{"id":147959,"date":"2026-02-08T10:18:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T10:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/147959\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T10:18:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T10:18:18","slug":"fhp-warns-drivers-to-check-tires-after-cold-snap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/147959\/","title":{"rendered":"FHP warns drivers to check tires after cold snap"},"content":{"rendered":"

WILLIAMSBURG, Fla. \u2013 As Central Florida and Tampa Bay area drivers are coming out of a record-breaking cold snap, they should monitor their vehicles as temperatures climb.<\/p>\n

The Florida Highway Patrol warns that preparation is still vital to avoid road hazards caused by the recent chill.<\/p>\n

At FHP\u2019s Troop D station in Williamsburg, six-year trooper Migdalisis\u00a0Garcia said that cold snaps could deflate your tires, impacting safety on the roads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

Cold snaps can cause tires to deflate. Verify the correct levels using the sticker on your driver\u2019s door panel, as low pressure makes tires more vulnerable to damage
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Cold air can drop your tire pressure by 1\u20132 PSI for every 10-degree dip
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Drivers must reduce speed to allow for more reaction time. If you run into trouble, pull over to the shoulder and dial\u00a0*347\u00a0for a Florida Highway Patrol Road Ranger<\/p>\n

Trooper Garcia began her career with FHP, answering dispatch phones until her passion for helping others led her to be more involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt like I needed to do a little bit more, something to be actually involved, and not just be answering the phone calls. I kind of felt like I never got to know the ending of the stories,\u201d said Garcia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Getting down on the ground, Garcia showed how to properly check the air pressure for her trooper vehicle\u2019s tire, and how other local drivers can check their car\u2019s recommended air pressure level indicated by a sticker on the side of the driver’s door panel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always make sure that all four tires have the correct tire pressure. And if they don\u2019t know what that is, they can check it on the driver\u2019s door panel. There should be a sticker in there, and it tells you what tire pressure your tires should be at,\u201d said Garcia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles<\/a>\u00a0says drivers should check tire inflation often.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As temperatures drop, so can your tire pressure. Low tire pressure does not give tires better traction in icy conditions; it only makes them more vulnerable to damage.<\/p>\n

Ashley Cannady is an associate professor in the Physics Department at Rollins College in Winter Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cannady expressed just how easy it is for water to freeze on the road in lower temperatures, and how zero traction for your car\u2019s tires can be dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s say your neighbor forgot to turn their sprinkler off overnight. And I know I have a neighbor whose sprinkler is always going on the road and grass for some reason. And then it sits there with how cold we\u2019ve gotten recently. It could freeze and create this thin layer of ice where you get zero traction,\u201d said Cannady.<\/p>\n

Cannady also mentioned safety measures for drivers coming back on the road after Florida\u2019s temperatures warm up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“They go through that rapid expansion and compression, when they expand and contract, sometimes that ice that\u2019s on them will melt, the water will get into the asphalt when it expands, and when you get a cold snap again, it turns into ice cracks,\u201d said Cannady.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo yeah, that rapid change in temperature back and forth is a big reason why the roads up North are so worn down a lot quicker than down here,” she said. “I guess we could expect that in Florida because this is a historical low temperature.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Garcia said FHP dispatch calls have not increased yet, but they are prepared with extra troopers available to handle the extreme weather. Experts warn that aggressive driving on icy or wet roads can be a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that condition, it\u2019s important as well for drivers to reduce their speed, because that also gives you more time to react in case you have to brake and stop for something in front of you,\u201d said Garcia.<\/p>\n

\u201cUse those resources. You are not alone. And, if you don\u2019t feel safe again, just call STAR 3-4-7 from your cell phone, and a road ranger can be sent to help you out.\u201d<\/p>\n

FHP protocols tell drivers having trouble to pull over safely to the shoulder immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WILLIAMSBURG, Fla. \u2013 As Central Florida and Tampa Bay area drivers are coming out of a record-breaking cold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2173,28,30,29,43118,115,1335,139,135,729],"class_list":{"0":"post-147959","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-app-traffic-transit","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-headlines","11":"tag-florida-news","12":"tag-kiara-velez","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-orange-county","15":"tag-orlando","16":"tag-tampa","17":"tag-traffic"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}