Winter’s coming: Check stability of your roadside mailbox

It’s a roadside ritual in rural Michigan: Shake your mailbox before the snow flies. County road commissions are urging Michigan residents to check the stability of their mailboxes, the ones that are planted along roads at the end of driveways. Mailbox posts that are unstable can be knocked down by snow thrown by plows. A loose post or mailbox probably needs to be repaired. “If your mailbox and post is in good condition, there is a good chance that it can withstand the force of plowed snow,” said Alex Doty, a spokesman at the Ottawa County Road Commission in western Michigan. In Ottawa County, people can get a new mailbox or post if they’re damaged by snow thrown by Road Commission equipment.