The five-hour drive home today was pretty straightforward -- for a Prairie Winter day, that is.
How does one drive in these conditions? Not too hard, really:
(1) Avoid keeping your eyes on the road ahead for more than one or two seconds.
YES, you read that correctly. Keep your eyes moving -- check your rearview mirror(s),
your speedometer, your other dashboard instruments, the location of the lane markers, the vehicle ahead of you.
That's good advice for driving in any kind of weather, but especially important in drifting snow,
which can mesmerize you in a lot less time than you might think. If you must fixate on something,
make it the vehicle (a safe distance) ahead of you, and hope that driver knows where the road is :-)
If there is no vehicle in sight ahead of you, fixate on the road at the horizon, and hope that it's the same road you're on :-)
(2) Set your cruise control on the speed limit (unless there are icy patches), or,
if that makes you uncomfortable, double-check you speedometer MUCH more often than normal:
the drifting snow plays havoc with your perception of how fast you're going, and you may end up
going much faster (or slower!) than the speed limit -- and both are dangerous in these conditions.
(3) Use road signs, power poles, trees, whatever to help you judge whether or not you're still on the road.
(4) Be very thankful it's not -40C and it's not snowing. Both those things make for a much more tense trip.
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