Ice and Stupid People

In the last week and a half since the snow started falling in earnest, we have seen several wrecks either early in the morning as we drive to work, or in the evening as we're heading home. Most of the time they're within an area of about half a mile of the summit of "Horseshoe Bend Hill", as we call it, on state highway 55.

The hill tops off at about 4200 feet and there's a nice curve right at the summit, just to make things interesting. It's a four lane road, and many people feel that this is the best place to pass the "slow-pokes" in front of them.

They seem to forget that what might have been rain at the base of the mountain is snow up at the top. Many of them seem to forget that snow, when driven over repeatedly, gets packed down and turns to ice. And still others seem to mentally misplace the concept that, while all-wheel or four-wheel drive is nice for getting through bad conditions it doesn't do a damned thing for you when you hit an icy corner with the same gusto as you would on a hot summer's day.

People who live in snow country know these things... yet there are still some who seem to leave this knowledge at home when they get in the car for a nice winter's drive. I wish to salute these people, as seeing their vehicles smashed with the tires pointing skyward, and emergency crews with flashing lights trying to clean up their mess certainly adds an interesting change of scenery to my otherwise slow and monotonous drive!