For a while now I have been endeavoring to teach Kiddo situational awareness. This is largely centered around parking lots and traffic, things like “Don’t put yourself between a moving vehicle and a stationary object,” and “don’t walk behind any car which could back up.” It will eventually extend to the things any young woman needs to know when walking alone at night.
Today we had a slightly different opportunity to emphasize awareness:
- If you are driving on a snowy interstate highway with two clear lanes and two slushy ones, which lane should you use?
- If you chose wrongly and roll your SUV over, you should remember to put it in park and stop the engine before you climb out.
- And finally, if there are no serious injuries and someone has already called 911, this is not a safe place to be in your personal Volkswagen.
The first two points were graphically demonstrated. I explained the third as we drove away from the now-smoking SUV and its embarrassed owner.
Notes from Mosquito Hill 