Grew up in New England, on what passes for a major highway in those parts (i.e. still a 2-lane road with stop signs and unprotected turns, but a numbered route so it would get plowed regularly). We'd get plowed in 2-3 times per year. The way we dealt with it was that I'd wake up early with my dad and break out the snowblower and shovels, and we'd shovel the car & driveway before taking the car out. Driving straight over a snowbank strikes me as an exceptionally bad idea for multiple reasons, the most mild of them being having to push for an hour to get unstuck. The least mild would be successfully driving over the snowbank, then skidding out as you hit black ice on the other side, spinning into opposing traffic that didn't see you coming and also can't stop in time, getting hit, and dying.

The sibling comment that says "Four-wheel drive is a crutch to get you into situations your brakes can't get you out of" is right. It always seemed like the stuck & crashed vehicles on the side of the roads were 4WD and AWD - because their owners had a sense of invincibility that they felt exempted them from the need to take extra time and drive slowly and carefully in the snow.