Typical bumper-to-bumper traffic in the icy streets of Edmonton. (Maya Abdallah)
Maggie’s take
Winter driving woes
Snow still a shock to Edmontonians
By Jasmine Graf
VEHICLES IN ditches, slippery roads and endless fishtailing – welcome to winter driving in Edmonton.
It always amazes me how quickly the basic rules of driving are forgotten when the white stuff hits the ground. Yet every single year – without fail – here we are again, sliding through intersections like curling rocks.
Realistically, we get -50 C cold snaps and 30-centimetre snowfalls every winter. So, unless this is your first week behind the wheel, you should really be used to it by now.
In a perfect world, that would be the case. Instead, we have been given our very own, Canadian version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? a slippery improv in which the traffic lines are made up and the rules of the road don’t matter.
We spend nearly six months of the year pressured by tailgaters or swerving to miss last-minute brakers – only to take a six-month hiatus and do it all over again next November.
Truth is, whether you’re driving 50 km/h in a 100 km/h zone or think you’re invincible in that almighty four-wheel drive (hint, you’re not), you are creating a danger for others.
We’re all trying to get home alive, so give yourself the extra time to get where you need to be and don’t make the experience worse than it already is.
Drive to the conditions, brake early and stay safe out there.