Since coming to Arkansas, I have been reminded of how to drive in snow and on ice. I had not encountered any for a long time.
Well, there was one time when I drove from Phoenix to Flagstaff, Ariz., for a meeting in October. It is the only time I have ever started a trip with the air conditioner on and needed snow chains at the end. Flagstaff is about 180 miles north of Phoenix and more than a mile higher in altitude.
Here, I was driving in snow the first day. It was in February, and while house hunting in Maumelle, heavy, wet snow started to fall, and I had to drive back to Little Rock.
My first Arkansas rule was established: If you’re going to work south of the river, you should live south of the river. Crossing the Interstate 430 bridge in the dark, on your first day in town and hitting a small patch of ice will make you set some boundaries.
I was told it only snowed 2 to 5 inches around here. I never understood that they meant it could happen all at once.
I’ve driven to work several times in snow and sleet since joining the Tri-Lakes Edition and always made it by taking it easy and being thankful for light traffic. With schools and some offices closed, there are fewer cars and a greater margin for error.
I used to be pretty good at driving in winter mix, as the weather guy calls it. I once worked as the spokesman for the big automobile club and was trained to deal with ice, slush and snow, complete with the frightening 360-degree whirl across several lanes in front of oncoming traffic.
I was taught what a driver is supposed to do. First, get off the accelerator (a must); then turn your wheels toward where you want the car to go.
Experts used to say turn the front wheels into the skid. It means the same thing, I think, but I found that many people would get confused about what “into” means. It means if the vehicle is skidding to the left, turn right, the direction you need to correct.
Try to slow the car, but of course, locking the wheels in a skid won’t help. Try tapping the brakes or a slow pressure on the pedal, but there are few absolute rules when it comes to the brakes. A spin usually happens too fast, anyway.
The best overall rules, I was always told, are to be careful, slow down, but don’t creep and slow traffic. Be alert to the road ahead and what other cars are doing.
On TV, I used to say there are two kinds of drivers who are dangerous in the snow. One is the person who panics and overreacts; the other is the one trying to ignore conditions because they’ve seen far worse than this back home.
Don’t be like either of those drivers. Take some extra time, and be careful out there.
Wayne Bryan is a writer for the Tri-Lakes Edition. Before joining the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, he was an editor and columnist with two international trade magazines, a newspaper editor in one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities and an award-winning radio news director.