Whip in winter.
Hayven Chavez and Emilio terrones
January 14, 2025
A very common misconception about driving is that driving in the winter has more concepts that would make driving in the winter more dangerous than in summer. Many people think driving in the summer is more dangerous than in the winter, why is this?
My research partner, Emilio Terrones, and I, proved this by interviewing most of Arvada High School. After thorough questioning and interviewing throughout Arvada High School, 60% of people have stated that they believe driving in the winter is more dangerous than driving in the summer.
Based on statistics, June, July, and August see the highest number of deadly crashes than any other month of the year. Summer months have 29% more deaths than months land in December such as December,” January, and February (Zane T. Cagle)
Although, the people who voted for winter being more dangerous, this may be because of their personal experience of crashing. Such as Maunu Taylor, a disciplinarian for Arvada High School. Mr.Taylor expressed he believed driving in the winter is more dangerous, and stated
“I have been in many crashes in the winter, I’m not going to lie to you Hayven. I was 17, and in December and it was after a basketball game, Me and my friend Nick who was one of my best friends, me and Nick were stupid during the winter time I just got my new Grand Am So after the game me and him kind of like Drag raced over a hill But we couldn’t see all the cars stopped in the hill So I ran into, I want to say I ran into Jessica, Isn’t that crazy that I remember that name, Her name is Jessica she was like 32, I ran into her BMW because I was going around 45 miles per hour so for a year and a half I could not drive because my parents were pissed and I had to repay that car and had to work two jobs just to pay it off because I did $4,000 in damage, after that accident for 2 years I didn’t want to drive because I was scared, so that’s my dumb story.”
This is one of many stories that we were told, during the interviewing process. Although we chose only two stories, to highlight the concept that many people most likely believe this misconception, because of their personal experiences. The second of the two that gave us her story voted that driving is more dangerous than winter, her story is also in the winter, which is another person that could potentially prove the theory of the fact that the voters on the poll, only believe that off of personal experience.
“ I thought I couldn’t make that turn left, instead of just turning left it turned left up the hill my tires just flat on Spun and spun Finally the guy that lived in the house came out, we had to put cardboard because I had some boxes in my car,i put them Underneath the tires to give it traction, I think it finally like cause you to know when you’re spinning spinning spinning, sometimes it just goes like this, We were finally able just to go back down,It was a nightmare.”
Although these stories go towards the contrary, this misapprehension is mainly because people get too comfortable when driving, and forget the basics on driving safely in the snow. Here are the main do’s and don’ts for driving in the snow according to the resource center.
Black ice can lead to loss of control and if you find yourself in this situation then slow down,avoid sudden movements, use low gears, and break gently. Keep extra distance from other vehicles, drive slow and steady, buy winter tires, plan ahead, and study your route (susan meyers).
After remembering and following these steps, we hope that your winter driving experiences become easier to manage and handle.
Resources
Allinjuryattorney.com
https://www.thezebra.com/resources/driving/how-to-drive-in-snow/
