With whiteout conditions predicted starting Friday as part of a strong winter storm poised to wallop a long stretch of the East Coast, officials warn drivers in affected areas to avoid getting on roads this weekend unless it is absolutely necessary — and to practice extreme caution if they do.

That's because snow, sleet and freezing rain may blanket cars, ice over roads and hamper visibility.

Even if you're not in the path of this weekend's nor'easter, driving in a snowstorm is difficult. Aside from snow and ice, wind and poor visibility can make travel downright dangerous.

Here's a short guide to driving safely in winter weather:

Pack a winter driving kit

If motorists have any problems with their car's battery, brakes, heating and cooling system or ignition system, they should try to stay off the roads.

For those who must go out, it's important to plan.

The AAA recommends motorists pack a winter driving kit that includes:

• A bag of abrasive material (sand, salt or cat litter), a snow shovel and traction mats

• An ice scraper and window washing liquid

• Booster cables

• A flashlight and warning flares or triangles

• A cell phone and charger

• An extra set of gloves and a blanket

• Emergency food supplies such as power bars or beef jerky — and sufficient water.

Motorists should also have at least half a tank of fuel before venturing out, the AAA says, and should make sure tires are properly inflated.

Always deice your vehicle before driving

Iced-over vehicles can limit driver visibility, and ice flying off cars can be hazardous to fellow drivers, so deice vehicles before driving.

The AAA suggests drivers clean their windows and windshield, replace their window wiper blades if they're leaving streaks and clean all snow and ice from their hood, roof, trunk, lights and windows.

Drivers should warm their car's engine for a few minutes before hitting the road.

Drive slowly with headlights on low and avoid frequent stops

When driving in conditions with low visibility, motorists should proceed slowly with their headlights on low beam, the AAA advises.

The AAA also recommends drivers avoid stopping if possible. Instead, motorists should drive slowly so their car keeps rolling without requiring a full stop.

Steering around an obstruction is often safer than braking suddenly at speeds above 25 mph on a slippery surface, according to AAA's pamphlet, "How to Go on Ice and Snow."

When motorists do brake, they should not remove their foot from the brake or pump the pedal if they have anti-lock brakes, the AAA advises. Drivers that don't have anti-lock brakes should keep their heel on the floor and apply firm pressure to the brake pedal to the threshold of locking.

In case of skidding, drivers are advised to steer in the direction they want the front of the car to go, keeping their eyes on the travel path. They should not slam on the brakes -- that's likely to make it harder to regain control.

Additionally, the AAA suggests drivers avoid cruise control when driving on slippery surfaces.

Carefully exit parking spots

Drivers should try to ease their vehicle out of parking spaces without spinning the wheels. Drive back and forth for several feet in either direction to clear a path, the AAA advises, and spread sand or salt near the wheels if additional traction is needed.

Keep as much distance between your and other cars

To safely brake if necessary on ice or snow, the AAA advises drivers increase following distances to 8 to 10 seconds.

On highways, drivers should not change lanes often, as they can lose control driving over snow that gathers between lanes.

Take the hills as slowly as possible

When driving on hills, drivers should stay as far from other vehicles as possible so they don't have to stop while maneuvering around cars that are stuck.

This will allow drivers to gently speed up when they're near the bottom of the hill, the AAA says.

Motorists should drive downhill extremely slowly and try not to use the brakes. When it's necessary, however, drivers should brake gently so they don't lose control.

DORR TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A car was caught on video the moment it went airborne across snowy highway US-131 in Allegan County, Michigan on Thursday.

Michigan State Police say it happened while the driver was going southbound crossing through Dorr Township.

According to Michigan troopers, the black Chevy Impala left the roadway driving up a dirt embankment when it then went airborne and hit a road sign before landing on the vehicle's passenger side in a ditch.

Car driven by suspected drunk driver goes flying across US-131

Authorities said the 25-year-old driver from Kalamazoo survived the crash with non-life-threatening injuries. Troopers say he was taken to the hospital for evaluation and a blood draw because they believed he was exhibiting multiple signs of intoxication.

Due to his injuries, troopers say the driver was not arrested. Police said various charges including operating while intoxicated are being sought.

This story was originally published by Mark Huizinga of Scripps station WXMI in Grand Rapids.

Some drivers took advantage of roads and highways emptied by the coronavirus pandemic by pushing well past the speed limit, a trend that continues even as states try to get back to normal.

The Iowa State Patrol recorded a 101% increase from January through August over the four-year average in tickets for speeds exceeding 100 mph, along with a 75% increase in tickets for speeds of 25 mph or more over the posted speed limit.

California Highway Patrol officers issued more than 15,000 tickets from mid-March through Aug. 19 for speeds exceeding 100 mph, more than a 100% increase over the same time period a year ago. That includes a continuing spike from May on.

The most likely explanation is drivers taking advantage of more open roads because of the pandemic, said Officer Ian Hoey, a spokesman for the California agency.

The patrol planned a heavy presence over the Labor Day weekend, he said.

“Let’s just slow down a bit and enjoy the day!” the agency’s Santa Rosa division tweeted June 21, along with a photo of a laser speed device recording a car going 127 mph.

In Ohio, state troopers have issued 2,200 tickets since April for driving more than 100 mph, a 61% increase over the same time period a year ago. The highest ticketed speed was 147 mph in the Cincinnati area.

While traffic has decreased 15% from February through July, the number of people driving more than 80 mph on Ohio roads jumped by 30%, according to sensor data analyzed by the state Department of Transportation.

Columbus resident Karen Poltor experienced the trend firsthand last month when three cars raced past her on state Route 315, an expressway through the city.

“They were flying in the left lane and weaving around cars,” said Poltor, who estimated their speed at between 90 and 100 mph. “It was terrifying to watch.”

Ohio authorities are especially troubled that speeds not only picked up in the early days of the pandemic when roads were emptier, but they’ve also continued even as the state reopened and roads became more congested.

“We’ve seen people continue to go those speeds even though there now is more traffic, which makes it even more dangerous,” said Lt. Craig Cvetan, an Ohio patrol spokesman.

July was Ohio’s deadliest traffic month since 2007, with 154 fatalities.

A temporary reduction in traffic enforcement in the early days of the pandemic may have contributed to a sense of invulnerability by some drivers. Some Ohio police agencies — though not the patrol — eased up on pulling drivers over for minor traffic violations to avoid spreading the coronavirus.

In addition, Ohio troopers were spread thin for several weeks as they were called on to help distribute food and later provide security as protests over police brutality and racism erupted following the death in May of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“When people see less troopers on the roadway or they see less law enforcement out working, there is that tendency for them to start committing traffic violations,” Cvetan said.

Vermont law enforcement officials believe an increase in the number of traffic fatalities recorded to date this year could be linked to fewer police on the road because of the pandemic. So far there have been 43 traffic fatality deaths, up from 21 at the same point last year.

Utah state police saw a 23% jump in tickets issued for going 20 mph or more over the speed limit from March through August compared with the same time period last year. In Pennsylvania, patrol tickets for drivers exceeding 100 mph climbed in March but then stayed high from June through August, jumping 25% during that three-month period.

The government warned drivers to slow down in a mid-July message aimed at pandemic speeding.

“Less traffic has coincided with a rise in speeding in some areas of the country, and that’s a problem because speeding increases the risk of crashes, and can increase crash severity as well,” said James Owens, deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a public service announcement.

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Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Ryan Foley in Iowa City; Don Thompson in Sacramento, California; Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vermont; and Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City.

The Senate recently passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that will allocate $11 billion for transportation safety. One part of that relates to new technology added to vehicles to help prevent drunk driving deaths.

“The DADSS technology is novel technology, completely different than the conventional breathalyzer everyone is familiar with,” said Robert Strassburger, president and CEO of the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety.

The Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety, or DADSS for short, is a different type of detection system than what you might be used to seeing.

“This technology is intended to be working in the background, installed in the vehicle at the time the vehicle is made,” Strassburger said.

He oversees the development of this tech.

“By breathing naturally or by touching the steering wheel or the starter button, the system would measure your blood alcohol concentration,” he said.

If your BAC, or blood alcohol concentration, was over a certain threshold, the car would respond in a number of possible ways: either give a warning, not start, or not change gears.

“This is very high-risk research,” he said.

And after 20 years of helping develop this technology, Strassburger said more work and research still needs to be done.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that about 28 people in the U.S. die each day in drunk driving crashes. In 2019, more than 10,142 people lost their lives.

“Prior to moving the vehicle, I can see that saving a lot of our young kids, or those one-time offenders,” Dr. Tricia Hudson-Matthew, associate professor at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, said on the different technologies being developed for drunk driving prevention.

Dr. Hudson-Matthew is a substance abuse expert and sees how technologies that can monitor a number of factors, from speed to lane changing to slurred speech, can help.

“They’re looking at the ways of picking up, detecting behavioral patterns in the car, which will be interesting,” she said.

This new technology could be in every car manufactured in just a few years. The Senate recently passed a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill that includes language on automobile safety. The bill will go to the House next.

“It’s multisectoral, and by that I mean it deals with a number of infrastructure sectors at once in a sort of holistic way. That is in contrast to what Congress normally does,” said Rick Geddes, founding director at the Cornell University Program in Infrastructure Policy. “What we have is a mandate from the Senate for the National Highway and Safety Administration to develop the technology. And to look at the technologies that are out there and develop a standard within three years so that new cars would have to have some standard, which is to be determined.”

Economist Alan Gin said something like this does come at a cost.

“It’s been estimated this infrastructure package is going to add about $250 billion to the federal debt over a 10 year period,” said Gin, an economics professor at the University of San Diego.

So who will pay for this new technology in every car? Strassburger said while they don’t have an exact cost just yet, it will probably be up to the manufacturers what cost is implemented on consumers, if any.

“It will be their decision what to charge, how to charge it,” he said.

DADSS continues to develop the tech to quantify the amount of alcohol in a driver’s blood.

“Our quantification will be linkable to the gold standard, which is a hospital blood draw,” Strassburger said. “Our job ultimately is to produce the best, most accurate, most reliable, best-performing sensor as possible.”

And after decades of research, Strassburger is seeing the results.

“What is really rewarding is after being involved in this program for so long, I can see the finish line. I can see we’re going to finish and that is really great,” he said.