Whenever its bad weather I'll test the limits on a site street (with no parked cars of course) - cause it really does help you find out what exactly you can do. Plus side streets usually have worse conditions than the main ones to it prepares you even better. My wife thinks I'm crazy when I slam on the brakes while we're leaving the appartment complex
My other major rule is allow plenty of lead time because you can't slam on your brakes like you usually do.