The first snowfall of the year arrived over the past few days, and social media has been filled with photos and comments about how the snowfall has affected people. Most photos, comments, and memes talk about the beauty of the first snow fall or about how fierce Mother Nature can be. However, some comments and memes are anything but nice.
You know the memes and comments I’m talking about, right? The ones that denigrate how people are dealing with the snowfall.
There are northerners laughing at southerners about how they are struggling with having to drive through a few inches of snow while crowing about the prowess of northerners to be able to navigate a couple feet of snow without too much difficulty. Instead of arguing my opinion versus their opinion, it made more sense to research the facts.
First off, let’s share a map of what constitutes the southern states in the U.S.
Now that we have established what are southern states as opposed to northern states, let’s continue with a few more facts.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System for 2019 through to 2021, with adjustments for vehicle miles traveled and the total winter fatalities per state, the most dangerous state for winter driving was a northern state: Michigan.
The second most dangerous state was Alaska followed by Ohio, Pennsylvania, Montana, and Illinois.
Now you would think that a southern state would rank in the Top 10 but that’s not what the facts indicate, and that’s interesting all in itself because South Carolina has the third-worst drivers in the US according to the information on file with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. First and second place go to Montana and New Mexico respectively.
So when someone from a northern state claims that southerners don’t know how to drive when it snows, the facts indicate it’s actually northerners who struggle with knowing how to drive when it snows (because it obviously does snow in nearly all of the southern states and it even snows in Texas).
Florida is the only state that can be discounted in this discussion as it’s rare to see any amount of snow in that state but even if there was snow that fell in Florida, the majority of residents in Florida aren’t Floridians by birth (that title goes to only 36% of the population). The number one source of Florida transplants come from New York followed by New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois, and California.
Getting back to the point of this blog entry, when northerners decide the cautious attitude of southerners when it comes to snowfalls and snowstorms is something worth ridiculing, maybe it’s time to step back and consider the data about how northerners deal with driving in the snow.
Instead of pointing fingers and laughing at drivers living in southern states, maybe a few things can be learned by those doing the finger pointing.
And at the end of the day, if you really want to challenge your driving skills, maybe it’s time to visit Japan and Canada which are noted for having the most snow every year. Yes, on Japan’s main island of Honshu lies a city known as Aomori that averages 311 inches (nearly 26 feet) of snow every year. Second and third place go to Sapporo (Japan) and Toyama (Japan) respectively, and fourth place goes to Woody Point, Newfoundland (Canada) that averages more than 21 feet of snow every winter. Forest Montmorency, Quebec (Canada) is a close second with an annual snowfall total of 20 feet.
But just coming from a place where a lot of snow falls every year doesn’t guarantee good winter driving skills. It just means the person knows what a lot of snow looks like at any given time during the season.
So let’s take a break from disparaging others for their driving habits and start focusing on how we drive those snowy roads. If you’re a great driver, that’s fantastic. If you’re less than stellar when it comes to driving under certain circumstances, put effort into improving your own driving skills.
Driving through snow and snowstorms isn’t easy, and sometimes the best way to deal with snow and snowstorms is to not drive through them at all. Stay home instead. Make some hot chocolate and work from home (if you can) or hang out with loved ones (pets count as loved ones). If you have a roof over your head, be grateful (not everyone can lay claim to that).
And be kind.
Elyse Bruce
16 January 2024
Elyse Bruce 