Be safe: Driving in the cold and snow

Blair Cullen 18s flipped over Chevy Equinox last February. Photo courtesy of Blair Cullen 18.

Blair Cullen ’18’s flipped over Chevy Equinox last February. Photo courtesy of Blair Cullen ’18.

Blair Cullen '18, Staff Writer

Everyone considers themselves good drivers, that is until you get in your first inevitable accident. As the police officer said looking at my turned over car, “it’s not if you get in a accident but when.”

 

According to CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), there are eight danger zones for the leading causes of teen crashes. These include driver inexperience, driving with other teens, nighttime driving, failure to use seatbelts, distracted, drowsy, reckless or impaired driving. My first accident (there have been three), came from the inexperience I had with winter driving.

 

It was my first winter driving, I had considered myself a good driver though I wasn’t always the most precarious. I went 30 down 25 mph streets, doesn’t everybody though? And sometimes I would roll through stop signs rather than actually stopping. Yet it wasn’t either of those that had made me flip my 2017 Chevy Equinox on the cold February day, but rather my inexperience with defrosting my windows. I look back on this accident and cringe, I was afraid of being late to my sunday morning basketball, so I did the worst possible thing, I rushed. As I was pulling out of my driveway, my windshield/windows were covered in ice, and I could hardly see three feet in front of me. I started to slow down my car and as I focused so heavily on putting my defroster on, I started drifting to the right. I hear a thump and expected that I hit trash cans. In reality it was a small compact car. I quickly swerve but as my right wheels were off the ground, the swerving caused my car to do a 180.

 

I was lucky to walk out with a scratch, the only thing hurting was my dignity as neighbors started to line up in their robes, and one even began to yell because that was her maids car I hit (totaled). Looking back, it would have been very easy for me to have avoided that crash.

 

For weeks after flipping my car,  I refused to drive thinking it was inevitable that I would hit something or end up in another accident, in reality it was easy for that not to happen.

 

The easiest way I could have steered clear of that, literally and figuratively would have been to keep a scraper in my car and remove all ice before entering the car. With newer cars can come the luxury of a remote starter; use this to your advantage. Not only will a warm car waiting for you allow for a more comfortable/less distracted ride, but will also allow for a defrosted front and rear.

 

According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration; to have a safe winter of driving, all drivers should follow the three P’s, prepare, protect and prevent. Prepare- Prepare For the trip by maintaining your car which often times includes adding air pressure to your tires in the winter and by keeping a scraper in your car for snow/ice removal. Protect- Always have your seatbelt on and keep your phone out of reach to avoid distracted driving and use car multimedia if you have it for making calls. Prevent- Prevent an accident by slowing down with bad road conditions, allow yourself for greater stop distance, give yourself more time in the morning to avoid to having to rush and allow for clearing your car off.