Fire chief proposes school district help create winter driving program

KALKASKA — Teenagers may learn the basic rules of the road by attending driver education courses before being licensed drivers. But, at least one local resident would like to see the creation of a winter driving course to help provide new drivers with a chance to safely learn how to handle the trickier points of northern Michigan’s winter conditions.

Derek Hogerheide, fire chief for Kalkaska Township Fire Department Station No. 7, asked the Kalkaska Public Schools Board of Education to allow the parking lot at the Kalkaska Middle School to be used for a winter safety driving course, where local parents could help teach their young drivers how to better handle a vehicle in winter conditions and allow the students to experience ice and snowy driving conditions in a safer, more controlled area.

Based on his experience as a firefighter, Hogerheide said younger drivers are often the victims of vehicular accidents during the winter months due to a lack of experience driving under such conditions, as well as failing to have the proper equipment, such as “snow” tires.

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