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Winter Driving!

O

OBIO

Retired SOH Admin
Earlier this afternoon, I had to go pick Deb up from her sister's house. Deb was panicking because we got about 3 inches or so of very wet, heavy snow last night and this morning, with more to come. She wanted to get home before the roads got bad.

I hopped into the Big Blue Econo-Lodge on Wheels, our 7 passenger Plymouth minivan and headed into town. Out where we live, the road crew is great...they keep our road plowed and salted...the road was clear. Got into town and stopped into the grocery store to pick up a few things. Then took the road toward my sis-in-law's place.

This road, being in a different township, was horrible. It had not been plowed or salted and all that wet heavy snow had been packed down into solid ice. I had no problems driving on it...my Dad taught me how to drive in all weather conditions and I have stuck to what he taught me all those years ago....I have never had an accident nor had any problems driving in even the worst of conditions.

I wish my Dad had taught the rest of the drivers I saw out and about today. People in their 4X4 trucks and SUVs slipping and sliding around, clearing relying too much on their "invincible" vehicles than on good driving skills. People driving on a 1 inch thick layer of solid ice and still insisting on doing the posted speed limit. 40 miles an hour on slick pack ice is a disaster just waiting to happen. People spinning their wheels and going no where fast because they were trying to take off too fast on the solid ice. And people sliding through intersections because they have no idea how to bring a vehicle to a safe stop on solid ice.

I was glad that Dad also taught me to stay clear of idiots on the road. I was able to steer clear of all the slipping and sliding cars, trucks and SUVs. Made it to my SIL's house without a single slip of a tire. And made it home just fine, even on a road that was solid ice from shoulder to shoulder. I don't think Deb took a single breath until we were back into our township and on the nice clear roads.

OBIO
 
Home last night at 5pm,southern Minnesota.(-25 F) Ignore the date we need to set the camera.The better half called me after she drove 11 miles to the next town to stock up,I'm out on the road.She was frantic as there were 2 foot drifts on the road and as I was talking to her she was punching thru them....squealing every time she hit one.:jump:

Whiteout conditions to,of course.
 
Over here I see a lot of idiots who fit 'mud & snow' tires to their cars and then drive like it's still summer through the snow. Those tires provide a bit of extra grip but you still need to adjust your driving style!
 
We got about an inch of snow here early this morning and it's been in the mid 20s all day. And here in the south, most people just don't know how to drive on it. I only went out to feed the horses (pasture is about a half mile down the road). Just took it easy in my 2wd pickup, don't think I ever got up to 30, but I sure had everyone behind me ticked off. At least the horses were glad to see me.
 
Around here it is the small cars and SUVs that drive crazy, foot to the floor and the hell with everybody else. We are still under a blizzard warning, spent much of the day digging out from last nights snow. After the roads were plowed, I jump in my pickup, and just down the road here comes an SUV flying up to a stop sign, hits the brakes and slides right thru the intersection.
I got a new 4x4 pickup last year, first 4x4 Ive ever owned, always have had 2wd pickups, I still drive with great caution. Those big m/s tires are worthless in snow. I have skinny tires that cut thru the snow very well.
 
I stayed inside all day, stoking my wood stove.

The idiots with 4 wheel drive vehicles think they have an edge...... Well, on ice, it just means they have 4 wheels out of control instead of two!
 
Mid Nov and Dec are scary in Atlantic Canada, the ID10t drivers never learn "Snow means Slow" (that is what I was taught) and of course the "New" drivers are scared and go too slow which frustrates the nut cases. I put a lot of miles on the road year round traveling for work (40k +) and other than a few close calls when one of the above almost got me I have never had a problem. Generally by the time Jan comes around most people have gotten used to the laws of nature around here and it gets better but those six weeks from mid Nov to end of Dec are sometimes scary.

I did get a good laugh last Nov, I was driving my daughter home from work, it was one of the first snowfalls and I had not put the snows on the cruiser yet, the wife had the other car so I took the PT and picked up the first born. We just started up a very steep hill and I was motoring along just fine no spinning or sliding, we motored past a big black Caddie SUV with all 4 wheels throwing up a blizzard (huge studded tires to boot) and the thing is going sideways not up the hill, Sarah just looked out and waved at the "suit" making a fool of himself as we went by...lol. I could tell by the red glow on his face in my rear view he was not impressed. When we got to the top of the hill Sarah spoke up and said I guess you listened to mom and put the snow tires on after all, I just said well not yet I just know how to drive. The daughter of course called her mother right away and made it sound like I was saying she couldn't handle winter driving... yup you guessed it Ole Gig got it full blast as soon as he got home, some days I just can't win.
 
Yep. We got the same idiot drivers here in the PNW.

A few weeks ago we had a three day snow and freeze. There were accidents all over the place - mostly 4WD vehicles of all kinds because the drivers get overconfident. :salute:

I take it slow and easy with the wife's FWD Impala, and never have a problem. But I avoid the freeway (Interstate 5) because people drive too fast for conditions, and I leave with additional time to make it to work and to avoid traffic when I can.

--WH
 
Central Virginia usually doesn't get that much snow, but last year was an exception and since we are getting an unforecasted snow this morning, this year looks to be very wintery. Lots of 4 wheel drive vehicles around here, often the bodies and suspension systems have been lifted so they look like monster trucks. Most people around here don't seem to have a clue as to how to drive in winter weather. Slow? What's that? They drive with one pedal or the other mashed to the floor.
 
Being born and bred in Buffalo winter driving skills were a must. After I moved to VA I always made a consciouis effort every year to take a trip north in the dead of winter to make sure I kept those skills honed. Unfortunately, since I've been in FLA I haven't had an opportunity to head north.
 
When I moved from Whidbey Island back to Georgia, I left on December 30th, 1996. There was a blizzard just hitting the mountains where I needed to drive through. The state patrol had closed all but one of the passes. Snoqualmie Pass was the only one open, and they were getting ready to close it too. I made it through the pass just before they did. I was driving a 25 ft. Ryder Rental truck, with all my possessions, and the snow was coming down so thick, I couldn't see two feet in front of the truck. I pulled over. Right about that time, an 18 wheeler (out of nowhere) came zipping by me so close, I was positive he would hit me. Those truck drivers were nuts! I know they drive those roads all day, but that couldn't have been safe!! Scared the snot outa me.

NC
 
No offence to any truck drivers who may be reading this but I think many of them got their CDL's in a crackerjack box...

Being a native Vermonter, Winter driving is of course a necessary skill that I learned the hard way over the years, Spining out cars, bouncing off snow banks and the like.

Of course, Being on the fire department from age 16 and driving emergency vehicles when I turned 18 did change my outlook.

Fast forward a decade and I'm driving an ambulance for a living. I used to dread the first few storms of the new season because the soccer moms and dads with their all wheel drive Subaru's and SUV's would be all over the place since they seemed to forget how to drive in the white stuff in the last 8 months since it last snowed. Sometimes less.

In my EMT/ambulance days, we could almost sit in the rig and wait for the first onslaught of calls as soon as the first flakes began to fall.
 
I really haven't driven on snowy roads.
But my skills will be tested, soon.
I will hit the roads of Flagstaff, Arizona, in a few days!
Excited and nervous at the same time...

Thanks for the heads up!
I will surely be more careful...

Thank you all...
 
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