Importance of Winter driving skills

I, am so so appreciative that I haven`t lost anyone to a motor incident. I`ve been in several, and unfortunately so have my family members, but we were all able to mostly recover from any injuries. Out of the 4 accidents I can remember or have stories about, two were from distracted drivers- one rear end accident when I was a baby and one T-bone incident from last year. Thankfully despite the T-Bone being a major accident nobody was hurt beyond what physio could fix, and my mom, who took the brunt of the hit has gotten as fully recovered as she`ll be, with minimal residual pain. The rear end accident left my dad partially confined to a couch or bed for years afterwards- my core childhood memories are riddled with the strained request for icepacks and heatpacks, or declining going on outings due to pain. He, too, has recovered more since then, but of course an injury that severe will have residual pain from time to time. These two incidents plus stories from friends about distracted drivers solidified my opinion that driving distracted and/or under the influence should have a higher criminal penalty, even for first time offenders. The only thing that gets accomplished from an action like that is harm for someone in the world, and introducing stricter penalties for reckless driving such as these would (hopefully) eliminate some deaths from happening.

One of the other accidents was our fault. In a city known for being one of the coldest cities in the world with a decent population, the ice at stop signs gets ridiculous, and we didn’t take enough caution approaching one. Thankfully the only casualty was the slight angle that the pole got adjusted to, with minimal car damage and no injury or blockage of the road. Growing up in Canada as a whole has definitely made me appreciate clear roads of the milder and more hospitable seasons, but the unique living experiences of Winnipeg’s ridiculously extreme temperature changes, resulting in horrid roads that helped along horrid winter conditions (-50 degrees celsius in winter to 36 degrees celsius in summer), as well as Edmonton’s uncanny freezing rain tendency has led me to want to be a very cautious driver, and consciously employ defensive driving as often as I can. As it’s coming up on my first winter driving with my own car, we`ll see how it ends up going. Winter driving is especially tough, since suddenly you’re not the main person who`s likely to damage your car anymore. The student driver five cars ahead causes a pileup on the highway, and the inch thick black ice (even with salting) wins rounds one, two and three with your winter tires, what do you know now your cars totaled and you’ve broken a leg from the semi smashing into the car behind you. There is nothing you could`ve done differently to make the outcome better in that situation. Knowing that the worst case scenario is significantly more likely to happen, even despite a 100% correct driving effort on your part, purely due to climate and other peoples inevitable mistakes is terrifying. That is why I really try to be the most defensive driver I can; if not for my safety then for my passengers and automobiles around my vehicle. Defensive driving courses, and or brushup lessons every so often would be beneficial in drivers training and license renewing processes, especially for those living in cities where there is a higher volume of road-goers and general traffic. Preferably these would come at low to no cost to keep class and income barriers minimized, but depending on the city and results of this could change that.

As the primary chauffeur of my friend group, I do my best to demonstrate as solid driving skills as I can. Being a teenager doesn’t automatically mean aggressive and reckless driving. Inexperienced sure, but as a group we`re quite good at keeping safety a priority whilst trying to keep the general public happy as well. As the first person to get their license, I try to answer any questions they have for the test and for road usage in general, and I honestly can’t wait to drive with them to see what tips and tricks I can pick up from them to diversify my own driving toolbelt. It definitely helps to have good driving role models as well, and I look forward to being able to have that in my friends, while also (hopefully) being one for them as well.