Winter is now in full swing and snow continues to fall like there is no tomorrow. Last year Boone did not receive as much snow as originally anticipated, causing many college students and locals to be upset. However, Boone is finally getting the amount of snow it deserves this year and people are ecstatic. College students are running around like crazy building  snowmen and sledding down hills on campus. With the return of fun comes the concern of safety and it is safe to say that people are not taking it remotely seriously. This does not just include walking around in freezing temperatures, but also driving in snow. There are too many incidents and easy mistakes to make while driving. Over 115,000 people each year are injured in car crashes due to snowy, slushy or icy pavements. There are many easy ways to avoid this, such as:

#1 Drive slow

The most simple rule and yet the one that is often overlooked or forgotten about. So many people take a corner too quickly or go down hills too fast and end up sliding. Sliding is easily possible to recover from when there are no cars, pedestrians, poles, sidewalks, ditches and … get the point yet? Sliding into things is inevitable when going fast on icy, snowy or slushy roads. Crashing into something and having everyone be able to walk away is the best case scenario for a possible crash. However, the crash itself could create a mountain of chaos to the already chaotic weather and create a whole other list of problems. Sliding is such an easy thing to avoid if people would just be smart and drive slow. It can be easy to go a little over the speed limit, barely pushing it to get to class. Yet, the only thing you are pushing is a chance at an accident.

#2 Stop ignoring your icy windshield

Now, imagine you woke up late for work, having no time to start your car early in the morning to let it thaw. Instead, you decide to just go ahead and back out. It is incredibly difficult to see out of your back windshield because of the ice and you do not even want to look at the front windshield because it is caked in snow. You start to drive and hit something. When someone asks how you hit the pole in the dead center of the car, you will then have to explain how you did not have a way to see the road or anything for that matter. It is incredibly risky to drive in the snow with full vision, let alone with 10% of your vision. Do not risk it. Do not be that person who is swerving to see the lines beside the car. Buy a snow or ice scraper, wake up earlier or be late to work. Waiting for your car to warm up can feel like a major inconvenience, but the inevitable car crash might just be a tad bit more bothersome.

#3 Attempt to avoid hills

This rule is a tiny bit difficult considering it is Boone and there are hills absolutely everywhere, but that is exactly the point of this rule. If you are not capable of going up or down a hill without sliding, it is not worth going outside. Do not put yourself or other’s lives in jeopardy because you decided you wanted Cookout at 2 a.m. and the only way to get there is going down a steep hill. If you are reading this thinking there is no way you are going to be able to go anywhere if you can not go up or down hill, then it is probably not worth going out. Hills already can be difficult for some people, adding the unforgiving weather to them makes it nearly impossible. Do not bother going out just because you want something or are bored in your room.  If you have to risk others’ lives to appease your own, it is time to reevaluate a few morals.