Know How: Drive in Snow
December 17, 2011, By Jack Heffron 0 comments
I've lived places where it snowed a lot, and other places where it rarely did. One thing they all had in common: everyone thought they could drive well in snow but that other drivers didn't have a clue.
I've heard so many people complain, "People here don't know how to drive in the snow" that I wonder who the "people" are that everyone is griping about. If everyone boastfully claims they're savvy behind the wheel on slick roads, there must be a boatload of buffoons who clutter the streets when it snows and then evaporate until the next blizzard.
The usual complaints are that other people drive too fast or too slow, are too cautious or too reckless, are holding up traffic or causing wrecks by being impatient. When we do arrive at our destination, we disgustedly proclaim that other people are idiots and should just stay the hell home when it snows. Of course, our complaint makes us feel dandy about ourselves, far superior to other drivers—that worthless bunch of timid souls and/or belligerent jackasses who screw up the flow of traffic.
In the interest of safer winter driving—and my personal hope that this winter I won't have to have that skull-numbingly dull conversation about how other people don't know how to drive in the snow—here's a helpful video that covers the basics of how to properly operate a motorized vehicle when the white stuff is falling from the sky and freezing the streets. It's a short video and probably doesn't offer much you haven't heard before, but it's a worthwhile refresher, and at least now we'll all be on the same page.
As we head into winter, be careful out there, and try to show some kindness to the other guy—even though, of course, he has no idea what he's doing.
