With winter in full swing, temperatures are at their lowest and snow is quick to follow. Even if that’s the case, students are still required to attend school in these harsh conditions. For the majority of students, this means driving in the snow.
Snow is one of the hardest weather conditions to drive in. Freezing temperatures and heavy snow make the roads slippery, and white flurries make it hard to see, Impairing drivers’ vision. These factors contribute to losing control of your vehicle, resulting in accidents.
Junior Ethan Horsley was aware of the dangers of driving in the snow and made sure he took precautions when picking up his friend before school one morning.
“It had just snowed the night before, so obviously I followed the rules of the road: slow down and drive five under the speed limit,” Horsley said. “I made sure I was doing that and made it to her house safely.”
On these snow days, it is typical for snow plows to come around. These snow plows are responsible for clearing the roads of snow, so people can drive safer.
“After I picked her up I turned onto the side street, and I saw there was a bus at the stop sign ahead,” Horsely said. “I was aware that the road wasn’t plowed so I knew I had to slow down right away.”
Sometimes a person can be doing all of the right things, and still get into an accident.
“I noticed that my brakes were working, but they weren’t working fast enough,” Horsley said. “I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t want to just steer off the road and go into upcoming traffic. So I just kept hitting my breaks, until my foot was on the floor of the car. My car just slid, and I ended up hitting the back of the school bus.”
The car was only moving about 10 or 15 miles per hour, so the crash resulted in nothing critical. Nobody on the bus was injured. The majority of the damage was to the car, not the bus. The accident was caused by the car sliding in the snow. It was also later found out that Horsely’s car tires had an issue.
“I think snow is more difficult to drive in because depending on the temperature or time of day there could be ice underneath the snow causing a fishtail and/or potentially an accident,” driver’s ed teacher Maxx Lozano said.
Post driver’s ed, many people have scary experiences driving in the snow.
“I was driving home from my friend’s house in Woodridge and it was very snowy and slippery,” senior Cate Pyne said. “As I turned onto my street, even though I was going very slow, I lost control and hit the curb hard.”
One of the scariest things about getting in these accidents is that the damage isn’t always visible by just looking at the car.
“The car looked fine, but later that day I went to get Panera and I was confused because my wheel wouldn’t go straight,” Pyne said. “I had to turn the wheel all the way in order to drive straight. It turned out that I had broken the car’s strut.”
The snow doesn’t always cause accidents, but inconveniences. People tend to drive slower in this snow. This is because drivers have longer stopping distances in the snow, making it harder to break.
“It ended up taking me around 30 minutes to get to school when it normally takes me about 15,” senior Carly Ermitage said. “I left home at my normal time to go to school, but the roads were covered in snow and the snow caused a lot of traffic.”
Driving in the snow isn’t just dangerous, it can be annoying. Getting places is already a process, but the snow makes the whole thing more tedious.
“Driving in the snow is really bad because it makes everything go a lot slower, and creates a lot of traffic that otherwise is not there,” Ermitage said.
Snow creates difficult driving conditions. Yes, everyone has learned about driving in the snow at some point, but listen to the advice of a professional.
“Speed limit is posted for ideal conditions and snow is not an ideal condition. Students need to make sure they brake early and clear their windows and car (hood, roof, lights, etc…) of snow,” Lozano said.
Living in the core of the Midwest, Illinois gets some of the worst snowfall around. Whether you’re just driving down the street to visit a friend, or making a cross country road trip, driving in the snow is dangerous. Remember all the tips learned in driver’s ed, and stay safe.
