Mother Nature has been relatively kind to us so far this year, keeping temperatures at a reasonable level for a New Hampshire winter.

There were, however, three days a couple of weeks ago during which she reminded us of her power, sending the temperature down to zero and even below in many places. Winter, She seemed to be saying, is far from over, so take nothing for granted.

One thing we should not take for granted is the snow and ice on our cars. Mother Nature might choose to melt it off on some days, but on others, especially right after a snowfall, she might not.

Thus, it is left up to us to take care of that business, and not all of us do.

Recently, a state Department of Transportation worker was injured when ice from a box truck traveling in front of him flew off and crashed through his windshield. He wasn’t badly hurt, but given that this happened on a highway, he could have lost control of his vehicle and gotten killed, and perhaps even killed someone else.

All because some uncaring person left it to Mother Nature to clean his truck.

It’s called Jessica’s Law, named for Jessica Smith who died in a car accident in Peterborough in 1999 when a nine-foot piece of ice flew off a tractor-trailer and hit a box truck that hit her car.

Her mother, Linda Smith, told WMUR television in 2015 that if that driver had cleaned off his truck, “Jessica would be 36 years old today.”

That’s all it would have taken — a little care. And that’s all it still takes.

Sure, the weather has been warm and snowfall relatively light, but things can quickly change, and we could get a foot of snow next week and maybe a melt-and-freeze the week after that, so the danger is still with us.

And that goes for things like snowmobile trails, too. The weather changes the terrain, even of groomed trails, to the point at which parts of them turn into mini-obstacles that can easily fool even an experienced rider. And we know that not all riders are experienced. Or careful. Or sober.

Remember the old margarine commercial in which Mother Nature can’t tell the difference between it and butter and says:

“It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”

But it is quite easy for Mother Nature to fool us, and she often does.

The winter is far from complete.

Better to assume that Mother Nature pays no attention to a rodent and instead does precisely what she wants. Most years, what she wants is to confuse the good people of New Hampshire.

Just be careful.