Salted Roads - Catch the Fever!

The already-suspect driving abilities of many folks in MoCo are further brought into sharp relief whenever snow falls (or is forecasted) in our area. Apparently, snow of any amount is license (pardon the pun) to drive like an damn fool around these parts, and to put staggering amounts of salt on the roads and into the area waterways.

For example, take a day much like today, when we received a very modest blanket of snow. An armada of salt spreaders headed out to dump obscenely large amounts of salt on our roads, which ultimately has the unintended result of adding tons and tons of salt to the freshwater streams and the Potomac River, which is definitely not fun for all the freshwater fish who call these waters home.

Having lived in Europe a few years, I watched how the Germans approached similar situations, and believe me, it would freak most MoCo drivers out - big time! Salt is NEVER used on German roads for the simple fact that it is so deleterious to the environment. Sure, it's a quick fix and drivers can continue on their way more or less unimpeded by the snow, but it comes at a tremendous environmental price. Rather than apply salt, the Germans use pellitized gravel. It's not a cure-all for slippery roads, but it's a good start, and the gravel is "absorbed" by the environment rather quickly, unlike the tons of salt we apply here each and every time a snowflake is spotted.

I'm waiting for the day when Montgomery County realizes that not every snowfall warrants carpet bombing with tons of salt on the roads. Some objectivity is called for here, but I guess when you've got a county populated by thousands of lawyers looking for the next good liability case, the County's probably in mortal fear of a boatload of lawsuits because they failed to provide the requisite amount of salt.

Honestly, just a small amount of common sense is called for, rather than hitting the panic button every time a snowflake is sighted. And if you think our roads are treacherous, think again. I mean, just ask the folks in Portland!