Have drivers lost the ability to deal with winter storms?

Regarding your well-informed article on road treatment, I wanted to share my perspective.

I grew up in Harvard in the 1970s. At that time, most cars people drove were rear-wheel drive, powered by a heavy V8 engine in front. Not many people owned four-wheel drive or front-wheel drive cars; they were scarce. Arguably, the winters during that period of time were a bit more cold and snowy than in more recent years (e.g, 1977-78). Further, the roads were far, far less cared for during winter storms in the 1970s than what is practiced now in town. And, somehow, we survived.

As kids, my brothers and I used to wait for Jack Burdick to come plow our road. Today, nearly every car people drive is some sort of all-wheel drive or front-drive vehicle, far better in the snow than the 1970s, V8-powered Detroit iron of a different time.

My own observation is we’ve grown weak and lost our ability to deal with winter storms. People complain more about the roads. And we have the internet to amplify those complaints. The DPW has had to react to this weakening of our winter-driving skills, lest they become flogged in Nextdoor for, God forbid, an untreated, unplowed snowflake on the road that our 5,000-pound 4WD SUV may struggle to navigate.

We are fortunate to have a second home in Sandwich, New Hampshire. Winter storms and road care is more like the Harvard I knew from the 1970s. Sometimes, they do nothing until it ends. And, the recent 1-2 inches we received, they didn’t even plow most roads. I’ve been on state roads in the area with 10 inches of snow, and gravel roads with 24 inches of snow. And, the good people of Sandwich, New Hampshire, manage to survive, and don’t complain.

So, perhaps we all need to take winter-driving lessons, or learn to sit still at home and let the DPW clear the roads and lessen the amount of plowing and salting we need to pay for to remove every snowflake as it falls.

Full disclosure: I am an occasional plow driver for the town in their times of need.

JC Ferguson
Willow Road