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Keller @ Large: How Not To Drive In Snow

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(AP Photo)

(AP Photo)

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Reporting Jon Keller

BOSTON (CBS) – I hear rumors about some snow headed our way for Sunday night and Monday, and based on grim decades of experience I can tell you that when a storm hits around here, driving can become treacherous.

See, what happens is, the snow piles up faster than plows and trucks can remove it. This makes the road surface slippery. Complicated, I know, but true.

And every year on the eve of the first major storm, I find myself compelled to share some crucial information with those who inexplicably don’t already know it — how NOT to drive in the snow.

If you are out and about when the stuff starts to pile up, you will notice quite a few drivers operating under the Dodge ‘em theory of snow driving — the belief that you can avoid the risks of traveling in snow by trying to dodge as much of it as possible.

So instead of slowing down, they speed up, on the theory that the quicker they can get home and out of the storm, the better.

These are the same geniuses who try to get out of a rut by spinning their wheels as fast as they can, apparently on the premise that the snow and ice is a row of Mack trucks and they are Evel Knievel.

The flip side of the Dodge ‘em theory is the Slow Driving method, where the driver drops his speed to a crawl on the premise that snow and ice is less likely to affect a near-stationary vehicle.

This is especially unwelcome when we’re climbing a hill, which the slow driver wants to turn into Mt. Everest.

And a final snow-driving “no no” – the Mr. Magoo approach, where the driver doesn’t bother to clear his windshield and instead peers helplessly through a donut-sized space.

Next time you try that and hear the driver behind you engaging in horn rage, wave hello, will you?

Listen to Jon’s commentary


You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

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  • John Joseph Grimes

    If people don’t know how to drive and use common sense and courtesy when the roads are dry then how can we expect to see any different behavior when there is snow? There are still many idiots among us who are still texting while driving, failing to yield for pedestrians, refusing to yield at rotaries, taking illegal right turns on red, not stopping for stop signs………I could go on & on.
    Forget about the use of common sense, John. At least not in this state of confusion.

  • MACMUM

    there’s one more type..the ones that try to act like they aren’t nervous and try to go the speed limit..while tapping their brakes (with no one in front of them and no reason to do it) that drive the rest of us bonkers! Folks, if you’re too “scardy” to drive in the snow, then just stay home PLEASE!!!

  • mikey

    How not to drive in snow? Just keep an eye on those people flying by in the passing lane after a snowfall.

  • Mary

    Seriously, folks, for those that call yourselves New Englanders, you need to be able to drive with grace and precision in ANY given time…even in snow. So Show it, and stop complaining. You have had all your lifetime to prepare! And if you never learned, please don’t go out and get in the way of those of us that can INDEED drive in this weather. Do us all a favor and stay home. We don’t need a bunch of broken down cars with owners who are cluelss as to what they need to do in an emergency. Or move to Florida.

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