Safety first for winter driving

School District 57 was right not to close local schools on the morning of Feb. 8 following the huge amount of snow that fell the previous 36 hours. While school board chair Tim Bennett urged parents to keep their kids home that day, administrators and teachers were still obligated to make their way through the snow-covered city streets to get the schools open.

Joanne Hapke, president of the Prince George Teachers’ Association, however, told SD 57 trustees on Tuesday to revise the direct policy that prohibits school closures during heavy snowfalls.

The logic behind the existing policy is that closing schools because of an extreme weather event puts parents in a bind because they have to go to work but have no emergency care for their child. The fear is that a child will either be dropped off at a school’s front door or walk there from home, only to find the doors locked.

That is a legitimate concern but Hapke is correct that parents should bear the ultimate responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of their child and if that means being unable to attend work for a day, so be it. It’s not babysitting when it’s your own kid.

With that in mind, the decision of wheth- er to close the schools or not due to snow or cold shouldn’t be up to the school board chair or the superintendent.

In the case of snow, that’s actually a road safety issue. In other words, if the Prince George RCMP issued an emergency call for all non-essential traffic to stay off area roads because of dangerous conditions, then the schools (and nearly all local businesses) should be closed. If that call is not made – and it wasn’t on Feb. 7 or 8 – schools should be open as usual.

It’s really no different than if the pipes burst, the heat quit working or a minor fire broke out at a school. While the school board chair or the superintendent might be the ones to announce the school is closed for the day (or longer), they would be acting on the recommendation of a facilities manager or a building inspector, with the safety of staff and students being the primary concern.

When it comes to snow, however, a macho attitude prevails among area residents when it comes to winter driving. Someone who decides to stay home because of lessthan-ideal road conditions is considered a wimp, especially if they are male and have a full-sized pickup sitting in the driveway. Somehow, lots of these trucks still find their way into the ditch each winter because fourwheel drive helps the truck get moving but it doesn’t help so much to stop the vehicle on black ice, especially if the tires aren’t any good.

This cockiness needs to be replaced with caution and fear. While drivers may not worry about their own personal safety, they should be deeply concerned about the valuable young flesh-and-blood cargo in the vehicle with them.

Furthermore, they should have a healthy fear of the other idiot drivers out there (as all drivers know, that means everyone but themselves) who shouldn’t be out on the road and are one stupid decision away from crashing into them, possibly hurting them or their loved ones. That could mean missing far more than just one snow day off work and school.

In light of a dangerous road conditions warning from the RCMP (or Drive B.C.), employers should not expect their staff to come in, unless they work in emergency services.

That warning should go one step farther. If the RCMP finds a driver who got into a crash on a highway or road was travelling for non-emergency reasons during a dangerous conditions warning, that driver should be fined, even if the crash wasn’t their fault. Ignorance should be no excuse.

None of this will apply once self-driving vehicles become the standard, of course, because the car or truck simply won’t leave the driveway once a hazardous road conditions warning was issued.

Until then, there should be no reluctance on the part of the RCMP or Drive B.C. to insist drivers stay off the road for nonemergency travel when warranted and there should be no hesitation on the part of drivers to respect those warnings.

When it comes to snow, however, a macho attitude prevails among area residents when it comes to winter driving. Someone who decides to stay home because of lessthan-ideal road conditions is considered a wimp, especially if they are male and have a full-sized pickup sitting in the driveway.