WASILLA -- Slow down. You move too fast. You've got to make your vehicle -- and your life -- last.
Valley towing companies are singing the same tune as local drivers negotiate icy roads and slippery streets at the start of this year's winter season.
"I heard a radio guy say one time that when it starts raining or snowing, that doesn't mean you should put your gas pedal to the floor in order to get home faster," Roberta Behm, co-owner of Happy Hooker Towing in Wasilla, said Wednesday. "A bunch of people are ending up in the ditches, as usual."
In business since 2002, Happy Hooker trucks travel 300 to 1,000 miles every day -- sometimes going all the way to Tok, Valdez or Homer to rescue stranded drivers, Behm said.
More locally in Mat-Su, they see a lot off folks "falling off their driveways" after they park their vehicles at the top of slick inclines and learn the next morning their vehicles traveled a bit on their own.
"We haven't gotten anybody falling into Big Lake yet," Behm said. "We've been known to get at least one of those every year. They think three weeks of being 20 degrees is cold enough to freeze the lake. Think again."
Duane Minkler, owner of Matanuska Towing and Recovery in Palmer, said he has been getting 40 or 50 calls every day lately, compared to his usual 30 calls. Minkler is celebrating the shop's 25th anniversary this year.
Minkler, who has 15 tow and flatbed trucks at his disposal, said the most common errors he sees this time of year involve overconfident drivers of four-wheel-drive trucks.
"People in big trucks think they're invincible and they go way too fast and end up in a ditch or worse," Minkler said. "And those with the really big tires are the most dangerous. Those aren't meant for regular roads, especially when it's slick."
Minkler's biggest pet peeve involves drivers who don't move over to allow his trucks through.
"People think they only have to move over for emergency vehicles, but the law says they have to move for us too," he said. "Or they hit their brakes and lose control and cause another accident."
Minkler said he's glad he has had to rescue only one school bus this season so far.
"We've had 50 or 60 buses in one day before," he said. "They've been behaving themselves this year."
By K.T. McKEE
kmckee@adn.com