Slick roads - near-miss

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
December 26, 2009

I waited until the end of the day to venture out on Woodstock's slick streets and roads. For an ex-Colorado driver, they weren't all that bad. As you start out, you check your stopping distance, tire grip, turning actions, accelerating actions.

When I was on the way back and only about three blocks from home, a jerk in a pick-up truck came out of the Citgo station on Lake Avenue fast. Although he had his front wheels turned to the right, the push from his back tires sent him through the slush into the middle of the street. Then the back end of the pick-up fishtailed to the left, over into my lane. He didn't get off the gas, and the back end swung to the right. And then back to the left again and into my lane.

I guess I did an okay job of timing his fishtailing through slowing down, braking, and heading for the right shoulder, because I got by him during one of the times when his truck was all the way in his lane. It was close, though.

I thought about turning around and siccing the Woodstock Police on him. His driving was much more than just sliding in his turn out of the gas station. It was certainly careless and bordered on reckless, because he didn't get his foot off the gas and allow time to get the truck back under control.

That's three times in the past two weeks that I have almost been hit within three blocks of home. The other two times were on Lake Avenue, too, and involved oncoming drivers who crossed the centerline. Were they on the cell phone or texting?

With so many inattentive drivers on the roads, I sure hope that officers of the Woodstock Police Department will be ticketing them and not wait for accidents to happen.