Driving too fast for conditions
Very few drivers know how to down shift these days, thereby letting your engine act as a brake. This is because most drivers NEVER learned to drive a standard. They think that antilock brakes will stop them on snow and ice. The last few weeks here in snowy NH, I have Relearned the benefit of 2nd gear and low gear. I grew up to the south of Buffalo where snow like this was just a normal winter.
My driveway has about a 20 degree incline. I have gone through probably 20 bags of rock salt and calcium chloride so far this winter. Most of it in the last couple weeks. Another 8-12” coming between Saturday and Monday.
I have 4-6 FOOT snow banks at my house in southern NH. My office parking lot here in Nashua has piles that are 20’ high. It reminds me of 1977/1978 in Western NY.
Wasn’t that called winter before globull warming? I grew up in Watertown, NY and we used to call this winter. That was before government disaster aid and the weather channel making every weather event year round into the end of all life on the planet.
A standard transmission in experienced hands can make all of the difference. Here in the plains, that type of snow and ice is the norm and high drifts are a common sight.
I also have a steep driveway; have you considered trying cheap clay cat litter? I have been using that for years and spread it using a broadcast fertilizer spreader. If you get any sun at all, the litter turns dark, absorbs the heat and makes for a good melt. It may freeze overnight but the next day the process begins again. Not as corrosive as salt melt. It also can provide pretty decent traction for cars and when walking on the driveway.