TIM MCLAUGHLIN
Port Deposit, Maryland

After spending six years in Alaska, I thought winter driving at Fort Drum, New York, would be a snap. After all, I’d seen my share of accidents and figured I was prepared for anything. But it only took a week to show me I was wrong.

It was October and the lake effect snow had kicked in a month early in New York. The roads quickly became hazardous as plummeting temperatures caused black ice to form throughout the evening. I’d been out that day hunting with a friend from Fort Drum and we were headed home in my four-wheel-drive pickup.

As it got dark, the temperature dropped. My first thought was to just slow down and take it easy. I figured the other drivers were used to these conditions, so getting home shouldn’t be a problem. I was to find out, however, to never assume other drivers know what they’re doing or are thinking about safety.

I’d only driven about two miles from our hunting spot when I rounded a corner to find an oncoming vehicle skidding into my lane. I’d taken the precaution of driving slow and paying close attention to my surroundings. That paid off. I steered into a snow bank on the side of the road to avoid colliding with the out-of-control car. The driver regained control just at that moment and continued down the road.

But now I was in trouble. I’d lost control when my pickup plowed into the snow bank. After what seemed like minutes — but was probably only seconds — my truck jumped the snow bank and landed in a ditch, coming to an abrupt stop. I checked myself and my friend. We were both wearing our seat belts and were all right. After that, we got out to see if the truck was damaged. It didn’t appear to be, but now we were stuck in 3-foot-deep snow.

Even using my four-wheel drive, I couldn’t get out of the ditch and back over the snow bank. Fortunately for us, after about a half hour a truck came by and the driver used a chain to pull us back onto the road. The good Samaritan then left, refusing to accept anything other than a thank you and a handshake.

The importance of driving safely had really set in for me by this time. We still had about 10 miles to go before we’d be home and out of the hazardous driving conditions. We’d made it about halfway when snowplows started approaching in the oncoming lane. I immediately slowed down and began watching for them. One was just rounding a corner ahead when a Honda Accord blew past me. I knew the driver was going way too fast for the conditions. She saw the snowplow, but couldn’t get back into her lane and smashed into it.

I was very close to the accident. Several pieces of the Honda flew off and hit my truck as it spun across the road, shedding parts and landing in a ditch. I stopped and quickly checked the snowplow operator for injuries. He was OK, so I turned my attention to the young woman in the Honda.

As I approached the car, she looked up at me. I noticed her nose had been split all the way to the bone, her left eye was cut and she was badly bruised on her chest and neck. She told me “everything hurt” and asked if she looked OK. I told her that while she was cut and bruised, she’d be fine.

I tried to talk to the woman as much as possible as we waited for the ambulance. What really struck me was what she said about the accident. She told me she was from South Carolina and had never driven in snow. She had been skiing all day and, although she felt too tired to drive, she was in a hurry to get home.

This accident shouldn’t have happened — and it probably wouldn’t have had the woman just done a quick risk assessment of her situation. The point is simple — never try to convince yourself that “it won’t happen to me.” Don’t, like me, let your overconfidence make you vulnerable someone else’s mistakes. Don’t, like the young woman, assume you can just afford to ignore the threats in your environment. Safe driving is a year-round commitment.