Developing Winter Driving Skills: What Needs to be Done |
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| Written by Kendall R. Giberson |
| Sunday, 06 January 2008 19:00 |
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As winter sets in, so does the worst season for traffic accidents. As a consequence of geography, most parts of Canada get absolutely dumped upon by the worst storms imaginable for driving conditions. Snow, ice, slush, sleet, hail and freezing rain all create havoc on our roads, streets and highways. Across Canada, over 50% of all reported traffic accidents occur during the three winter months. Despite our best efforts to make the routes navigable through the use of salt, sand and plows, we still experience mishaps that could be avoided if our drivers were better trained. 
Illustration by Nina Charest
Each year, the first snowfalls signal a new test for many motorists in this country. This is particularly evident in the cities, due to a mixture of high traffic congestion, more newly-licenced drivers, and new Canadians who are driving in the winter for the first time. Street intersections become quite interesting places, as drivers figure out that jamming on the brakes at the last second or trying to make a hard left or right turn in order to beat the light is not a good idea, even with just a little bit of snow on the ground. On the highways, black ice can sneak up on a driver and cause multi-vehicle accidents at high speeds. Also, slush on the shoulders of side roads often has the effect of "pulling" vehicles toward the ditches. Inexperienced drivers need to learn how to navigate the roads in these kinds of conditions. No matter what province you live in or what driver's education course you take, it is possible to pass all the requirements without first experiencing winter driving. We have enough poor drivers on the road already who have bad habits ranging from talking on a cell phone, eating, reading, putting on makeup, and so on. Winter driving requires a heightened alertness, as you not only need to worry about your own driving, but everyone else's too. Provinces need to change their requirements for driver's training and licensing. The current systems are based on the premise that drivers improve their skills through practice. However, allowing several thousand new drivers on the road in the winter time and crossing your fingers is not good enough. There ought to be a mandatory course in winter driving that allows drivers to practice driving in poor conditions and that shows them how to master skills such as braking properly in snow and ice, and how to steer into skids and regain control of the vehicle. As the number of driver education schools makes it too difficult to ensure quality instruction, the provincial ministries ought to have a separate winter road test in addition to a summer test in order to obtain a full driver’s licence. Making snow tires mandatory, as the province of Quebec is currently investigating, could prevent winter accidents -- to a degree. However, winter tires are ineffective if the user does not know how to properly use them. It is worth noting that Transport Canada reports that fatalities, injuries, and accidents due to vehicle mishaps have been on a steady decline, largely due to improved safety features in vehicles and new laws regarding such areas as seatbelt use and impaired driving. There are several websites and forms of literature that give out many excellent tips on winter driving in Canada, but people would learn better if they could put these theories into practice in a controlled environment. The existing system needs to be scrapped, and a newer way of driver training needs to be implemented. Here are links to websites that give good winter driving tips: http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com/winter_driving.html
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