Slow down!

People are going in ditches, getting in fender benders today. Come on people — we’re Minnesotans. This tiny bit of snow and ice is nothing.

But the first snow always comes with car crashes and cars in the ditches. Slow down! That’s what I learned the hard way. Once I learned to slow down and go easy on the brakes, I have stayed out of ditches and haven’t had any of those lovely 180 turns on Highway 23 or elsewhere.

One time I told my children, “we’re going to crash into that fence!” because I had taken a curve too fast in icy conditions. Instead I did a James Bond-style 360 where I ended up parked next to the curb by the fence. It was actually pretty cool and I wish I had video. At the time, of course, it was scary.

Another time I was driving my dad’s four-wheel drive truck and my 12-year-old son said, “You’re going pretty fast.” So I tapped the brakes and ended up facing the other way in the ditch. I was walking to a nearby farm house when my son pulled up next to me. He had driven out of the snow-filled ditch with no problem.