A Winter Wonderland?
One of the wonderful things about Facebook is that it introduces you to videos and pictures that you might never see if it weren't for Facebook. The two videos below are proof of that..
The first video is a Montana Highway Patrol video that shows a Montana patrolman trying to respond to an accident on an icy, snowy road where people whiz by at highway speeds regardless of the fact that there is an accident off to the side of the road, and a patrolman with his lights on. No spoilers here. Go ahead and watch it, and then come back.
Now it would be amazing to tell you that what you watched above was just Montana drivers (or drivers from whatever state) and that it doesn't happen anywhere else, but if I said that, I would be lying. Case in point is this video about an interstate in Michigan, also in the winter...
After watching those two videos, some things are very apparent, such as excessive speed and a lot of drivers who simply appear to be on cruise control both mentally and mechanically. From what I could tell, there were only one or two deaths between these two wrecks, and both of them came from the bottom video. Here is how to avoid this happening to you.
First off, keep an eye on the weather. If it's snowing as bad as it was in these videos, or it's icy, foggy, whatever, don't drive unless you have to. If you aren't on the road during inclement conditions, you can't get into an accident on that road. I get that there are times where you have to go out, but if you don't have to go out in weather like what was shown in both of these videos, stay in.
Next, SLOW DOWN!!!!! I can't say it enough, whenever conditions are not perfect, you need to get off of that throttle pedal. Did you notice how many drivers in the first video were going highways speeds as they passed the accident? Did you notice how many drivers attempted to slow down when they go to the accident scene? This is insanity, pure and simple, and the results are what we saw in that first video: lots of cars going out of control, and lots of people hurt. Whenever you are in a situation where the weather isn't good, your traction isn't going to be good, and you won't be able to stop or maneuver as efficiently as you can when the weather is good. Slowing down will give you added traction, and will give you more time to react to situations like an accident up ahead of you. All of the cars we saw wreck in that first video were going way faster than conditions would allow for safe driving, and as a result, there were a lot of wrecks. Anytime you are in a situation like that, do what those driver's didn't do, and slow down.
Something to keep in mind is traction, and the lack of it in the videos above. Remember, the part of your tire in contact with the road is not much larger than the palm of your hand, and when small space is driving over frozen or snowy ground, the traction is going to be very limited. So make sure you do not accelerate quickly, turn too sharply, or brake too roughly. Anytime you are driving in weather like this, you must treat the car like a fragile baby: do nothing rough, extreme, or aggressive. Instead be smooth, controlled, and agile with all of the controls. That will help you stay in control, or as in control as someone can be when it's as snowy and icy as it was in these two videos.
Focus is next, as in your focus has to be razor sharp in conditions like this. Speed and focus have what physicists call a proportional relationship. In other words, as one goes up, so must the other. The faster you go, the more focus you must give the road. If you ever get a chance to see the eyes of a racing driver, you'll see this in action: their eyes show nothing but pure focus. They are thinking about the car, the turn, braking, passing, all the things related to racing. Not a one of them is thinking about dinner, or the attractive person they saw at the bar that night, or about the next movie they want to see. It's 100% focus on the car and driving. The reason all the wrecks happened in the videos above is because the drivers who wrecked had the focus they would normally have on an interstate during a summer drive: traffic goes fast, roads are never a problem, and people never stop during a summer drive on an interstate. None of those people, especially the ones in the Michigan video, ever switched from summertime to winter time as far as their thinking went. During the summer, you go 75 on an interstate, and you don't worry about braking because you never have to brake. They took that mindset into the conditions we saw on that video, and the results were catastrophic
Now let's say something happens to your car on an interstate or busy road, and you have to pull over on a road such as either one in these videos. What you should do is pull off as far off the road as possible. If it's an interstate like this one, with people driving like this, I would not pull over onto the side of the road. Instead, drive until you reach an off ramp, and pull over there. True, you could do far more damage to the car by driving it a further distance when it's breaking down, but cars can be fixed, it's just money. You are much harder to fix if you get hit. So don't worry about the car, and get off the road, all the way off of the road. Once you're stopped, call someone (another reason I tell you to keep your cell phone charged every night so you have a charged phone to start the day with, and if you deplete the battery a lot at work or school, charge it before you leave those places too), and ask them to pick you up. If it's cold out, you are going to likely stay in the car, which is wise. But do not forget to keep your seat belt on. As you saw with both of these videos, these accidents were rear-end collisions: something that is survivable with a seat belt. If you don't have a belt on, what happens to you is what happened to the woman in the first video if you're lucky. If you aren't lucky, you get ejected on to the road and ran over, or you go through the windshield. Neither option is good, so stay belted as you wait for help.
On a related note, how is that survival kit you have in your car? You know, the one with the blanket, water, a snack, jumper cables (or a portable battery pack) and fluids for the car? If you get caught out in winter weather like this, a blanket could be a life saver, as it might take help an hour to arrive. If you don't have anything like this, I'd recommend a blanket for each person who normally rides with you, as well as a couple of bottles of water and a snack for each person. Don't just think this car survival kit only applies to people who live where it snows. Desert areas get down to the 20s in the winter. If you break down at night in the desert, you are going to want that blanket too.
The takeaway from all of this is to first, not drive in conditions like this if you don't have to, and then, slow down and stay focused, more focused the more the weather deteriorates. The people in these videos didn't, and how many of them now will either have family members lost to them, or have to learn how to walk again or function again due to injuries from these accidents? Too many, I'm afraid. Follow the tips I showed you here, and let's make sure you never end up in a situation like this. Until next time...
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