I was talking about winter driving with someone the other day and his statement was essentially, “If you can see the road, you can drive it, it just changes the speed you choose to travel at.” Additionally, he said if someone else chooses to speed in the conditions, then that’s their choice, but you don’t have to be worried about their speed.
Driving comfortably is huge and being cautious is extremely important. The other day I was driving and it was foggy out, the visibility wasn’t very good, but I could see the road, so going slowly I continued on my way home. I noticed a vehicle coming up behind me, slowly gaining ground. Then, across the highway was a semi and trailer, the semi had slightly missed his corner and had to back up, move forward, back up, and continue down the road he had turned onto.
The vehicle behind me after that must have gotten scared about how fast they were going because of the conditions. I resumed my speed, while they kept a fair distance and continued at the same pace as me.
You need to know how far you have to stop and if while going the speed your going is it possible to stop in that time. I think the driver behind me realized it maybe wasn’t the best idea to be going as quickly as they were going for the conditions.
Hindsight is always 20/20 though. If you absolutely have to get somewhere then the advice above is good advice. It’s true. I honestly feel like I can drive on anything, so long as I can see the road. The problem is you can’t predict what someone else is going to do. So, although I feel comfortable on roads of varying conditions, you can’t necessarily trust everyone else is. Or they may be overconfident and going too fast for the conditions in which case someone approaching the highway who has a stop sign, might not realize just how icy it is and if going too fast may just continue on through despite their best efforts to stop.
For this reason, if you don’t absolutely need to go somewhere, then don’t risk it because driving does come with risks. And although these risks are magnified in the weather and road conditions, the fact is someone might be on their phone at anytime, might be intoxicated anytime, might be falling asleep at the wheel anytime. So, being cautious and abiding by the rules of the road is huge because it allows you to better drive defensively in case something happens.
The fact is that vehicles go faster than humans were ever intended to travel, which means our reaction speed isn’t comparable. If you look out the side of a vehicle everything in the ditch blurs beside you, while something like a Cheetah can look sideways while at top speed and still see every little thing. They’re evolved to be able to do that; humans are not.
So, it’s important that anyone getting behind the wheel realizes that it is dangerous and caution should be used. People who drive race cars are literally training at those speeds with medical staff and full diagnostic tests done on their vehicles. They’re not just going out there and putting the pedal to the metal. If they lose control it could easily mean their life and the lives of anyone else caught in the wreck. The same is true on the highway, if someone is speeding along and causes a wreck then it could impact that driver, the person they struck, and any number of vehicles that might not have the chance to stop.
Don’t just take precautions this winter, but drive safe all year long.
