Sonoma, California, teaches safe driving courses with special emphasis on managing skids and spin-outs that often occur in wet, snowy and icy conditions. The following helpful instructions are part of the Jim Russell safe driving course curriculum.

Winter Weather Warnings

1. The first rain of the season can be the most dangerous, as oil from the road comes to the surface causing slick conditions.
2. A day or two after a snowfall can be worse than the initial snow, due to freeze-and-thaw cycles that can cause icy conditions.
3. Beware of shaded sections of road, as they can hide ice.

Car & Driver Dos and Don'ts

1. The beginning of the rainy season is a good time to change your tires. Don't try to stretch more miles from your tires during the winter.
2. Jim Russell sponsor Yokohama Tire Corp. recommends that drivers keep their tires inflated to the designated pressure (PSI number on tire). Under-inflated tires can cause a car to react more slowly to steering and can cause the tire to overheat.
3. Your tires are critical to safe driving in snow. Winter snow tires are superior to all-season mud & snow tires in snowy conditions.
4. Test you brakes in snowy conditions with no other cars nearby so you'll know how the vehicle will react in braking situations.

Skid & Spin Control

1. Focus on where you want to go, and your hands will follow on the wheel. Most people make the mistake of looking where the car is skidding, which makes them steer in that direction, causing a spin-out.

2. Maintain your pace. In a skid, keep your foot off the brake and the accelerator, steer until you regain control.
3. Once you've recovered from the skid, gently apply the brakes: skids turn into spin-outs when the driver applies the brakes too hard.
4. If you're in a full spin and out of control, apply the brakes hard. Hitting the brakes hard will help to slow down the car in the spin-out. It will also make the car move in a consistent manner, whereas pumping the brakes will cause the car to "float" in multiple directions during the spin. (Hit the clutch and brakes simultaneously in a manual transmission car).
5. If you're behind someone skidding, continue driving straight forward and slow down safely: don't attempt to pass you'll have more options to avoid an accident if you're directly behind the skidding car, versus next to it.

"Many of the most important techniques to safely manage winter weather driving conditions are not intuitive," said Mark Wolocatiuk, director of instruction at Jim Russell Racing Drivers School. "We spend as much time breaking down drivers' bad habits as we do instructing them on the best ways to avoid accidents and protect their cars, passengers and themselves."

Wolocatiuk instructs competitive racers, as well as everyday drivers. In the school's Highway Survival Course, students get behind the wheel of a Russell SkidCar a skid control car simulator -- to learn skills the school hopes students never need. "In most cases, if you have to use the skid control techniques we teach, you're driving too fast for the conditions at hand," Wolocatiuk says. "Safe driving is based on attention and attitude. Keep calm, pay attention to road conditions, and slow down when the weather is a factor."

The Highway Survival Course at Jim Russell Racing Drivers School is a behind-the-wheel program that teaches people how to:

• regain control of a car during a skid
• avoid accidents by steering the car away from the problem
• use ABS brakes to come to a fast stop without losing control of the car
• maintain control if you steer off the road
• develop proper driving habits so that none of the above have to be practiced with any regularity