Taking It Slow

 

BOY! THOSE ROADS ARE SLICK OUT THERE THIS MORNING! We had a couple of inches of that dry and fluffy snow last night and that has made driving a bit of an adventure. I’m fine because I am a perfect driver (Stop snickering!). It is the rest of those idiots out there that made things ugly.

This is Indiana in January. Are all of those other drivers imported from Southern Arizona where it never really snows? It’s like watching someone on ice skates for the first time only now they are piloting tons of steel on wheels.

For several years I was a state licensed instructor on traffic law and safety. I taught classes for court-ordered offenders who wanted to keep their driver’s licenses and their insurance premiums intact.

My classes ran for 8 hours (Way too long in my opinion.) and on top of safety and law I was supposed to make it funny. That was the easy part. All I had to do was to get my “students” talking about what they had done to end up in the class. I would say that 90% of them got ticketed because they did something stupid – and speed was the common factor. Most of them had blown through red lights, ignored speed limit signs or followed someone too closely and ended up denting some metal.

I had these people for 8 hours (Two Evenings or All Day on Saturday) and I spent most of my time trying to convince them that just slowing down would solve most of their problems. Rarely are those two extra minutes on the road going to be critical in the course of one’s life, but going too fast might.

That unlearned lesson is what I’m seeing all over the streets of Terre Haute (That’s French for, “Pull over, I’m getting carsick.”) this morning. The snow is fresh, it is 6:30 AM, and I feel like I’m driving inside a Pinball Machine.

From our driveway to the front door at St. Arbucks is less than a mile with only one red light. When I poked the Toyota out onto Wabash Avenue (The Main Drag) I could see cars fishtailing as they were changing lanes and starting away from that lone stoplight. I waited for a substantial break in the traffic before entering the action. The road was very slick. So what did I do? I slowed down a bit and stayed away from the bunch of cars braking by the red light at the corner.

I didn’t see any accidents, but I attribute that to the early hour. In another sixty minutes Wabash Avenue will be quite busy and things will get even iffier.

I’m going to try to avoid any more driving today. I’m content to let traffic and warmer weather make the roads a little safer. I don’t count on the city to do much to clean things up. Their “Master Snow Removal Plan” is called “Spring.”

Until Spring I will be the guy in the red Toyota who will be driving just a little bit slower and actually using his turn signals. You’ll be able to recognize me. I’m the Geezer whose car isn’t full of dings and dents from Wintertime fender benders.

“We who are about to drive salute you!”

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