The ice and snow combined with poor driving and there was a 51 vehicle pile up on the interstate in southern NH this morning:

http://www.wmur.com/news/18456864/detail.html

I was watching the video on local stations, and more than one person talked about being able to stop their car, only to have it get rammed from behind. One person was interviewed and said that he jumped from his car before it was hit from behind and driven under a bus.

Another interesting observation was how many of these folks were not dressed for the below freezing, snowy conditions. People commented on how lucky they were that they could borrow things from the other vehicles. They were out driving in a snow storm with little more than a cotton hoodie as their outerwear. No boots, jacket, hat, gloves, etc... and apparently, they don't carry anything in the trunk that wasn't put there by the manufacturer. Ok, we've covered that one to death before I guess.

My main issue is: I have a young driver in my house, and I have always wondered why the driver training classes don't incorporate any training on ice/snow/rain conditions? They go out of their way to NOT take the kids out for driving when conditions are poor. A few of us have taken advantage of large open parking lots during snow and ice conditions to get the kids real exposure to skidding, recovering from a skid, how ABS works and feels, etc. I'm afraid that most kids don't get this kind of training. It's a lot better to spin out on an open parking lot a few times, and see how hard it is to turn, and brake on ice, isn't it? Do other folks do this with their kids? (Heck, it's good for adults too)

What kind of defensive driving "practice" have you folks had? How much was learning the hard way, vs any formal or planned training?