Winter Driving at Tech Tea Time
Are you ready for winter É the snow, the ice, the deer, and the daredevils
who drive at sixty when they should be doing thirty? Ready or not, there's
nothing we can do to stop winter in the Upper Peninsula. That white stuff
will be here sooner or (hopefully) later, so we might as well resign ourselves
to accept the winter months and make the best of them. One positive step
we can take is to learn how to drive in winter conditions-how to cope
with that unexpected patch of ice or the lack of traction in wet snow,
how to avoid the skidding car two feet in front of us, and how to make
an emergency stop without disastrous results. "Eighty percent of all accidents
could be prevented if the driver had one more second to react," says Mark
Osborne, a senior research engineer at the Keweenaw Research Center at
Michigan Tech and instructor at the KRC Winter Driving School. Osborne,
the guest at Tech Tea Time on Wednesday, November 8, maintains that with
the right techniques, you can learn how to give yourself that extra second
and stay in control in adverse conditions. Tech Tea Time will be at 4:00
p.m in the MTU Memorial Union Alumni Lounge. Light refreshments will be
served and the event is free and open to all.
Using overheads and a video, Osborne will talk about strategies to improve
cornering ability and control; emergency skid and braking techniques;
and, most importantly, how to avoid accidents. "Although I can talk about
winter driving and illustrate the techniques," says Osborne, "there's
nothing like the experience of being behind the wheel." The KRC Winter
Driving School, which is open to all, offers a full day of hands-on, one-on-one
instruction from professional drivers. Students gain road confidence and
learn how to stay in control by driving on the snow and ice course near
the Houghton County Airport. KRC has a complete line of vehicles with
front, rear, and all-wheel drive for students to use during training.
Tech Tea Time is coordinated by the University Cultural Enrichment Department.
For further information or to submit a proposal for a future program,
call 487-2844.
