Video game helps train Texas snow plough drivers Dallas and other major population centers are trying to shed that reputation, but since snow comes so rarely, they can't justify elaborate, expensive preparations in an era of tight budgets. When more than five inches of snow fell back in 2011, many highways went unploughed, and thousands of American football fans were stranded before the big game. "The Super Bowl that everybody talks about really opened our eyes," Mr Hemphill said. We had to put another tool in our toolbox. The toll authority spent about $84,000 on nine snow plough blades that attach to the front of lorries. Then it hired a subsidiary of New York-based L-3 Communications to help with training by putting on its snow plough simulation. The simulator has three video screens, a steering wheel and a switch for the plow blade. Earlier this month, a handful of toll road drivers tried it out, tracing the curves of a virtual road designed to make them slip. Imaginary deer ran out and almost without exception got hit by drivers who weren't able to avoid them. The Texas Department of Public Safety also uses the simulator in its local district offices, as do some agencies in states with generally mild winters such as Virginia and Kentucky. It's also used in Maryland, Delaware, Missouri, Maine, Utah and Oregon, L-3 Senior Training Manager George Perez said. Across the South, cities also use a variety of other methods to train snow-removal crews. Some hold snow plough "rodeos" that include obstacle courses and a series of questions on maintenance and proper use. Others visit departments in the North to learn from snow veterans. Dallas's street services department recently had workers drive routes in dry weather to learn them before the next storm. The city also doubled its stock of sand and snow after it ran out during the Super Bowl.