Winter driving conditions

For ten years I commuted from the Okanagan to work in the lower mainland. In that time, I drove ten winters over the Coquihalla, in mostly a rear wheel drive van and never once as much as spun a tire in some of the worst snowstorms imaginable on that road.

At times visibility was down to zero with fog and blowing snow. Snow plowing was sometimes minimal, so it was negotiating icy tracks down the center of the road because you could not see the edges. In all those years, I came upon many cars, either in the ditch, upside down, or on their side, (the four way flashers sure looked funny), the result of people not driving to the conditions.

These days during storm events, almost all major roads are closed multiple times due to vehicle mishaps, from simply sliding off the road into the ditch, up to unfortunately, fatalities. I expect if you asked most involved, they would tell you, “I should have been driving slower.”  The result is damaged or destroyed vehicles, missed family events, or worse, families torn apart by tragedy.

Most accidents are avoidable, so at the risk of sounding insensitive, “it’s your speed, just slow down, it's that simple.”

Andrew Marr