Monday, December 14, 2009

Black Ice Makes Mornings More Dangerous

The morning drive is always fun, especially if you do not have a garage or live near an area where there is ice build up and lots of hills and curves.

An indicator of what kind of conditions you are in for should be a frozen car with dry streets. When your car is covered in frozen dew, and you are using an ice scraper to clean your car windows, this is usually an indication to look out for Black ice. Black ice is very deceptive, because it does not look like snow, is on the pavement and looks slightly darker than the asphalt we drive on. Usually you will not sense any danger until you hit the brakes and you car does not stop.

Just last night these were the conditions that led to a 50 car pile-up in Shelton, and this morning the roads by my house where being sanded and salted after several people complained to the association about some scary launches into the middle of a busy road at the entrance to Lexington Green.

The main thing to keep in mind about the Black Ice Condition is vigilance, when your windows are frozen there is a good indication that the street is also frozen as well. Be especially careful when approaching, hills, stop lights, and stop signs. Go slow and keep lots of room between you and the car infrot of you to avoid an accident. Also give your self plenty of time in the morning to get where you are going, or just accept it is better to be late than not show at all because your car was in a wreck.

Please use caution in the coming months to avoid any mishaps.

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