Every year, with the pending arrival of winter, your humble scribes contemplate writing the obligatory stories about winterizing trucks and preparing for the onset of unforgiving cold.

It’s basically the same story every year. We’re Canadian after all, and winter is a fact of life. It’s like those old neuter-your-pet public service announcements we used to see in our local papers. We know nobody ever reads them, but we have a civic duty to encourage our readers to do the right thing.

Ten days ago, we published a story called Driver tips for cold weather survival. A few days later a winter storm dumped about 140 cm (55 inches) of snow on what the locals call Cottage Country. This includes highways 400, 69, and 11, which are heavily traveled by trucks heading west.

A couple days later a story emerged on the CBC about a generous grocery store owner, Jessie Grimes of Gravenhurst, who brought food and other supplies to the cars and trucks stranded on the road by the storm. I’m sure many drivers were grateful for Grimes’ efforts, but several truckers, as the story reported, said they were fine, they had their own supplies, and turned down the offer so others truly in need could have something.

Earlier in the fall, a similar story emerged from British Columbia. Truck drivers were reported to have been sharing food and water and warm clothes with stranded motorists. 

It did my cynical old heart good to read that. Knights of the road, professional drivers and all that. We have that giving spirit. But I was also glad to read that drivers were carrying such supplies and taking steps to keep themselves safe from the cold in uncertain winter conditions.

And then today I read this story on CBC, and that warm fuzzy feeling evaporated.

The story reported a multi-vehicle crash had forced the closure of westbound Hwy. 401 in the London area Thursday morning. A winter storm had been forecast for the area and the usual warning went out. It was well publicized and shouldn’t have surprised anyone. Officials had issued the usual warning about staying home if travel isn’t essential, etc., etc., etc. But still folks ventured out, possibly thinking, ‘Well I’m an experienced winter driver. Lived here all my life,’ etc.

Complaints about police

What they hadn’t planned for was a big crash closing down the highway.

So, what did some stranded motorists do? The called in to the local CBC Radio afternoon show and complained that the police weren’t doing enough to rescue their sorry asses. Really.

You should read some of the quotes CBC included in the story.

“It’s insane because I’ve called [police] multiple times. Shouldn’t they check on people? Nobody should ever be trapped in their vehicle on a highway for this long, there’s no excuse for it,” said one caller.

“We are now many hours deep into this, sitting still on the road, and nobody has come to check on us,” said another. “I’m a diabetic and we have our son with us who has Aspergers, so he’s feeling uncomfortable. It’s super anxious for him because we’ve literally been sitting here for five hours, not getting any responses from police.” 

Hands full

I’m pretty sure the police had their hands full sorting out the initial mess and trying to get things reopened. They certainly don’t have the resources to be playing nurse maid to unprepared drivers.

On a more positive note, I think the CBC story illustrates the need for truck drivers to be prepared, even day cab drivers who fully expect to be home at the end of a shift. They too should be carrying sufficient winter clothing (hats, mitts, boots, coats, etc.) to stay warm if something unexpected happens.

This incident happened a few miles from the sixth largest city in Ontario. The storm that paralyzed Cottage Country a few days earlier left drivers stranded for much longer and in much worse conditions. Storms can happen anywhere in Canada this time of the year and the more remote the highway you’re traveling, the more prepared you need to be.

That’s the key to this little rant. It’s Canada. It’s winter. This happens. Be prepared.