By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Soon enough, we’ll be relearning the winter driving skills.

The Illinois State Police and Illinois Department of Transportation, in a statewide series of news conferences, remind everyone to slow down, make extra room for the other guy, have a plan, and stay in your car if you slide off.

“We have a large truck,” said IDOT temporary lead worker Brian Mendenhall. “There are a lot of blind spots. We can’t always see those drivers,  so if they could give us room – preferably stay home, so we can get those roads cleaned and prepared, so they can get to their destination safely.

Police say “Scott’s Law,” by which you have to slow down and move over for stopped vehicles with flashing lights, applies to IDOT – and everyone else – in addition to police.

There is some fun as well. IDOT says the winning names in a contest to name two snow plows are “Orange Crush” and “Scoopy Do.” IDOT says it will update the activities of those two plows via social media.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].