Behind the Headlines

This morning, most of our friends in northwest Ohio are under Level 3 county snow emergencies and a few are under Level 2. Level 1 means the roads are snowy, Level 2 means drive only if necessary and Level 3 means drive only in an emergency.
I’d like to see Michigan invoke something similar to Ohio’s Level 1, 2, 3 snow emergency procedure. I was living and working as a reporter in Ohio when that system was created in the 1990s. It took a few years for people to get used to the routine, but it really does take the second-guessing out of “do I travel or not?”

The complaints about not going to such a system usually focus on whether the sheriff or road commission has the authority to close down a private business … usually with fussing about “well this is the Midwest, we should be able to handle some snow.” The fact is, sometimes the snowplow crews can’t keep up with the weather conditions. There are times when even I-75 and the Ohio Turnpike cannot stay open.
That’s why Ohio law enforcement officers can and do, issue citations of “misconduct at an emergency” for motorists who are on the roads without good reason during a Level 3 snow emergency.
In the long run, the snow emergency plan proved to prevent a lot of guesswork for the workplaces. If you, as a business owner or manager, are willing to go to court and defend the need to a judge for your customers and employees to travel during a Level 3 snow emergency, then by all means go ahead and stay open. For example, as a news reporter, I carried an ID card that allowed me to be on the roads during Level 3. The news media was considered a necessary public service. On the other hand, my daughter’s day care center shut down during Level 3, and as a parent, I knew that procedure ahead of time.