Pulling out of my driveway on the top of Cook Street hill in New Auburn on Dec. 2 at 9 a.m., I applied my brakes right away because the hill ahead of me appeared to be glare black ice and had been ignored by the sanding crews. There had been a mini ice storm overnight.

My vehicle started sliding slowly but accelerated as I looked for some way to stop flying down the hill. I figured I would never make it across the South Main Street intersection alive or, worst yet, would continue down Cook Street though a couple of stop signs, reaching terminal velocity just before crashing through someone's house at the bottom and sailing into the river.

As luck would have it, I managed to swerve off Cook Street onto a side street and save myself.

My question is, what criterion is used by officials of Auburn Public Works to decide which hills in town are life-threatening enough to warrant sanding?

The grade of Cook Street hill must be as severe as Goff Hill, and I noticed several level streets nicely sanded that morning while on my way to work.

Had someone come down from the top of Cook Street hill that morning at even 20 miles per hour, they would never have made it down that hill safely.

David Courtemanche, Auburn