posted
We had about 10" of snow (preceeded by 2" of sleet) dumped on us last week. It was a fun time for the kids but not fun for anyone who had to drive in the weather.
Not that driving in bad weather is THAT difficult, but for some people, I guess it is. I have seen dozens of cars in the ditch, some upside down, and one truck nose down in a creek after a fifteen foot fall from a bridge.
All this being said, people still do not slow down. Why is this? Where do peoples heads go during these times. The worst was when the roads were fairly clear but the bridges were bad. I saw two vehicles upside down in the ditch following the bridge and one more going as I was passing the scene.
People just can't slow down. Life doesn't have to go that fast. Take your time!
Does this happen up North where weather is bad more often?
posted
Ok, you got me! Cut me a little slack, I have been with the kids without a break since last Wednesday evening. They can't go out and play as much as they normally would. I miss school.
And I was worried about misspelling lobotomy.
Posts: 1766 | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Does this happen up North where weather is bad more often?
Yes. Usually it's folks with 4WD that think 4WD means invincible to the normal problems when driving in snow.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote:Does this happen up North where weather is bad more often?
It certainly can. Partly this comes from experience, I'd say. When you've been driving in snow for years, nearly ever day of the winter, it gets to be rather routine. This is especially true of where I lived in upstate NY, where we got 200+ inches of snow annually.
The smart people, when they start feeling like driving in blizzard conditions is routine, snap out of their complacency when they see all the cars smashed into snow-banks or off the road on the drive home. Others, do not.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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People with 4 wheel drive are the worst. They don't seem to realize that 4 wheel drive doesn't help you stop....it just gets you 4 feet deeper into the snowbank. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I can't stand all the Californians and Texans that move to Colorado every year, but I always get a laugh at them when they try driving in the snow for the first time... Well, only if I'm not directly in front of or behind them.
Posts: 175 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
Why get a lobotomy before driving in snow? I suspect its for exactly the same reason that so many people leave their brains at home when they go on vacation.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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posted
See, I say why *not* get a lobotomy before driving in snow. Then you wouldn't be as aggravated by all the idiots on the road who can't drive in the snow.
posted
When I lived in Nebraska, it was the same every year. Somehow, in the 5 months when there wasn't snow on the ground, every single driver (except me and a couple old ladies) forgot how to drive in snow.
For the first 2 weeks of every snow season, there were crashes everywhere, and people zooming through 35 zones going 45.
Glad I live in CA. Sucks to you, snow!
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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People with 4 wheel drive are the worst. They don't seem to realize that 4 wheel drive doesn't help you stop....it just gets you 4 feet deeper into the snowbank.
lol.
I think snow has some of collective amnesia properties about it. Every year it falls, every year us northern folk forget what it means when snow falls, and every year we seemingly have to relearn how to drive in the winter weather.
Really there's nothing to it, just slow down. A friend of mine rearended someone earlier today because of the snow. Guy in front of her veered off the road to avoid an accident and she plowed into the guy in front of that.
Everyone needs to just slow down.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I dunno the cold would probably do funny stuff to my brain tissue as it permeates the stitches.
In all seriousness I get very focused when snow and ice cover the road as even at my most careful I have almost gotten into accidents. I have had to correct skids and pull onto the side of the road as I could not stop in time to avoid hitting the motorist who decided to slam on their breaks.
Shame on me I suppose for being 25 feet behind them on a downhill slope.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote: Originally posted by MightyCow: Glad I live in CA. Sucks to you, snow!
Hear, hear!
Agreed -- but the same problem arises when it rains in the Bay Area. People act like they have never driven on a wet road in their life.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
The same thing happens, to a lesser degree, in Seattle when they have a hard rain or even worse when the sun shines.
Most people think they are better drivers than they really are. As a result they driver faster and closer to other cars than is truly safe and they pay less attention to the road and traffic than is needed. When something unexpected happens, they don't have the skill and the reflexes to react fast enough.
When the roads are icy or even wet, unexpected things happen much more often. One of the problems is that you really can't tell how slippery the road is until you slide. This is worst during the first snow storm of the season when people haven't expected slippery conditions for months and so have forgotten exactly how easy it is to loose control. But even when you drive on snow and ice for months on end, unexpected things happen. The road isn't evenly slippery everywhere. You can be just fine and then hit a spot that was in the sun and has now refrozen or a place where other drivers have spun their tires or where the wind has drifted snow on to the road.
Certainly things are lots worse when people aren't used to driving on snowy and icy roads, but even when they are ice and snow are dangerous.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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posted
As a side note, when I lived in Seattle and the weather forcast was for snow, the news would often have a spotlight on driving in the snow. The problem was that their suggestions were always banal. Rather than things like drive slower, leave extra space between you and the next car, stear into a skid, don't lock up the breaks and so on. They would have suggestions like carry a candle and blanket in your trunk. The suggestions were perfectly sensible for someone planning to drive a remote rural roads in the snow but not for driving in Seattle on icy roads.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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quote: Originally posted by MightyCow: Glad I live in CA. Sucks to you, snow!
Hear, hear!
Agreed -- but the same problem arises when it rains in the Bay Area. People act like they have never driven on a wet road in their life.
Yeah, we get that too. And the first rain of the season, which washes up all the accumulated oil/grease and therefore causes exceptionally slick roads, is the worst.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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