Save the sliding for the toboggan hill

Tobogganing down a snowy hill and crashing at the bottom is a lot of fun for kids. It’s definitely no accident.

Doing the same as an adult with a semi, on the other hand, is no fun. And it’s still no accident. It’s an avoidable crash in most cases.

According to the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, in more than 90% of crashes, human error is involved. In the U.S., the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that number to be above 94%.

In my first year of driving, I blew through a red light at the bottom of a hill but didn’t crash. If I had, it would’ve been my fault because I didn’t know how to check or adjust my brakes.

In my second year behind the wheel, I came around a corner in Pennsylvania on a cold and rainy night to the surprise of a car driver trying to pass a semi on a double line. He tried to abort, and destroyed his car on the semi while sliding sideways in my lane — sans lights.

I did what comes naturally to us. I turned right into the ditch, probably saving his life. My Mack, grossed out at 34,000 kg, went from 70 to 0 km/h in about five meters. Even the bulldog on the front of my truck almost fell off the hood. Skid marks everywhere! (Yes, there as well).

After I caught my breath, I looked left. There was the driver in his car right beside me. My big shiny chrome bumper would’ve been at head height. His driver’s side was still broadside to my direction of travel. My driver-side tires were on solid ground, but my passenger-side tires had disappeared into the soft mud.

Know your limits

Those two incidents taught me a ton and set me on a safer path. The first lesson I learned was to know your equipment and not drive beyond its limits. Secondly, don’t put yourself in greater danger because of someone else’s lunacy.

We’re approaching our snowy season. We’ll have ample opportunities to follow these two pieces of advice.

I don’t care if your tires barely pass a safety. Nor do I care if your headlights are the brightest and clearest, or if your defrost system will dehumidify a monsoon.

Drive within the limits of your truck and your abilities.

I’m not saying it’s OK to drive unsafe trucks. Absolutely not! Each truck has different capabilities and must be driven as such. Just because Buddy can keep the dirty side down in a snowstorm doesn’t mean you can or should even try.

I once told an American who passed me after I slowed down because of the weather, “never pass the Crazy Canuck in bad weather.” He ran out of talent and ended up jackknifed in the ditch.

The other thing I keep stressing, as do most successful safe drivers, is to plan ahead — not to identify your next coffee stop, but to plan what to do if certain scenarios emerge.

What if that car loses control? What if that incoming traffic comes over my line? What if the road has icy patches? Plan, plan, plan. Make that your instinct so you are prepared when the snowflakes fall.

Slow and steady

Another common mistake is to react too quickly, like I did with Big Mack. Often, the best thing to do is to make sure you have control before maneuvering to avoid a bad situation. What do you do when your truck or trailer kicks out a little in the snow? Whatever you do, take time to react as smoothly as possible. Most drivers who end up in the ditch do so because they overcorrected.

I had a pickup truck hit me in light snow and drive me into the ditch. I held my wheel straight until my steering came back after he spun away. By then I was near the bottom of the ditch, and I eased back up to the shoulder. The trooper who reviewed my dash cam was amazed and said he never sees anyone stay upright in that situation. It’s much easier to pull an upright truck out of the ditch than a jackknifed or rolled rig.

I hope that during this snowy season we all stick to sliding down snowy hills with our kids or grandkids for fun, and not while behind the wheel.