Driving in the snow

[TheeGoatPig]

I drive a Pontiac Firebird. It is rear wheel drive. My tires are underinflated and balding a little at the moment. By all rights, I should be the slowest car on the road in the snow.

Than why the fuck did I want to pass every all wheel drive car on the road today? I actually got around to it too

I am on back roads for the first half of my drive to work. I got stuck behind an all wheel drive Audi driving 10 or more miles per hour slower than me about halfway to the highway. The last road switches to two lanes to make the left onto the highway. The Audi was in the left lane, and I was in the right. I was only thinking about passing that slow moving Audi. In this endeavor, I was successful, but only for a minute. In passing the little white automobile being driven at less than half its potential, I slid right passed the highway and got turned almost completely around.

I did not let this deter me. I straightened my car out (with quite a bit of fishtailing), got back onto the highway, and not only passed the luxury car that had been behind me and passed me (as I laughed) while I was sliding around, but I passed the Audi, and several other cars. My rear wheel drive car with balding and underinflated tires was the fastest car on the road.

This just should not have happened. Learn to drive in the snow people! Your cars are better than mine in adverse conditions! You should be passing me!

 

[buxxxom]

Glad you made it in safely, Thee!

Here in the south, we get so little snow, we panic at the first flurry! I've never driven on a snow covered road, never had to!

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Thee, here we (those of us who are either natives or have lived her for years) rarely do anything different in the snow. Snow doesn't happen often here anyway.

The people with big-ass four wheel drives (very often Jeep Grand Cherokees and full sized pickups with over sized knobby tires) are all from California. They suck at driving in the snow anyway and more dangerous to other drivers than the ice, snow or any forseeable or unforeseen problem.

 

[Ǽltya]

I drive a Pontiac Firebird. It is rear wheel drive.

My first car! What fond memories I have...

 

[ABSTRUSE]

I drive huge tank vehicles, one with 4 wheel drive and the other with traction control.
I still am a firm believer that its not the car, its the skill of the driver and knowing their vehicle.
Some people should just stay out of the snow.
Glad you made it Goatee.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I actually shouldn't have come to work today. I don't think my boss expects me to be in, and once I go out for lunch I'm not coming back I'm just using this time to goof off and catch up on some work I said I started yesterday, though I really didn't...

Hopefully I will have an equally fun time on the roads after I leave

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Drive home was dumb. Or rather, I was dumb while driving home. I tried to pass a pickup in an uncleared lane of the highway while going around "dead man's curve" (legitimate nickname, people have died there).I had to tuck in behind him and suffer through his slowness

And then I slid around a bit after stopping off for lunch and trying to get up a hill, and then up the hill of my driveway. ButI made it, andI'm home safe now

*goes to watch borrowed copy of Superman 2, the Donner cut* (well, maybe I'll hold off on that until later)

 

[Bizkit_Writer]

My mother used to have a firebird. It was horrible in the snow! Or was it just my mother's driving.... Childhood memories!

 

[NoJo]

Snow eh? Oh yes, I remember the stuff

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

The key element here is that your tires were under inflated, which gave your wider thread and more traction.

Nonetheless, your bald tires should have offset any traction under inflation, unless your underinflation is an understatement and your tires were flat (lol), then riding on your rims would give you good traction.

I drive a Mustang GT with four Dunlop snow tires rated at 85mph. I'm able to blow by anything on the road, unless there is ice. Nonetheless, the traction control keeps me from spinning.

I would never drive my rear wheel drive car without snow tires. They make a huge difference and are way better than all season radial tires.

 

[oggbashan]

I drive a rear wheel drive Volvo Estate.

When it snows locally, which is very rarely, I have no trouble driving on snow and ice.

My first few cars were also rear wheel drive. Whenever there was snow and ice I would go out to practise driving in difficult conditions. I carried a spade, a tow rope, a hand operated winch, sacking and a thermos of hot coffee.

After many hours of practice I have never been stuck in snow or left the road because of ice. However "dangerous snow and ice" in my part of the UK would make most US citizens or Scandanavians think there had been a thaw...

While out practising I helped many other motorists who had become stuck.

Now I don't drive in bad weather conditions unless it's unavoidable. Not because I can't get through but because some of the people driving today are so stupidly reckless in any adverse weather conditions. They think that ABS and traction control on a small hatchback will let them drive through snow deeper than their wheels. They also think that those safety aids mean that they can drive at 70mph on sheet ice, brake hard or steer sharply and their car will cope. A four wheel skid at 70 mph is frightening on narrow English roads. Especially if the skidding car is headed straight at you.

Og

 

[The_Fool]

Now I don't drive in bad weather conditions unless it's unavoidable. Not because I can't get through but because some of the people driving today are so stupidly reckless in any adverse weather conditions. They think that ABS and traction control on a small hatchback will let them drive through snow deeper than their wheels. They also think that those safety aids mean that they can drive at 70mph on sheet ice, brake hard or steer sharply and their car will cope. A four wheel skid at 70 mph is frightening on narrow English roads. Especially if the skidding car is headed straight at you.

Og

Amen...

 

[oggbashan]

Amen...

Which brings me back to the start of my earlier post. I drive a large Volvo.

If a skidding small hatchback hits me, who will come off worst?

However if I get hit by a heavy truck it doesn't make much difference if I'm driving a Volvo or a small hatchback. Thankfully most heavy trucks are driven by professional drivers.

The drivers who worry me are the school moms in 4x4s who think they are invulnerable. They don't realise what the high centre of gravity will do if they hit a ditch.

Og

 

[jomar]

rear wheel drive + snow = fun

 

[kendo1]

Snow eh? Oh yes, I remember the stuff

A Joe sighting!

You've been missed. Threads have started and failed through lack of Joeism.

 

[glynndah]

We have ice. I won't be driving until it melts.

 

[kendo1]

'I slid right passed the highway and got turned almost completely around.'

Personally, I think you're a fucking arsehole (no offence) driving like that. To be proud of being out of control on the road is beyond belief.

I will not come to your funeral, and let's hope you do not injure anyone else.


Yes, the snow is great to drive on - but grow up, Thee.

 

[trysail]

Apophasis:

I am not going to comment on New Jersey drivers who recklessly overestimate their driving abilities in hazardous conditions.

A drive on the New Jersey Turnpike is sufficient to scare the bejesus out of anyone who practices defensive driving. I am convinced that half the people on that road have to be driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. While I have no objection, whatsoever, to self-inflicted death by automobile, I do take exception to my own death at the hands of a foaming-at-the-mouth in-too-much-of-a-hurry lunatic attempting to prove his manhood behind the wheel of an automobile.

I can't help but note that New Jersey has the highest automobile insurance premiums in the U.S. and there's a reason that's the case.

 

[SlickTony]

One of the benefits of living where I do is that I almost never have any occasion to drive on either snow or ice.

On those rare instances where icy conditions make it that far south, the highway department closes the roads, much to the disgust of northern visitors, to whom our little skim of ice is nothing, and don't understand what the fuss is about.

 

[MrsDeathlynx]

You're lucky no one got hurt Thee, honestly damn lucky. That's the kind of thing that would scare even a New Englander, seasoned drivers in the snow...

I live in the northeast so I had to learn to drive in the snow really quickly. My first car was a rear wheel drive, 83 Olds Delta 88. I remember someone taking me to drive in an empty but icey parking lot, making he learn how to deal with a rear wheel in the snow. Never once after that did I fishtail, I'm glad the person made me do that.

I've always said it's better to drive slower and more carefully, I'd rather let someone speed pass me while I am driving safely than end up in an accident myself. Sure it may seem a little annoying but it's better than ending up offroad. Of course I admit there are some people that take it to the extreme, but that's better than risking your life and the life of others.

But even people who are used to driving in snow don't always know how, especially those with 4 wheel drive who think they can do anything. A mechanic told me the only thing that a 4 wheel drive will do is get you out of the ditch better, but with the weight distribution of an SUV that's only if you don't end up flipping yourself because they are top heavy...

I always allow extra time when driving in the snow or any inclemant weather, that's better than being in a hurry and taking the chance of ending up in an accident. Personally I think that before getting your lisence a course should be taken on how to drive in bad weather, especially snow if that's what is in your region.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

'I slid right passed the highway and got turned almost completely around.'

Personally, I think you're a fucking arsehole (no offence) driving like that. To be proud of being out of control on the road is beyond belief.

I will not come to your funeral, and let's hope you do not injure anyone else.


Yes, the snow is great to drive on - but grow up, Thee.

Quite right! I was driving like an asshole.

However, if I thought for even half a second that I was going to damage anything other than my own car, I would have backed off the gas and kept my car on the road. This is evidenced by my afternoon drive, where there were quite a few more cars around than in the morning adventure. The moment I felt like I was losing control, I slowed down again and turcked back into the normal lane of slower moving traffic.

As it was this morning, all that I was in danger of hitting was a bunch of grass. But, I never made it passed the shoulder of the highway. I made it a little more dramatic than it was. We are talking about driving 15 miles per hour or slower. I was trying to make a turn after all.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I drive a Pontiac Firebird. It is rear wheel drive. My tires are underinflated and balding a little at the moment. By all rights, I should be the slowest car on the road in the snow.

By all rights, you shouldn't even be on the road.

 

[SeaCat]

Thee,

Driving in the snow can be fun and interesting. Growing up in the North East I learned it early.

In Upstate New York the lakes often froze quite thick. My father and I built, (Well he built and I watched,) a VW Bug with a roll cage and no windows. We would take this out on the lakes, crank it up to speed, grab the emergency brake and crank the wheel to one side or the other. Talk about a spin. (Every now and then we would hit a crack in the ice, hence the Roll Cage.)

The funniest accident I have ever seen because of the snow was when I was transporting a Brush Breaker from Cape Cod to just outside of Boston. We were in the middle of a Nor'Easter. It was cold, the snow was coming down like you wouldn't believe and the wind was blasting. A BMW blew past me like I was sitting still. Several miles later we came across the BMW once again. This time it was upside down on the outside of a curve. We pulled up just as a State Patrolman pulled up.

So here comes this Statie complete with his Smokey The Bear Hat and shiny boots. He walks up to the car and grabbing his hat bends almost double to look into the car, where the driver and his three passengers were still hanging from their seatbelts. He straightens up and looks at us and shakes his head while telling us to cut their damned fool asses out. We were glad to oblige. (We weren't gentle about it.)

Oh the conditions that day were so bad we had the truck in 6x6 the entire way. It took us three hours to drive what normally took us a little over an hour.

Cat

 

[WRJames]

I actually learned to drive on snow. I turned sixteen and got my driver's license in early December. We were just organizing a winter track team at my high school, and I was driving around to meets at various field houses in the area (with the rest of the mile relay team in the car). We came out of one meet, and the car was covered with a film of ice. I didn't think anything of it until an oncoming car came around a curve -- actually went straight past us on the right and on into a farm field.

Well, I was a bit more cautious after that -- as cautious as a sixteen year old can be. I was dropping off people at their houses. By the time I got into my neighborhood, I had one passeger left. He lived up a steep hill -- it was a gentle hill up to my house. But of course, I was invincible. So we went up the steep hill. About twenty feet from the top, I started to slide back down. I managed to get into a yard. A dozen people came rushing out of their houses and pushed us up over the top. Then I wound up in another yard at the bottom.

My wife's thesis advisor had a reitirement party down at Columbia a few years ago -- a the club, which overlooks Morningside Park. It was one of those dinners with many courses and a different wine with each course. The snow was falling the whole time, making a very pretty backdrop. By the time we got out, the streets were untouched, but we were plowed.

The ride back home was very exciting -- in a Dodge Aspen -- not exactly your vehicle of choice for snow. Six inches of snow on the West Side highway, more on the Palisades Parkway. There is a 270 degree ramp from the Palisades Parkway down to the Thruway -- it was like a luge run. Finally, we got onto Tr 17, and it was a total blizzard -- about ten feet of visibility. We got to our turn, and my wife was screaming that I was missing it. No problem -- I just turned the car hard left so that is was sliding perpendicular -- then gunned it. Your basic Telemark turn.

We got home and decided we really needed a drink after all that.

I didn't try to drive on today's snow -- just went for a ski on the streets.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Being able to go in the snow does not equal being able to stop in the snow. A couple people went past me this morning and when people do stupid things like that all I can think is, please don't let them hit me if they start sliding.