Watch for shade.
    This is a caution drivers in Hood River County and the Gorge should continue to heed.
    Numerous accidents, some involving injuries, were reported Tuesday morning, especially along Interstate 84 around Hood River.

As new snow falls Tuesday morning, with freezing rain expected to follow, the road surface set-up will be a familiar one:

Icy patches will contribute to a large number of accidents in our area.

Ice and speed, that is.

The combination is a potentially deadly one, but it is that combination that causes problem.

Most icy stretches of highway can be safely traversed if drivers slow down.

Winter is still with us.

The terra is not always firma.

Drivers who frequent Highway 35 and Dee Highway know where those slick patches are. The same with Interstate 84.

On Monday, one such slick stretch apparently contributed to a rollover accident that sent a vehicle over a 100-foot embankment near Odell (details, page A1).

It’s that curve adjacent to Endow Road, just south of Booth Hill.

Talk about putting cars where the sun doesn’t shine. Between late fall and early spring, the curve is constantly in the shade thanks to the angle of the sun, the angle of the road, and a steep and heavily-wooded hillside that blocks the rays.

South of Endow Drive, the road basks in warm winter sun. Round the corner heading north, careless drivers are enjoying dry pavement at 55 or 60 miles an hour — then hitting black ice.

Two suggestions for dealing with the problem.

First, drivers must approach shaded highways with caution. People who live around here know about them.

Where there’s sun, there’s shade.

One trick might be a note on the sun visor: if you’ve flipped that thing down anytime during the winter, it should remind drivers that shady patches will be present.

Second, state and local highway authorities might consider a “Shade Zone” signage, similar to “Watch for Ice.” Without adding too much visual clutter, the state could add “Shade Zone” signs to the seasonal highway safety signs already in place

Determining the geographical location for these signs would have to take into account the changes in solar contact, but this would be a small obstacle.

Ask any local paramedic or deputy where shade is likely to lead to accidents between November and February. They can tell you.

Granted, more signage would have a fiscal impact, but it could help save lives. Try it on a pilot basis and get feedback from drivers and emergency responders.

Get school kids involved in a statewide contest to design the signs, and you already have a positive impact: kids would show their designs to their parents, who are drivers.

In the end, it is up to all drivers to slow down, and think about what’s on the road ahead.