I turned the key and the snow plow roared to life. I strapped on my seat belt, turned on the flashing beacons and I started rumbling down the road, pushing snow out of the way and making a path for motorists who drove behind me.
All that was missing was a radio squawking in the background, perhaps playing a rendition of the Gear Daddies' "I Want to Drive a Zamboni." (Substitute snow plow for zamboni.)
Only thing was I wasn't actually in one of those orange behemoths. I was inside the Minnesota Department of Transportation's new, splashy simulator that the agency will use to train drivers throughout the state.
In my brief time at the wheel, I took out a highway information sign, smacked into a concrete median and did a great job veering off the freeway and creating an off-road trail to lead motorists right into the ditch. And all that was without operating any of the gears and levers that control the blades, mirrors and other moving parts.
Thankfully, that was only a test. Had it been the real thing, I would have totaled the 30,000-pound truck and been a menace on the highway.
"Better keep your day job," a MnDOT spokeswoman joked. Oh, such sage advice.
Controlled by five computers and featuring four 55-inch monitors,sitting at the simulator -- the first of its kind in the nation -- is a lot like playing an oversized video game. Screens with vivid graphics depict the array of adverse weather conditions and hazards that plow drivers encounter in the real world: snow, wind, icy roads, whiteouts, nightfall, traffic, pedestrians and low clearances.
But unlike a video game, there is no reset button. One wrong move in the real world could result in anything from a minor mishap to a deadly crash.
