Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Driver's Ed

This time of year, the key to getting over the hill separating my house from the highway is the correct combination of speed and control. The road twists uphill toward a blind curve, with a sharp dropoff on one side and a hillside on the other. When the road is covered with snow or ice (as it often is this time of year), you have to get up a pretty good head of steam going up the hill. Too little speed and you lose forward momentum and start sliding backwards, and it's not easy to control a car sliding backwards down a hill. Too much speed and you'll fishtail and skid right over the cliff or overshoot the curve at the top.

I tend to drive on the side of the road farthest from the cliff, even when that's the wrong side of the road. If a car came whipping around that blind curve we would hit head-on, but fortunately, most people have the sense to stay off my road this time of year. A few times I've started fishtailing or skidding toward the cliff, but one of the advantages of living where I live is that I've developed an amazing ability to steer out of a skid, thanks to lots of practice.

Once I get out to the highway, I face a whole new set of challenges. This morning a snowplow decided to turn right in front of me without signalling and I had to stop pretty quickly on a snowy, slushy road in a car with no anti-lock breaks. Somehow I don't recall practicing that skill back when I took Driver's Ed in Florida. Good thing I'm committed to lifelong learning.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

All of the sudden I'm flashing on Bonny hitting the fence in Drivers Ed at WPHS! :) ~ Laura