utah drivers

I'll have a post up soon about H's and my recent stint as SLC tour guides, but first a word about Utah drivers.  Now, I'm not going to go and make any huge sweeping generalizations here, but:  this past Saturday was the first major snowstorm of the year and by the end of that day alone, the Utah Highway Patrol reported

• 150 car accidents in Salt Lake and Utah Counties
• 90 car accidents in Davis County
• 60+ car accidents in Weber County
• and 15 car accidents in Box Elder County

We had another storm yesterday, just in time for the morning commute and it's my understanding that greater Salt Lake City racked up yet another 100+ accidents.  That's incredible to me.  Is it just because the population density is so high here that statistically so many people are going to smash up?  Here's the thing: it's not like this snow thing is new to Utah.  They get it every year, a lot of it.  I am amazed as to how people can completely forget their winter driving skills from one year to the next.  Just because you have four-wheel drive doesn't mean you'll stop any better on ice.

Since I take the surface roads, my commute on Tuesday morning was messy and extremely slow but not terrifying or life-threatening.  I plan to stick to my route, and stick to my slow and steady/easy on the brake routine.  It worked for me in Maine and I see no reason that it can't work for me here too.