I don't know if ya'll know, but for those who run the risk of 'frozen water lines'.... one thing you CAN do is simply leave the 'furthest faucet' on, on a very slow trickle.
That's the very first thing that is done here, after lines get thawed. DON'T turn it off until the the cold has passed. Our lines here are underground, and there are areas in this city where they weren't buried deep enough (older developments) and this is what they have to do. Each year.
And as for 'winter driving' and the drivers themselves.... the very first problem is the fallacy of "all-season tires"... what a joke. First off, people think that the label 'all season' means that they're "perfect for everything" where-in-fact what it going on is you have a tire that is (at best) 50% effective in dry conditions, and 50% effective in ice conditions.
And that's only when the tire is brand-new. As soon as you start driving on it, those numbers are going DOWN. A full 'Winter tire' is what is needed in 'Winter conditions'. Simple as that.
I've been saying this for decades. They made it law here, about 3 years ago.
A person can have a 4-wheel-drive Ferrari. It don't matter how many bazillions one spends on their vehicle. The ONLY thing connecting that vehicle to the ground, is the tires. With shit tires, you get shit performance.
Next, is driver's ability. That's a whole nother topic, right there.
On a different note, back in '94 I got pulled over by our Northern Federale's. He was in 'oncoming lane' and after flashing his lights pulled right across the street and parked in front of me, "nose-to-nose" so to speak. I got out and met him at the front bumper, just the same as he did. He asked "Do you have any idea as to why I pulled you over?" My reply was:
"Well,,, going side-ways through that last intersection probably has something to do with it....."
And then he stated "why don't you tell me a bit more about that."
After a bit more explanation, I left there with a seat-belt ticket, and that was all.
