As the first snowflakes fall on Portage, student’s race to the window to watch, families begin to dig out the skis and snowboards, and drivers well… forget how to drive. Suddenly the little white flakes block our ability to remember how to operate a motor vehicle. “Either people have never driven in the snow and go really slow, or they go the same speed they always go and it causes them to have problems,” says Gabby Childers (12).

This could be due to many different reasons; however, one of the most common is being afraid to drive in the snow for the first time. “A lot of people are afraid of sliding or getting stuck,” said Steven Moon (12).

Driving in the snow is hazardous, but at the same time, a few small snowflakes do not call for a sudden decrease to turtle speed on any and all roads. It is important to reduce speed and be safe, but many people either slow down way too much or not nearly enough which typically tends to be a dangerous combination. According to the Federal Highway Administration, 24% of all accidents in the United States each year are due to icy, snowy, or slushy conditions. “It is important to make sure you are driving a safe speed for the conditions,” Moon (12) says.

“All the idiots in the parking lot who just park anywhere they want because there are no lines,[is a big issue]” says Logan Kreps (12). This is no stranger to Portage Northern as the problem of triple parking arises frequently when people park on both sides of a car trapping it in the middle. At times this is due to people simply wanting to pull a joke on their friends, but at other times, it is people being unaware that there is a car on the other side.

Regardless,by paying more attention and adjusting to their conditions and surroundings, many of people’s problems would be fixed. Driving in the winter only gets better with practice, but in the meantime heads up for all of the newbies to the snowy driving around Northern this winter.