Get ready to take it easy on slippery roads

Temperatures are expected to be in the comfortably cool range Saturday night -- perfect weather for football in Memorial Stadium.

It was hard to believe with Friday's temperatures in the 70s, but snow is in the forecast for Tuesday and Tuesday evening.

After all, it is November.

So it's a good time for a reminder that driving in snowy weather requires special care. Don't let slippery roads catch you by surprise.

When roads are expected to become hazardous, the Nebraska Department of Roads stresses two important points.

First, don't let the convenience of cruise control endanger the lives of you and your passengers. Cruise control can quickly put you into the situation of traveling too fast for the conditions, and the computer's quick adjustment of speed can easily send a vehicle out of control when temperature and moisture conditions are just right.

When "iffy" weather approaches, switch off the cruise and pay attention to your driving.

Second, they want drivers to know that, during hazardous winter weather conditions, their vehicles, stuck or stalled along busy highways, may not be retrieved until after the storm clears, unless they are in the way of other travelers.

So, officials like the Department of Roads, responding State Patrol officers, sheriffs' personnel, local police and towing companies, the Red Cross and Nebraska Emergency Management Agency want us to ask ourselves two questions:

1. When it's snowing, should you be going? And,

2. If you must go, ice and snow mean take it slow!