I remember driving home from a thing in Oklahoma as a teenager, following behind a friend’s car. It had a snowed a few days before, but it had been frigid and super windy, so all the snow was piled in drifts in the ditches, and the roads and fields were clear. We weren’t even thinking about snow.
Of course, it’s Oklahoma, so the wind was blowing again as we drove. And it was blowing the opposite direction as it had during the previous snow, so in one particular spot, a big snowdrift ended up blowing right back across the road and blanketing it for 50 feet or so.
The friend driving in front of me hit it, 180’ed, and glided fairly harmlessly into the ditch. I locked my arms and slammed the brakes, exactly like they tell you (not) to do. Beginners luck - i skidded straight through it and screeched to a halt on the other side of the surprise snow rink.
I pulled off and walked over to my friend’s car to check on him, feeling like hot shit. I bragged to him about how I’d reacted and kept control of my car, and he told me he’d watched as I skidded by - and that my eyes had been completely closed.
I thought back and found that I could in no way refute that. That following summer, I flipped my Oldsmobile belly up doing 75 on a shitty dirt road and spent the next 12 years without a car.
Of course, it’s Oklahoma, so the wind was blowing again as we drove. And it was blowing the opposite direction as it had during the previous snow, so in one particular spot, a big snowdrift ended up blowing right back across the road and blanketing it for 50 feet or so.
The friend driving in front of me hit it, 180’ed, and glided fairly harmlessly into the ditch. I locked my arms and slammed the brakes, exactly like they tell you (not) to do. Beginners luck - i skidded straight through it and screeched to a halt on the other side of the surprise snow rink.
I pulled off and walked over to my friend’s car to check on him, feeling like hot shit. I bragged to him about how I’d reacted and kept control of my car, and he told me he’d watched as I skidded by - and that my eyes had been completely closed.
I thought back and found that I could in no way refute that. That following summer, I flipped my Oldsmobile belly up doing 75 on a shitty dirt road and spent the next 12 years without a car.