This week’s snowstorm
and the colder temperatures
have amounted to a sharp
change from the football –
type weather of the past
several weeks in Central
Utah,
This should serve notice to
motorists that driving
habits need to change with
the season.
Wet, snow-covered and
even icy streets and
highways tax driving skills
and judgment, too.
We saw a fellow driving
up Center Street late
Monday with the
accumulation of Sunday
night’s snow still plastered
over his rear window, How
could he see through the
interior rear vision mirror?
To clean windsbields and
windows, including the rear
window, should be a must
when either snow or frost
have clouded or covered
them.
Safety engineers of
Firestone Tire and Rubber
Company have developed a
set of niles which, when
followed, will make winter
driving easier and safer.
They include:
– Skill at the wheel can
help. In starting on snow or
ice, don’t acce erate. Start
gently in either “drive”
range or in second gear,
making sure your front
wheels are pointing straight
ahead.
– Don’t make sudden
changes in direction if you
suspect the roadway is
slippery. Make smooth,
gradual changes, being
careful not to oversteer.
– Watch for “tem-
perature traps,” spots
along a cleared highway
where water might have
flowed over it and frozen.
Remember, too, bridge
surfaces freeze before the
roadway. Bridges can be
treacherous.
– When stopping, pump
the brake pedal gently. A
sudden jam on the pedal
might send your car into a
skid.
– Check your tires. The
driver with the smooth,
“bald” tires is asking for
trouble, Make sure your
tires have a fair amount of
tread showing before you
risk a winter drive.
– It helps to equip your
car with winter – tread tires.
Studies show the auto with
snow tires moves over snow
– covered highways 51 per
cent better than the car with
regular tires, and the snow-
tired vehicle also has 28 per
cent better traction on ice
than the car with regular
treads according to the
National Safety Council.
– Don’t fall for the
fallacy that under – inflated
tires give you better snow
traction, say the Firestone
engineers. Your tires should
be properly inflated at all
times.
You can augment this list
with your own winter – time
rules, Indeed, yours and
other lives may depend upon
how well you practice the
accepted recommendations.
So They Say
“This system doesn’t
want justice, It wants
convictions. That’s why,
given enough money, I can
buy justice. I can win any
case in this country, given
enough money. l’m going to
tell the truth. You must
destroy the charade, the
illusion of justice.”
-Jerry Paul, the North
Carolina lawyer who won
acquittal for Joan Little.