It’s that time of year again, when the snow starts falling, and we have to learn once again how to share the road with snowplows.

Snowplow drivers have a thankless job. They work long hours during the most horrible weather imaginable, just to keep the roads as safe as possible. But all motorists have a role in keeping roads safe, as well. Here are some tips for driving during the winter, to help snowplow drivers help you:

• Before you head out, check weather conditions, so you know what to expect.  Give yourself extra time to get to your destination.
• Make sure your vehicle’s windows are clear of snow, ice and frost before you head out.
• Make sure your headlights and tail lights are in proper working order.
• If there is ice and snow, take it slow. Most posted speed limit signs are for clear, dry conditions, and may become hazardous when roads are slick. Most winter accidents are caused by driving too fast for conditions.
• Stay well behind working snowplows. Make sure you can see the driver’s mirrors, because that means it’s more likely he can see you.
• If you’re impatient and tempted to pass a snowplow, remember; the road where you are behind the snowplow is probably in better condition than the road in front of it.
• If you decide to pass the snowplow, anyway, be extra careful, because the snowplow can create a cloud of snow that could obscure your vision.
• When driving on plowed snowy roads, try to stay in the wheel ruts made by the cars ahead of you. Often, the grip in the rut is nearly as good as on a road that’s merely wet.
• Avoid black ice by slowing down and steering smoothly. If you hit an ice patch, anyway, stay calm and slow down carefully. Don’t overreact by slamming your brakes or turning the steering wheel too sharply.
• Look both ways when approaching any intersection, even if you have the right of way, just in case other drivers can’t stop.

Remember; during difficult snow and ice conditions, it takes everyone working together to keep everyone safe.

A 7-year-old Quebec boy, Olivier Prescott, is home safe and sound after surviving what many have called a “freak accident,” in which he was trapped under a four-foot snow bank for nearly three hours.

The boy was playing outside a school across the street from his home in Longueuil,Quebec, when a snow plow drove by. Apparently, the operator didn’t see him, and the boy ended up buried in a mound of snow. Olivier later said that he saw the snowplow and tried to jump out of the way, but that his foot got stuck in the snow, and he couldn’t get out of the way in time. He said he covered his mouth with his toque before passing out.

The boy’s mother, Stephanie Prescott, had been shoveling her walkway while her son played across the street. When she looked over to check on him, he was gone. She knocked on doors when she couldn’t find the boy, and one neighbor told her a plow had cleared the yard just before the boy vanished.

By that time, several police officers joined the search, and several neighbors began digging. After 45 minutes of shoveling, the men saw the boy’s toque and boot. They dragged him from the snow, unconscious after nearly three hours under the snow. Olivier was taken to a neighbor’s house and revived before an ambulance took him to hospital, where he was treated for hypothermia and discharged later that same day.

It’s been a rough winter for everyone in Saskatchewan, and snowplow operators are no exception. There has been so much snow and cold, and conditions have been so bad, they’re setting records. And not the good records, either.

On March 1, at around 6: 45 a.m., a snowplow was clearing the Trans-Canada Highway between the Kalium Road intersection and the Belle Plaine overpass east of Moose Jaw. It slowed down a bit as it approached another car in a ditch, and as it did so, it was hit from behind by a woman driving a Grand Am. The driver of the car suffered minor injuries. She was taken by police to a local hospital, and was released later the same day. The snowplow operator was unhurt.

What’s notable about that crash is that brought the total number of collisions involving snowplows this winter to eight, which is double the normal number. In the 13 winters between 1998 and 2010, there were 52 such collisions, which breaks down to an average of four per year.

Officials seem uncertain as to why there have been so many collisions, but they do note that crews have been logging  a lot of overtime this winter.

Because of the higher numbers, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure is making the rounds and running advertisements reminding drivers to be on the lookout for snowplows and keep their distance.  They also note that it is illegal to pass highway equipment at a speed greater than 60 km/h if the equipment’s lights are flashing, and that snowplow operators will pull over every 10 km or so to let traffic pass.

According to evidence presented at a coroner’s inquest into the deaths of four people in three separate snowplow accidents that occurred in Montreal last winter, apparently at least one snow plow operator who ran over and killed an elderly Montreal couple had been driving with an expired permit.

In that incident, an elderly married couple were holding hands as they crossed Sherbrooke Street near the Notre Dame Hospital when they were run over and killed February 3, 2009. A Montreal police investigator confirmed that the driver, a private snow plow contractor, was driving with an expired permit and had worked six days in a row when he hit the couple. The driver also failed to keep the driving logs required by law, and ignored a pedestrian crossing sign at the time of the accident.

The number of incidents last winter sparked public outrage over Montreal’s snow-clearing operations, including its hiring of private contractors, and safety and driving standards, and led to the inquest, which is also looking into an accident that occurred just hours later, when an elderly woman was run over by a plow in the northwestern borough of Ahuntsic, as well as an incident that occurred a few months earlier, in December 2008, when a 49-year-old woman was run over by a snow plow when she dashed across Jean-Brillant Street in Côte-des-Neiges.