<p>Digmedia- D is now at school in Colorado carless. I know she is going to ask soon about bringing her car to school either next term or if not next year. She has had a license about 2 1/2 years but no experience driving in the snow. We live in a area where there is little to do outside of our town that isn't a few hour drive so all her driving has been around town and freeway within 20 minutes of our house. Coastal Ca so a little rain and some fog but mainly clear weather.
The Mom in me feels like I should insist on driving lessons in Colorado in winter before we even consent to having her have the car there. Any thoughts? She is in Denver.</p>
<p>I don't think I'd worry too much. Denver streets are usually clear except in conditions that most people wouldn't drive in anyway. One thing we did for our son was to enroll him in a driving school that gave him lots of skid-plate experience, giving him opportunities to learn how to get control of a car if it did begin to slide. He used the experience to throw the car into a skids on corners and take great delight at regaining control and scaring his parents. Anyway, there are driving schools (see below) that have courses for people who already know how to drive, but give them more out-of-the ordinary skills.</p>
<p>Again, I wouldn't worry. If the streets are slippery (not too many days of the year), people generally drive slowly, so the most that would happen is a fender-bender.</p>
<p>But I'm assuming that she wants the car to get up in the mountains in the winter to go skiing with friends. There, she'll encounter the possibility of more extreme conditions - lots more icy roads and lots more snow. There is a company in Denver called MasterDrive (the one we sent our son to) that has a course in Winter Driving Skills. You might want to look into it. It might actually be fun.</p>
<p>By the way, is she at DU?</p>
<p>she is at DU via Tulane. But is for now planning on finishing the year at DU. and then seeing from there where she wants to go. I dread the thought of her transferring and having to go through the whole process all over again. She isn't a skier but that could change.
Thanks for the name I appreciate it.</p>
<p>Masterdrive is awesome. I took their defensive driving course and it was very good.</p>
<p>Denver roads are surprisingly clear in the winter. Those of us in high school always complain that we never get snow days (even with a fair amount of snow) because the plows etc. are SO efficient. </p>
<p>I hope your D is liking DU and Denver! It's a nice place to live.</p>
<p>And other thing you/she will learn about Denver is that, because of the lack of humidity, the snow evaporates very quickly. Especially the snow on the road. Same thing with rain.</p>
<p>The first winter we were out there (1984), we got a big snowstorm. About a foot and a half of snow. Two to three foot drifts. The plant I worked at closed down for the day. But we were out driving around town that afternoon. The roads were clear and dry.</p>
<p>It took me a while to get used to hearing my bosses talk about playing tennis at 4:00 when it was raining at 2:00. But the courts were dry by then.</p>