Treat icy roads and fellow drivers with the respect they deserve

ELEVEN years ago, almost to the day, I had a lucky escape after an encounter with an icy road.

Trundling home from a friend’s house in west Cork some time after 11pm, I drove too quickly into a corner on the road between Bandon and Enniskeane and the next thing I knew I was viewing the world from a different perspective – an upside down one.

Miraculously, the trusty family car left the road, spun in the air and landed on its four wheels next to the ditch, engine revving. The only evidence of its airborne trajectory was the petrol hatch, which was completely concertina-ed.