【今シーズン初、吹雪の中の運転走行】

　札幌はきょうも最低気温は-7°。日中の最高気温も-1°ということなので、真冬日ということになります。が、それでも積雪量はそうたいしたことはなく、真冬感はまだ感じておりませんでした。
　昨日、また夫婦で早朝散歩で5000歩ほど歩いた後、雪中でも歩数を稼げるような観光箇所ということで、久しぶりに「アルテピアッツァ美唄」までドライブに出掛けておりました。事前の天気予報ではむしろ岩見沢くらいまでの札幌圏の方が降雪がみられて、そこから北の地域ではそこそこ天気が良いということ。
　で、美唄でゆっくりした後、帰り道で高速の「三笠」インターチェンジから帰還しようと向かったら、どうも天気が一気に崩れだして、「これは高速道路、閉鎖になるかも」と不安に駆られるほどの視界不良に。こういう本格的降雪とそのなかの運転は今シーズン初めて。
　慎重に高速に合流するにもなにせ視界不良。どうもドライバーのみなさんも、久しぶりの吹雪中の走行で慣れていないのか、平気で追い越し車線を制限速度以上で驀進していくクルマも多い。吹雪走行では、こういうクルマがいると雪が舞い上がって視界不良がもっと倍加する。その上、みなさん久しぶりということで走行中にライト点灯も忘れている人が多い。
　吹雪のなかの運転では、前方車のテールランプが大きな「安全灯」として機能するのですが、わたしの前方車は失念しているようで、やむなくわたしはじっと目をこらしながらあやうく消え入りそうな車影を凝視しながら、制限速度50kmほどで慎重運転しておりました。しかし、けっこう速度無視して追い越しを、それも無灯でぶっ飛ばしていくクルマに難渋させられておりました。
　雪国人としては、この時期にはやむを得ない状況との遭遇であります。
　急ハンドルとまで言わないけれど、たとえば首都高速などでは降雪時、ハンドル操作に非常に危険が増しますが、寒冷地の高速道路なので急ハンドルが必要な道路設計にはなっていない。とにかく安全最優先で、注意MAXで走行して帰還してきました。
　ということで帰ってきたのは午後４時くらいだったのですが、夕方６時くらいには速攻で就寝。眼精疲労、注意力MAXでの疲れというのは、問答無用で寝る一択であります。おかげさまで本日、と言っても深夜の起床でしたがスッキリさわやかに目覚めておりました（笑）。
　これから３月いっぱいくらいまで、いつなんどき来るかわからないゲリラ吹雪。自分だけではなくみんなの公共心だけが安全を確保できる。共助の考えで乗りきりたいですね。


English version⬇

Driving in a blizzard for the first time this season
The highway in a blizzard that comes in a guerrilla-like fashion. The rear lights of the car in front are the light of life to maintain safety. Overspeeding and overtaking doubles the amount of snow and smoke. Good driving manners will save your life. Driving

　The minimum temperature in Sapporo today is -7°C. The maximum temperature during the day is -1°C, so it is the middle of winter. The maximum temperature during the day was -1°C, which means it was the middle of winter. However, the amount of snowfall was not so significant, and we did not feel the sense of midwinter yet.
　Yesterday, after walking about 5,000 steps in the early morning, we went for a drive to “Arte Piazza Bibai” for the first time in a while, as a sightseeing spot where we could make up the number of steps in the snow. According to the weather forecast, there was snowfall in the Sapporo area up to Iwamizawa, and good weather in the northern area.
　After relaxing in Bibai, we headed home from the Mikasa interchange on the expressway, but the weather suddenly turned bad, and visibility was so poor that we were worried that the expressway might be closed. This was the first time this season that I had driven in full-blown snowfall and under such conditions.
　We had to be very careful to merge onto the highway, but the visibility was still poor. Many drivers, perhaps unaccustomed to driving in a blizzard for the first time in a long time, were not fazed by the fact that many cars were dashing through the overtaking lane at speeds over the speed limit. When driving in a blizzard, the presence of such vehicles causes the snow to fly up and the visibility to deteriorate even more. In addition, many drivers forget to turn on their lights while driving because it has been a long time since they have driven in a blizzard.
　When driving in a snowstorm, the tail lights of the car in front of you function as a big “safety light,” but the car in front of me seemed to have forgotten. However, I was having a hard time with cars that were ignoring the speed limit and passing me without lights.
　As a person from a snow country, this is an unavoidable situation during this time of the year.
　I wouldn't go so far as to call it sharp steering, but when it snows on the Metropolitan Expressway, for example, it becomes very dangerous to steer the car, but this is a highway in a cold region, so the road is not designed to require sharp steering. Anyway, safety was our top priority, and we returned home after driving with maximum caution.
　So it was about 4:00 p.m. when we got back, but I went to bed as fast as I could at about 6:00 p.m. When you are tired from eyestrain and maximal attention span, you have no choice but to go to bed without asking any questions. Thanks to this, I woke up at midnight today, but I woke up refreshed (laugh).
　From now until the end of March, a guerrilla snowstorm may come at any time. Only the public spirit of everyone, not just myself, can ensure our safety. I hope we can get through this with the idea of mutual aid.