I live on a somewhat rural road, and this road doesn't get that much traffic. Oftentimes even when main roads are bone dry and safe for driving, the road that I have to drive on to get to my house is still covered in ice or packed snow. It's not undrivable or even that dangerous, but you have to be careful when it's slick.

Most people who spend any significant amount of time in Minnesota should know this when driving on ice or packed snow. SHOULD know.

This morning it was pretty slippery, so I was driving cautiously. I drive a Honda Accord with tires that aren't the best under slippery conditions, so I was taking it easy at about 50 miles per hour at most. Driving on a straight, flat road with no traffic is perfectly safe (even on ice) at 50 mph.

There are generally two kinds of people we encounter on a daily basis when it's slippery... just about any winter driver will agree with me: "Idiots", who drive 25 mph and cause terrible traffic problems (I'm sorry, but even when it's slippery out, 25 mph on a rural road just isn't safe unless you have one of those big, orange triangles on the back of your car like tractors do), and "Maniacs", who feel invulnerable in their SUVs, ignoring the laws of physics and screaming down the road at speeds that are barely safe even when the roads are dry.

Myself, I'm somewhere in between. I think it's a bit unreasonable to drive on highways at 25 mph, but at the same time, you won't see me totally disregarding things like snow and ice and driving the same as I always do. My main aim is to keep my vehicle under control, and get to where I'm going in relative safety and timeliness.

This morning, some guy came barrelling up behind me in a black Ford Explorer... FAST. He rode my ass for about a half a mile, and then zoomed past me.

With the rate he pulled away from me after passing, he had to have been doing at least 70 mph.

On ice.

I'm sorry to say, but when driving on solid ice, even on a flat, straight road, even if you are in a four-wheel-drive vehicle, even with antilock brakes, even with modern "traction control" systems, even if you're a top-notch driver, 70 miles per hour is not a safe speed to be driving. That's just common sense. Again, anyone who spends any significant amount of time in Minnesota should know that.

Now don't get me wrong... my wife and I own an SUV of our own. We think they're fine vehicles, and if you live anyplace rural in Minnesota, they're handy to have. But SUV's apparently do funny things to some peoples' common sense.

A few minutes later I drove past the very same Mister Black Ford Explorer, who was standing next to his vehicle, which was now mired in about three or four feet of snow, facing the wrong way in the left ditch of this very same flat, straight road.

I always wonder at the number of cars I see in Minnesota ditches on days when driving conditions don't really warrant such chaos. Now I think I have an idea about that. Drive 70 mph on ice and that's where you end up.

I waved at him as I went past.

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