This winter, in our minds at least, has been one of the worst for driving we can remember. Worst in just about every way imaginable.
Freezing rain with sand and muck tossed up by every vehicle in front or heading the other direction. Of course, the washer tank drained kilometres ago, even if you were smart enough to top it up before your trip. Night time trips, headlights are plastered with road spray. Many northern roads have piles of snow on each side of the road and no place to safely pull over to clean the lights off. When it is just snow, it seems like every third day is blizzard conditions.
Yet day and night, there are always fools rushing to meet their maker.
Last week, winter driving conditions are blamed for four deaths on northern Alberta roads. In one case, it appears a garbage truck was driving too fast. Ahead, a semi-trailer apparently heading in the same direction was turning right, off the road. The garbage truck driver swerved into the opposite lane to miss the semi. It isn’t clear if he either didn’t see a SUV coming the other way due to snow, or didn’t make it right across the road. He killed two people in the oncoming vehicle and was injured himself. The 36 year-old female driving the SUV and a 44 year-old male passenger died at the scene. Two others in the SUV are in hospital with severe injuries. The 53 year-old male driving the garbage truck was shaken up but went home.
In another accident, a 35 year-old male driving a mini-van passed another vehicle in snow blowing conditions. He drove into a semi coming the other way.
And in yet another accident, a male driving a small car, age 31, collided with a pickup truck driven by another male, 72. The younger male died. The older male went to hospital.
Police say in all the cases, “aggressive” driving and bad road conditions were likely the cause.
Aggressive? Anybody driving for a few years in Canadian weather conditions has seen at least one, and maybe quite a few, of those “aggressive” drivers. They come in all shapes, sizes, and sexes. Some are fortunate to end up in a ditch. Most actually make it home to drive again another day.
We remember one case, we were heading west in broad daylight in a light snow. But the road was still totally covered from earlier heavy snowfall. Coming toward us was a semi tossing up a monster cloud of snow behind him.
Having just left town, we weren’t up to a normal speed for the road, and we pulled to the right anyway. We went into the cloud of snow. The semi went by. Immediately right behind, flying along in the cloud, leaning out his window trying to see better, we recognized a local councillor, age about 55.
He was half in my lane! As one person once said to me, “He was close enough to lick!” He never even noticed where he was! The only reason we didn’t collide was I had pulled over.
Besides a driver, we’re sure he thought he was a great councillor, too.
The moral? All seasons have both good and bad. People can make the bad worse. Let’s all be careful. There is no telling what might be coming at us.
Jeff Burgar