Granted, it's absolutely pathetic when you consider that we were forecasted up to four inches, but at least it's something.

It wouldn't surprise me if school has been canceled.

Oh geez... I just checked the local newspaper's website to see if school had been canceled. There's been another fatal accident on the busy road leading to town.

The media here in Washington loves to condemn this road as "unsafe." Many people want the speed limit decreased (it's 50mph north of town, but once you approach the town it drops to 35mph), and the family of a woman killed at a particular intersection has been successful in lobbying for a traffic light there.

Having lived in many other parts of the country, I can be more objective than most people here. The woman who was killed at the intersection was killed because she pulled out into oncoming traffic that was going 50mph in order to make a left turn. Her family blames a lack of visibility, but the reason for that lack is because if oncoming traffic was turning right at that intersection, people waiting to turn left could not see if there was any traffic coming straight through the intersection. The easy solution to this issue is to simply wait until there was no more right-turning traffic before making a left turn. It sounds like a busy road, and it can be, but one would have to wait no more than a couple of minutes before the cross traffic was clear to be able to turn.

But now we have a light there because this woman's family blamed her death on the lack of a street light. It's a tragedy that she died, but the reality is she pulled out into oncoming traffic.

Now a young woman died on that street this morning. The local paper is reporting only that she hit a truck. There is no mention as to whether she rear-ended him or if it was a head-on collision, whether she crossed the center line or if he stopped too suddenly for her to react.

But I think the problem is simply common sense. This road is the main artery to get to and from the ferry terminal to Seattle, and many, many people live up here in this northern area of the county. It's really the only way to get to town and to points farther south. It is a dangerous road, but only if you aren't paying attention. Yes, the speed limit is high, and the road is curvy. Many houses sit on acreage along this road, which means the owners have to get out of their driveways as best they can with traffic flying by. There are no shoulders to this road, and there are sheer drop-offs into wooded ravines along much of it.

Washington would love to blame all the deaths on the reasons I have enumerated above. But then Washington loves to blame things on outside influences, not on the drivers themselves. I wrote a rant a few years ago about Washington lamented the death of two different people at an off-ramp from our local highway, blaming the guard rail, which entered both cars, for the deaths. There was very little mention of the fact that the reason both drivers hit the guard rail was because they were both drunk.

I have lived here for nearly four years, and have taken that road several times a week because it's the only way to get to where I am going. I have never come even close to getting into an accident. Why? Because I recognize that this road is dangerous and I drive accordingly. I leave a large gap between me and the car in front of me in case a large truck stops suddenly to turn into the topsoil company. I don't pass cars on the right turning into the memorial gardens, though there is plenty of room to do so. When conditions are cold and icy (like they are today), I reduce my speed.

I'm not a perfect driver. I just like to employ common sense. I figure a careful driver arrives alive.