Driving to conditions a lesson known all too well
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On the Line
ICBC urging drivers to make sure they’re going only as fast as conditions allow is not lost on this driver.
There have been a couple of incidents that remind me that when ice is on the ground, the foot goes over the brake pedal, not the gas.
Not trying to dwell on on my time in Kitimat through this column, but I can recall driving back to the B.C. Service Centre after a stop off at the offices at Rio Tinto Alcan just after a fresh snowfall.
Being the good driver that I am, (I really am, I swear) I was driving somewhere between 45 and 50 km/h in the 60 km/h zone.
Along a straight stretch of the roadway, with thankfully no traffic in sight, my car began to fish tail.
Before I knew it, the car was doing 360’s right into the opposite lane.
The car came to a rest perpendicular to the road, parked on the opposite lane.
Slowly, oh so slowly, I pulled out and continued on my way despite the fact that I certainly have far less time to live on this planet following the incident.
So when the powers that be tell you to drive to conditions, you better drive to conditions.
On a recent trip to Prince George from here we delayed the trip when we woke up on Thursday to piles of snow out our window.
There was no shortage of frustration when driving to P.G. the next day, still some slush on the road, and there would be drivers passing us at high speeds.
Each time someone passes me with undue care my thoughts typically fall back to that day when my car made an impressive impersonation of a dreidel and I wonder what would happen if someone driving a bit over speed to pass me suddenly lost footing on the road.
It would definitely have ended worse than my little incident.
There have been other times that winter conditions were to blame for vehicular incidents.
Thankfully I have been found to not be at fault for any of them. (See, I told you I was a good driver.)
The bottom line is that driving through snow and ice takes a lot more mental effort than it does in dry, warm conditions.
The human mind is a wonderful thing but it does need the extra focus to do whatever calculations it does to figure out how fast to drive.
And conditions change rapidly, when going up or down a hill, or around a bend means you’re suddenly in a new climate.
From this driver to all you drivers, make sure you drive only as fast as you can to make sure accidents are avoided. No matter how fast you drive, you’ll be held back a lot longer when your fender decides to stop and hug a tree.
And since I’m on the subject of driving, I’ll just end on this additional non-sequitar: use your turning signal. Please. It is really helpful to others, even if it doesn’t seem like it.
- Cameron Orr
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