Susan Moree talks to Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic, from New Mexico DOT, about naming New Mexico snowplows and safe winter driving. Here is the transcript of their conversation.
Susan Moree:
Tell me about the snowplow names. You guys already got a lot of name suggestions, correct?
Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic:
Absolutely. Over 600 names. They were funny and fun and just creative. Right now we're in the voting stage. We pick 50 names. We go through all of the names. We pick our favorite 50 and then we put those out to vote for New Mexicans or anybody who wants to vote.
Susan Moree:
One of my favorites is Snobi Wan Kenobi.
Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic:
Yes.
Susan Moree:
Another one I really like is Snowmore, Mr. Ice Guy.
Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic:
Yes, it's so fun to read through that. There's a ton of with New Mexico flair. If I use my northern New Mexico accent, a la Cinders, that's hilarious. You know, the north of Sole, that's hilarious. And then Shohei Snowtani, so lots of baseball fans. And then Snobi-Wan Kenobi, which is awesome. And we have Austin Plowers, that one kind of always seems to be a fan, another fave, Betty Whiteout, just kind of fun, fast and flurious nods to different things. So lots of great names in the top 50. And as I mentioned, some of the ones, you know, Saltimus Prime is there and some Chilly Changa has a lot of votes right now. Snobi Wan Kenobi is in the top five, I think right now, for names or maybe in the top ten, they kind of are starting to fluctuate a little bit. It's really great. The deadline to vote is going to be Wednesday, January 14th at noon, and we've received over 8,000 votes so far. We're really excited. Lots of people voting. It's just it's a lot of fun. I hear people say it's really great to even kind of watch an orange snowplow go by and be looking for names. It's fun when we get to see snowplows out and about. We've got a lot of requests to take them to schools or to community events, and so it's kind of fun. They've become local celebrities.
Susan Moree:
Where can people go to vote on their favorite snowplow name?
Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic:
People can go to our website, which is dot.nm.gov. And then on our homepage, there's a link to the Name of Snowplow contest, which has all of our voting. And actually, if you vote, you can see, we have a live tally going. So once you submit your vote, you can see where your favorite name is. And people can vote more than once, but they can only vote for one name at a time.
Susan Moree:
And how many winners will there be?
Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic:
So there will be 12 winners. We have six districts across the state of New Mexico, so every district gets two new snowplows every year that we do this, and we will be selecting the top 12, and then they get assigned to districts across the state.
Susan Moree:
Also, could you give us some safe weather driving tips while we're at it?
Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic:
Yeah, absolutely. I think our favorite safe tip is to slow down. It doesn't matter what weather it is, but we always say slow down. It's definitely something we say because we find people driving too fast. And give lots of space is to the vehicle ahead of you or give yourself some extra time. That's something that we stress. We love to tell people to check NM Roads, which is our kind of central hub for traffic in New Mexico. And whether if there's a closure, if there's, you know, poor driving conditions, the NM Roads website will have that information. So that's always a top tip for us. Visit nmroads.com. Before you travel, we do have an app, but you don't have to have it to get the weather tips. Stay informed, visit NM Roads, give yourself extra time. Make sure your vehicle is ready. If you're going to be driving in inclement weather, make sure your windshield wipers are working. Make sure you have gas. It's never a bad idea to have an emergency kit with some kind of first aid supplies, water, food, flashlight, blanket, just in case. Make sure your lights are on when you're driving. Make sure you have a plan.
Susan Moree:
Well, thank you so much, Kristine, for taking the time to talk to me.
Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic:
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for tuning in to our Name of Snowplow contest and for letting us chat about it.
You can vote for your favorite snowplow name right here.
For safe driving conditions, visit here.
