Winter Driving

Winter Driving

In her post Dress For The Ditch earlier today Kathy addressed some of the things that should be in your emergency kit in your car.

Now I would like to show the silly and the serious side of winter driving.

Are you ready for it?

Some Folks Just Don't Get It

Have you ever driven down the road behind some one who is obviously not prepared for winter driving. They poke along because they do not have good tires or they are constantly scraping the inside of the widow because their defroster does not work. Some drivers are just not prepared for winter driving and then there are some who just should not drive in the winter.

A Bus Drivers Tale

Picture this - On a trip through northern New York State with snow blowing across the road at just high enough off the ground to obscure the vision of the cars on the road.

Your driving down the Interstate with the wind blowing the snow across the road, at times limiting visibility to a few feet, you have just passed a bus on the inside because he is traveling in the outer lane which is fairly clear. After passing you pull back out into the outer lane and proceed merrily along on your way.

Every once in a while you see the road ahead obscured by the blowing snow and in the rear view mirror you can see the top of the bus over the snow blowing across the road. He can see over the blowing snow but you can't. You round a corner and suddenly you hit a wall of white so thick you can't see a thing in front of you, what do you do?

If you have been paying attention you know there is only the bus close to you and he is traveling in the same lane you are. If you slow down and pull over to the right the bus will likely pass you safely. If you slow down and the bus does not there is a good chance you will be through the white out before he catches up to you. What would you do?

This particular driver panicked slammed on the brakes and sat, stopped dead, in the middle of the lane waiting for the snow to stop blowing.

As the bus rounded the corner the driver could see the snow blowing out between two patches of trees, but not the stopped car in the blowing snow between them. He started to slow down. He could see over the snow and the road was clear ahead of the blowing snow. The car had been far enough ahead that he should have been gone and around the next corner out of sight. Still he slowed down but would it be enough.

At the very last minute the driver saw the roof of the car through the blowing snow. Automatically he applied just the right amount of pressure on the brake peddle to avoid a skid as he swerved and narrowly missed the car. Only the driver and the passenger directly behind him knew how close they had come to mayhem on the highway that day. The rest of the passengers, had to be told why the bus had swerved so abruptly. The people in the car were lucky, This Time!