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Defensive Driving in the Snow
By Chris Elliott

 

March 19, 2007
Monday AM


Driving to work Tuesday morning in the hail, the brakes on my AWD Subaru Forester locked up about midway between Fifth and Fourth going down Jefferson. I began to slide and pick up speed. After following Bill Cosby's instructions to "turn into the slide", I began honking my horn and blinking my lights to alert the drivers at the intersection that I was, apparently, going to re-enact the car chase scene from Bullitt. Instead, I t-boned the vehicle of a hapless young woman halfway across the intersection of Jefferson and Fourth. After the impact, I continued to slide downhill and was finally able to skid into a private roadway before entering the Third Avenue Bypass intersection. Quite a trip. As Ricky Bobby says, you have to ride with the fear.

All kidding aside, it was an alarming experience and the car I hit had to be towed away. Luckily, no one was injured. The reason for this letter is to warn everyone to drive defensively, especially at this time of year. You never know when the unexpected will strike.

Chris Elliott
Ketchikan, AK


Received March 14, 2007 - Published March 19, 2007

About: "Ketchikan resident with no moving violation"

 

 

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