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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, January 15, 2016 | 6 It's of cially winter and so we have been challenged to dust off our winter driving skills this week. The rst major snowfall of the season arrived overnight Monday and Halton police reported eight accidents across Halton -- three in Oakville -- between 1:15 and 10 a.m. The OPP reported many more and word from the police who patrol our highways, was most were preventable. Winter weather continued throughout this week. Despite weather warnings and updates from our Oakville-based The Weather Network, the words of caution seem to fall on at least a few deaf ears. Last week, this space was used to lament the woefully dismal holiday RIDE statistics... which showed after years of warnings, education and policing, while arrests were down, warnings were way up over the same time last year. We asked what it will take to get the message home not to drive impaired. When the answer is found, we can employ the strategy to ensure everyone navigates winter weather conditions, too. Granted many drivers do what's required. But all that can be spoiled by the few who think it will never happen to them or that by some stroke of fate, they are not subject to the same laws of nature that weigh on the rest of us. And let's face it... when it comes to safety issues and particularly, weather conditions, you can even do everything right and still face the wrath of Mother Nature. Ask anyone who has felt the futility of frantically adjusting steering on an out-of-control vehicle that no longer responds to its driver's will. Or someone who has heard the chilling crunch of metal against metal as vehicles collide. Or someone who has survived a crash only to face the tragic results. Such tragedy was the experience of one woman last year. In the northern part of Halton, her vehicle hit a patch where snow had blown over the road. The vehicle struck a pole. The woman survived the crash, but her very young daughter was not here to celebrate the holidays this year. Over the course of the ensuing year, during the spring, the sunny days of summer, the bounty of Thanksgiving and fun of Halloween, that little girl and her heartbroken mom have often been thought of. One patch of snow. Ice that was long since melted by summer. More than one tragedy... for a child, mother, father, family and community. Winter driving is serious business. And even when the utmost of precautions are taken, it's still a risk. Heed the advice of Halton police spokesperson Sgt. Chantal Corner, who advises motorists to give themselves plenty of time to get to their destinations, drive slowly and give vehicles in front ßlots of space. "Be alert, keep off the cell phones and leave lots of space, so you have a lot of room to stop," she said. Corner also recommended people completely clear snow and ice off their vehicles to ensure proper visibility -- yours and for those around you, in case you think of letting snow on your vehicle blow onto others as you drive. The OPP also offer winter driving tips, as do many local car dealerships' websites, the Province of Ontario, insurance houses, the CAA and more. Take a few minutes to review them and take a few more minutes to drive safely in bad weather. Or stay off the roads until the weather improves, if at all possible. It's worth it to you and others. Your actions could save your life or the lives of others... and who wouldn't take the type of action that could have resulted in the little girl being with her mom and family today? Winter driving 101 Editorial D E S I G N E D T O W "Connected to your Community" I N 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 54 | Number 4 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER KELLY MONTAGUE DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager SANDY PARE MARK DILLS Did you receive a holiday email from Oakville Mayor Rob Burton? If so, it was designed by Tiffany Vo, 10, or Ibrahim Iftikhar, 13, who are pictured holding up their winning designs in the mayor's inaugural Student Holiday card Contest. The competition was open to children in Grades 1­8. Two submissions were chosen -- one from Grades 1-5 and one from Grades 6­8. "This contest is a great way to capture the vibrancy of how Oakville celebrates the holiday season through the eyes of youth," said Burton, who distributed the artwork to more than 1,500 people in and around Oakville. Students were asked to draw a local holiday scene or event representative of Oakville. | photo by Nikki Wesley ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager In search of the Grinch who stole Christmas My parents lived in a townhouse on Marine Drive, near East Street, for 20 years. For the past few years, my mother had been the primary caregiver for my dad, who suffered from various old-age related ailments, including rapidly-progressing dementia. As anyone in a similar situation can attest, it is extremely hard work and very stressful for the caregiver, and my mum did everything she could to keep Dad as safe as possible. In mid-December 2014, my dad was hospitalized after a minor fall. He spent Christmas on a ventilator in the ICU, and since we were almost always at the hospital with him, my mum did not decorate their house with any holiday décor: no tree, lights, not even a turkey dinner. Dad died on Jan. 13, 2015. In mid-December 2015, in an effort to make her home feel a little more cheery for her rst Christmas as a widow, my mum went out to the garage to retrieve the purple storage tubs containing all her collected holiday décor, only to nd the bins almost completely emptied. A thief (thieves) had entered the garage, carefully moved some cardboard boxes out of the way to get to the tubs, and ri ed through the tree ornaments and gurines, taking all the best ones: those with sentimental and special occasion memories for our family, including a small silver-glitter-covered polystyrene Santa that had been in our family for more than 50 years -- since my older brother was a baby. Strings of lights, a table runner my mum had sewed herself, and a length of poinsettia-print cloth that served as a makeshift tree skirt were also taken. Even the illuminated gold star for the top of our tree was gone. The person(s) responsible took the time to remove ornaments from their individual plastic cases, leaving behind the empty containers, and even restacked the cardboard boxes back to the way they were so that we wouldn't notice anything amiss. (Unfortunately, since we had see `Return' on p.17 Letters to the Editor Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. 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