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Auto news; Abandoning Ship In Extreme Winter Weather With snow drifting down gently on Las Vegas Wednesday night, we thought it might be a good time to remind winter drivers how to abandon their vehicles if the going just gets too tough. PEMCO insurance of Washington State advises that there is a right way and a wrong way to abandon your vehicle, and they advise you to avoid ..Auto news; Enlarge Photo

With snow drifting down gently on Las Vegas Wednesday night, we thought it might be a good time to remind winter drivers how to abandon their vehicles if the going just gets too tough. PEMCO insurance of Washington State advises that there is a right way and a wrong way to abandon your vehicle, and they advise you to avoid driving altogether if the conditions promise to be particularly nasty.

If forward progress becomes impossible or too dangerous, they advise staying with your vehicle if at all possible; abandoned vehicles are likely to be either towed or struck by other vehicles, and abanoned-vehicle towing charges are steep and often not covered by insurance.

But if you must abandon ship:

• Try to get as far off the traveled roadway as you safely can.
• Turn on your flashers, and leave them on.
• Set out flares to warn other drivers, if you can safely do so.
• Make a reasoned judgment about whether to remain with the vehicle and call for help, or to strike out on your own.
• Leave a note in the window with your contact information.
• Take your most valuable items with you.
• Be sure to remove personal information that could allow a thief to locate your home and loved ones, steal your identity, or otherwise defraud you.
• Secure the vehicle by setting the emergency brake and locking the doors.

We’d imagine that abandoned-vehicle tow charges are especially steep in Vegas, but they’re probably a lot more common due to, oh, deliriously high blood-alcohol levels than they are to a random bit of snowfall in sin city. What’s that saying about hell freezing over?–Colin Mathews
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