In praise of plow drivers

By: 
Chuck Kajer, The New Prague Times

It’s times like these when you have to salute city employees.

Especially this week, the city plow drivers.

New Prague’s streets have been kept relatively passable over the past few weeks, despite the numerous snowfall events. Last week, five inches of snow fell during the day on Tuesday. By the next morning, the snow was pretty much gone from city streets, including Main Street, making room for cars to park when going into downtown businesses.

And when the next wave of snow came on Thursday, it didn’t take long for the plows to get back to work, clearing streets and putting salt at intersections, making the roads as safe as possible for drivers to go about their business.

Many people have enough problems driving a regular passenger car on the streets after a major snowfall. These plow drivers have heavy equipment and need to make precision turns to make sure they aren’t damaging curbs or knocking over roadsigns or light poles.

Their job also gets complicated by other vehicles. Some people forget and leave their cars on the streets after a snowfall, making it harder to clear the streets of snow. Even worse, some drivers see the snowplows not as a tool to make the road safe, but an impediment that is in their way. They are impatient and scoot around the plows as soon as they are able. That creates a safety concern for the drivers and makes their jobs more difficult. It also puts the other drivers, and any passengers, in danger. This holds not only for city plow drivers, but county and state plow drivers as well.

More snow is in the forecast, which means the plows - and their drivers - will continue to get a workout. Be patient, and thankful, when you come across these vehicles.

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