Caution! Bad Drivers Ahead!

Hello all and Merry Christmas,

It's that time of the year again. No not Christmas, although that is THE best time of year. It is bad driver season... Many of you know what and who I'm talking about. It's the time of year where everyone forgets what they've learned about driving (not that many of them can recall what they've learned anyway) and drive like they've never driven before. When snow, ice, rain, sleet, hail, and whatever else mother nature can throw our way comes people quickly forget all they have learned. Luckily, I'm here to help you out and navigate your way to good driving so people like me can enjoy the road without fearing for my life.

There are some simple things you can do to help yourself get acquainted with "winter" road conditions when it comes each year. Here are 5 simple steps to help you get you on your wayand out of my way when your on the road.

Lesson 1:
Before even thinking about driving, turn on your heat and press your AC button to help keep your car from fogging up. This will help you in many ways, like being able to see someone at a four way stop, or looking down the road when you need to cross lanes, or even keep you from getting a ticket because a cop will write you an "obstruction of view" ticket if your windows are foggy. I know many of us breathe extra hard when we are in a confined space thats moving very fast with someone else in control, so please be considerate and let the driver see out the windows.

Lesson 2:
Any time after we have just had freezing rain or snow your going to want to do this before you leave from anywhere. In a safe spot, away from any cars, start driving and then brake hard. Your car will do one of two things. It will either stop normal or slide because their's ice. This will give you a feel for how slippery the roads are. This will help you every time you go near a stop sign or a light to remember that the roads were icy earlier, so they might be still. This will prevent you from many things like slamming into someones rear end, ending up in a ditch, and running a stop sign or red light. The last thing I want to see while I am sitting at a stop sign is someone in my rear view mirror coming 50 mph sideways honking their horns at me because they can't stop.

Lesson 3:
Please please please please please please become familiar with the terms "BLACK ICE" and "RAIN." I can't tell you enough, more people get scared of this black ice stuff than the black tar on little nemo (no not finding nemo). If your smart, you can realize that if its 35 or 40 degrees out and we have just had some snow or rain... its not going to freeze.. not with cars and a thing called friction running all over it. Please don't drive 25 in a 50 because you can see the reflections of a cars brake light on the road in front of you. This happens in rain too... maybe that's what it is.. RAIN. If its icy, you will know because you used step 2. GO THE SPEED LIMIT!

Lesson 4:
Please don't text your sugar mama or your baby's daddy while driving in "winter" weather. This is probably the worst thing you can do, unless you use cruise control in the same weather.. than probably those two are tied for being the most stupud. I don't need to explain do I?... Ok here's an example.. if your on the phone while its "crappy" out.. more than likely you will be going under the speed limit, brake way to early or late, and drive like a 95 year old grandma on her way to church.

Lesson 5:
Get comfortable with driving in extreme conditions like ice and snow. Find out what works on your car, because every car is different. I would have to bet 99% of people driving in snow don't apply their e-brake in an emergency situation. Some of you have been in situations where the roads are slippery and you need to turn and by now you've tried the 100 year old method of pumping your breaks and you still wont turn... and you end up in a ditch or plowed into a car.. or God knows what. If you would have used your e-brake you could have turned and saved yourself some mad moola. The e-brake was put there for emergency situations.. thus the name emergency brake [e-brake].

In conclusion, I hope you can use some of these suggestions, because it will save me and a lot of other drivers some headaches and frustration. Always remember to drive safe, there are days when you need to take it easy. Thanks and happy holidays!