First Snowfall Fuckery

[PepperElf]

i don't know how many inches we have. i just know that this evening there was at least 6 inches on the roads. i drove slowly.

and when one guy tried to tailgate i finally honked at him. stay the fuck off me.

then i drover slower later on - like 20 in a 40 zone, cos the visibility had dropped to maybe 10 feet. and the road didn't have many streetlights.

took my time to stop slowly too.

shouldn't have been out in this but i needed a new pair of pants for the christmas party at work tomorrow. at least i'll be getting a full day pay - cos they want me in at 7. (which also means i'll prolly have to leave at 630 or earlier. normally it only takes me 10-15 minutes to drive in, depending if i stop for coffee)

meh. =/

[Sleepwalker]

There's nothing like leading a slow caravan homeward past all the skidded out and flipped cars in the first snow of the winter. Humans are dumb, panicky animals.

[Polenicus]

I have a theory about winter driving, since I live in Alberta, and winter driving is not only a likelihood, but a certainty. Yet every year, as soon as the snow falls, people lose their mind. Most specifically, people start driving recklessly, weaving in and out of traffic, speeding, etc, MORE.

I figure the mental process has to go like this:

"Hmmm, the weather is starting to get bad. There's usually a lot of accidents when the weather gets like this. The longer I'm out driving in this weather, the more chance I've got of getting in an accident... so Imma floor it to get home faster!"

It's all I've got. It's either that or the sight of snow causes a localized brain hemorrhage.

[Chromatix]

Fortunately that's an effect that doesn't seem to apply here. Accidents in winter tend to follow one of three patterns in Finland:

1) Driver misjudges stopping distance, collides with something at relatively low speed. There's a spike of these when the first snow hits - sometimes because people haven't fitted winter tyres yet - then it gets better.

2) Lorry loses control and overturns on rural highway. These are usually serious accidents for various reasons, but there's only a few per year. The cause is usually excessive speed for the conditions, sometimes due to a foreign driver being inexperienced with winter driving.

3) Somebody is terminally dumb in a way that would still have been terminally dumb in dry summer conditions. Unsafe overtaking, being drunk or stoned, attempting a Scandinavian Flick on the public road, failing to give way to a forty-ton tram... you know what I mean. These are not, strictly speaking, winter weather accidents.

[blas]

See, I tend to panic before it snows, by that I don't mean buying milk and toilet paper, but I get really upset and flip out about having to get up earlier or leave earlier or how it will ruin any plans I may have, but I always keep a crystal clear eye on the roads and never panic drive. If I can get out of it, I won't drive in snowy weather, but if I have to go to work or if I have plans I can't break, I will get in the car and go, but I will take my damn time and go as slow as safely possible.

[Geek King]

Pickups are very light in the rear,with no weight they're worse on ice.I used to throw rocks & cinder blocks in the back of mine (actually not very smart since they could fly forward in a crash) to get more traction.

Try large bags of kitty litter or sand for a safe way to weight a pickup. They'll deform to absorb the energy of the crash over a large area rather than pack it into one little cement bullet hitting your driver's seat. Plus, if you're stuck with tires spinning, the sand/litter can be broken out for traction. Salt can be used also, but I'd recommend against it, as if the bag starts leaking, you're going to potentially have a bad rust problem in your truck bed. I had that happen once, about ten fifteen (damn, where'd the time go) years ago, and it ate through the bed in places by the time the snow melted enough to tell it was leaking.

On the other hand, with some safe driving habits, and some practice in an empty parking lot, you can still drive a pickup without the wieght fairly well. I did so for the last 13+ years, with no accidents, and only got stuck when the idiot plow drivers piled the snow up behind the cars instead of pushing it into an empty space like I was always taught to. There was a couple of near-pant-wetting fishtails on black ice, including going accross an entire highway bridge sideways at around 40 mph (The East-bound-35-to-North-bound-675 bridge near Dayton, OH, for the interested. Not a recommended way to take that ramp. Ever).

[Food Lady]

See, I tend to panic before it snows, by that I don't mean buying milk and toilet paper, but I get really upset and flip out about having to get up earlier or leave earlier or how it will ruin any plans I may have, but I always keep a crystal clear eye on the roads and never panic drive. If I can get out of it, I won't drive in snowy weather, but if I have to go to work or if I have plans I can't break, I will get in the car and go, but I will take my damn time and go as slow as safely possible.

After living in snow for 8 years, the only fear I have now is getting stuck in it, since my car is low to the ground. Surviving an accident in an ice storm that totalled your car will do that to you. I fear ice on the freeway, but snow doesn't scare me. Neither does ice if there's a layer of snow on it.

[blas]

I'm not afraid of getting stuck, I'm afraid of crashing and sliding.

[BrenDAnn]

blas, you sound like me. The curve going uphill west of town doesn't scare me. The deep ravine on either side does. People have died sliding on ice and into that ravine. On a related note, we had a blizzard here Saturday. My brother chose to drive in it. I'll be sure to inform him of just how moronic that was next time I see him. All dad said was "Don't call me if you end up in the ditch!" Took him an hour and fifteen minutes to make what should've been a 20 to 30 minute drive!

[blas]

I was in the same storm as you, inches shy of two feet of snow.

I couldn't believe anyone was out and about that day.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Fortunately that's an effect that doesn't seem to apply here. Accidents in winter tend to follow one of three patterns in Finland:

1) Driver misjudges stopping distance, collides with something at relatively low speed. There's a spike of these when the first snow hits - sometimes because people haven't fitted winter tyres yet - then it gets better.

2) Lorry loses control and overturns on rural highway. These are usually serious accidents for various reasons, but there's only a few per year. The cause is usually excessive speed for the conditions, sometimes due to a foreign driver being inexperienced with winter driving.

3) Somebody is terminally dumb in a way that would still have been terminally dumb in dry summer conditions. Unsafe overtaking, being drunk or stoned, attempting a Scandinavian Flick on the public road, failing to give way to a forty-ton tram... you know what I mean. These are not, strictly speaking, winter weather accidents.

Lucky. I'm so jealous of your country, Cromatix! I'm pretty sure some of those idiots on U.S. roads are new drivers-- as in high school students who got their license since the last ice. Some are new to the area, again, new to ice. The rest are just fucking idiots who need iq, sleep or coffee. I have fun gauging the ice and going slow and being paranoid. I've skidded, slid (like, can't stop in time for a light or car, never ever a pedestrian!), and I've spun (not much, only enough to actually feel it out) in snow... never got in a ditch; I ran nose first into a cement barrier that *had* been on my side (driver's), but I managed to slow down and chose to swerve into it, rather than the drivers on the highway, at about 40 (down from 55). so proud of myself, I only crunched the front end a bit. Hardly any work to fix enough to drive/look healthy. There's a permanent bulge in a side panel that has to be there or the door won't open, but it's barely noticeable! That's the only crash I've ever perpetrated, or even been in while in the driver's seat. Go me! (I've been driving for about 8 years now...)
I figured front end is better than side, and my car vs. sturdy-ass highway barrier rather than me vs other car(s).
EDIT: Ice scares the shit out of me. ._____.
also, GeekKing: O______O oh dear Heavens... I never-ever will take that exit!