In October, my 17-year-old stepdaughter got her first car: a 1992 Geo Prism. It's not a great car, but it's better than having my wife and I drive her to work, school, boyfriend's house, etc.

But Kelly didn't get her driver's license until May, so as winter approached, my wife and I got nervous about her driving in the snow and the ability of her car to handle it. The car is light and has no front-wheel drive. So each time a wintry mix was forecast, we warned our daughter about the perils of driving in snow and ice, especially with her car. She didn't care much for our advice and told us not to worry about it. And sure enough, the forecasted precipitation never came.

Until last week, when a few inches of snow fell while Kelly was at work. When a normal 20-minute drive to the newspaper took me 35 minutes, my wife immediately contacted Kelly and told her how horrible the roads were and to be careful. This time, she heeded our advice and had no problems on the road.

Now, if we can just get her to keep her room clean.