The only good news about the ice and sleet we received on New Years’ Day was it happened on a day when a lot of people had the option of staying home. It wasn’t a whole lot better on Sunday. For the most part, motorists seemed to get around reasonably well. Unfortunately, the news reports indicated a lot of holiday travelers got stranded in airports and along the Interstate though many parts of the U.S.
We still had our share of drivers who fail to realize that a 4-wheel drive or front wheel drive vehicle really doesn’t stop much better on ice than other vehicles. I witnessed my share of “slide-by” stops looking out my kitchen window the last couple days. It’s always interesting to watch the expression on the drivers’ faces when they realize they won’t be stopping where they thought they would.
I looked up winter driving on the MnDot (Minnesota Department of Transportation) site and after a little looking around did a search for winter driving. Click here to go to that lookup page. I would encourage you to review the safety tips. It’s a good investment in your time.
Please remember that winter driving conditions require you to plan for a lot of extra time to get to your destination. Haste and impatience is never welcomed on the roadway but it is especially hazardous when the weather is less than hospitable to driving. Road crews can only do so much during icy conditions so please do your part and slow down.
One other thing, our office staff gets quite a few calls from people asking them what road conditions are in various parts of North America. Most of the time, they can let you know how roads are in front of the Safety Center because they can see that through the window. If you need more detailed information, I would suggest you call the highway hotline for road conditions (in Minnesota it’s 511 on your cell phone or you can go to their site by clicking here to select the section of the state in which you which to gather road information about). The general 800 road information number is 800-542-0220.
Another option is the Weather Channel Website where you can at least get weather information for the specific area in which you are interested. To go there, click here.
I had the chance to watch a program called Airline on the A&E Channel on Saturday. They were showing what airline employees have to deal with at airports: everything from intoxicated passengers to destitute passengers to dried fish in a handbag. I’ve seen first hand how a lot of travelers take out their frustrations on the front-line folks. Having spent my fair share of time in airports, I appreciate what these folks have to put up with. If you get a chance, view one of the programs and next time you travel, thank these folks for getting you from point A to point B.
Happy New Year!