What is the most important safety feature on your car? The front, side curtain and ceiling air bags? The front and rear crumple zones flanking the steel safety cage in which you and your passengers sit? The sensor linked to the color monitor in your dashboard to keep you from backing into — or over — someone?
No. It's not even the infrared camera that lets you see that deer leaping into your path seconds before you'd turn Bambi into fresh venison steaks — and raise your insurance rate as part of the deal.
The surprise snowfall on Jan. 12 proved it once again: No matter how you try to fight the laws of physics while driving, the laws win every time. Two motorists died in crashes linked to that snowstorm. I cannot, and will not, speculate on other contributing factors. I discovered, however, there was plenty to discuss as I enjoyed a day off from work.
After the weather went sour during morning drive, angry talk show callers claimed the Missouri Department of Transportation did absolutely nothing until everyone started slip-sliding away. Frustrated motorists told tales of 25-minute commutes taking three hours or longer on Interstate 44.
Other callers claimed road conditions deteriorated dramatically once they crossed from Illinois into Missouri. At least one radio reporter confirmed this on I-255 from Columbia, Ill., to Jefferson Barracks. MODOT officials claimed they had done some highway treatment, but a sudden cold blast dropped temperatures fast enough to stop salt trucks in their icy tracks.
If that were the case, why were Illinois roads more passable?
It's easy to forget that only one inch of snow fell at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. One and three-fourths inches fell in the Geer front yard. Angie claimed "blizzard-like" conditions in Edwardsville and Glen Carbon, with more than two inches on the ground. Our friends in Cordova, Alaska, still shoveling out of some 18 feet of snow, would argue with her about that.
A woman originally from Maine put everything back into perspective when she told Charlie Brennan on KMOX Radio that the kind of storm we had that morning wouldn't have fazed her back home. However, she also noticed people who shot past her at speeds suitable for dry pavement, as if they felt they were invincible.
To me, there is one hazard with all the safety equipment the federal government has mandated for today's vehicles. It's the false sense of security today's cars give you; that feeling that you can exceed the speed limit on any kind of road, do things that would scare the daylights out of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and drive secure in the knowledge that nothing, but nothing, can stop you.
Whether you drive the first 2012 or 2013 car on your block, or own one built during the term of Jimmy Carter, remember this: You are your car's most important safety feature. You are the one who is in control. It's something I'm still learning after more than 40 years behind the wheel.
Charles E. Geer is a Granite City resident and former radio talk show host who is father of two and grandfather of two. Besides writing, he also enjoys cooking, drumming and talking cars with almost anyone.
