Winter Driving Tips

We've had a lot of snow over these past few days. On Sunday there was a break in the snow, so I thought that things would be fine for the Monday morning commute. It turned out that it snowed all night and kept snowing all morning. So, naturally, the roads were pretty bad. The roads in Boulder were "plowed" to Boulder standards, so it was still pretty messy in some spots. And, naturally, it was messy in all the places I needed to be. But as the weather turns, now is a perfect opportunity to list some of my winter driving tips/pet peeves.

1. When leaving your home, apartment, or place of work, at least make an attempt to clean the snow off your windows. And it is preferable to clean the snow off all your windows. Cleaning the snow off the windshield on only the driver's side while leaving the rest of your windows covered in snow probably isn't the wisest or safest thing to do. When you change lanes, it is generally a good idea to be able to see what is behind you or next to you. Perhaps you are able to drive from Point A to Point B by using the force or the grace of God, but it would give me greater comfort to know that you can see out of your windows.

2. Turn signals are your friend. If we didn't need them and if they weren't useful, car manufacturers wouldn't waste the time and money to install them. If you use a turn signal it lets me know where you are going. That is important to me because it lets me know if I need to slow down a little more or if I need to hit my breaks. And turning on the turn signal after you start to make the turn doesn't help. Try turning it on before you make your turn.

3. Don't make a U-Turn in a slushy intersection when there is oncoming traffic. That's just stupid.

4. Just because you drive a big car, that doesn't mean that you can drive as fast as you want. You can still spin out of control and slide into a ditch. I won't stop to help you if you were being stupid.

5. If you think I'm driving too slowly, pass me, don't ride my bumper. If you hit me, I'll take you for all your insurance and fake a neck injury to punish you for your stupidity.

6. If you're a pedestrian, don't jaywalk in front of oncoming traffic. If I can't stop my car in time and hit you, well, I'm sorry...

Current mood: annoyed
Current music: random songs. Currently Tori Amos "Taxi Ride"
Current drink: hot chocolate