1.   City drivers who brave icy roads to go skiing each weekend know the ritual as a nasty rite of passage befalling city dwellers.

2.   Power lines all across town drooped limply from poles and debris-littered streets became obstacle courses for the few drivers braving the roads.

3.   But French troops, in particular, are preparing for a showdown with the Serbs to stop the daily targeting of aid convoys that brave the road.

4.   Those drivers who braved wintry roads in western Austria caused scores of traffic accidents, most of them causing only material damage.