ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Safe Winter Driving Tips for Rural Area Roads

Updated on November 1, 2012
Stay home when it snows if you can!
Stay home when it snows if you can!

Because I live "in the country" I spend a lot of time on the road. It takes about an hour to get anywhere near the big city. While I am lucky that the nearest store is only about 5 miles away, I have to remember it is a small grocery with limited selection. I try to combine driving tasks so I don't have to spend too much of my free time in (what can be) dangerous conditions.

I had the best driving teacher (my Dad), and I wanted my son to have a good, safe start to his driving career. When my darling son started driving, I got him a bumper sticker that said "How's my driving" and had my cell number. This was more to keep caution in his head than anything else. Rural roads are dangerous in the best weather and can be deadly in a matter of moments when a driver is not paying strict attention. He learned to drive in the winter, and I tried to impress on him some basic defensive driving safety rules.

I read a few years ago that the most popular month for deer related accidents is November. Before reading that article, I would never have guessed that deer jumped in front of cars most often in the fall months. Every year since then, I have kept track, and sure enough late October through early December I encounter numerous deer on the side of the road. One lesson I tried to impress on dear son was that you can NEVER trust a deer. Even if it looks like they are already across the road and you can safely pass - pass with caution. They turn around more often than not.

If you are visiting a rural area and someone is driving slowly and cautiously in front of you, there may be a good reason! I don't know how many times I have slowed down for a "known deer area" only to have an impatient driver right on my tail. Mind, I am slowing down to the posted speed limit, not little old lady speed. So, another area I tried to impress into dear son's head is that it does not ever pay to tailgate. Whether the road is sufficiently clear or not, you can never tell if there is a hazard ahead. You will never be able to stop if you are too close to the vehicle in front of you. And, if you see a blinker, that vehicle may just have to slow down and turn left across a busy highway!

The lesson I spent the most time discussing with dear son was "use extreme caution when passing". Every time a car passed us on a narrow, dangerous stretch of road I would comment "wait till we get to xyz, they will be right in front of us". Lo and behold, we would get to the lone stop sign, and the car was right in front of us. I taught him the formula rate x time = distance. How much time do you save if you are going 20 miles if you can drive 10 mph faster? If you travel at 55 mph it will take .36 hours, or 21.8 minutes. If you travel 65 mph it will take .307 hours or 18.46 minutes. Is another person's life worth 3 minutes? Not a chance! Only pass when it is 100% safe!

When the cold weather hits, you can not tell if the road is icy or not. It does not have to rain for the road to be icy. Condensation and melting snow from cars can be just as dangerous as a full on rainstorm. Even going the posted speed limit may be too fast around corners. Again, if you are in an unfamiliar area, and other cars are progressing slowly take heed. There is a very dangerous spot in my rural area, in which there have been many accidents. It is not posted with anything other than an "ICY when wet" sign. People do not believe it could be icy because it is a sunny road. But there is one area that doesn't get sun until late afternoon, which creates perfect conditions for a slippery slidey (not so) fun park.

Snow can be another danger alltogether. Just because you have a 4wheel drive vehicle does not mean you can't slip and slide. Every time it snows in our rural area, there are multiple accidents that are usually caused by people who get in their 4wd and drive up the hill to see the snow. If you are in an area that is past a "chain requirement" sign SLOW down. I have to drive about 5 miles past the chain signs to get home when it snows. I can't tell you how many folks tailgate in the SNOW. Just don't do it. The potential for losing property or life is too great to save that 2 or 3 minutes.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)