Winter driving RANT

[KitchenWitch]

Whilst I was out and about today (in Minnesota, where people are supposed to know how to drive in snow), it started to lightly snow, with a little bit of accumulation. When the prevailing speed is 50 on the freeway, it is NOT SAFE to go 25, in any road conditions, and taking your life into your own hands in light snow. Well, I got stuck behind that clown on the freeway today...:grr:

If you are not comfortable at all driving when there are a few flakes in the air and on the roadway....

GET THE FUCK OFF THE ROAD!

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[RevCheesehead]

1. While we're ranting....

"Move the fuck over to the right lane, asshole!!"

Well. I feel better. :)

[KitchenWitch]

2. That too!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. We don't even want those people in California!

They can't drive in the rain, either.......

:shrug:

[KitchenWitch]

4. Oh gods, you are kidding me!

:eyes:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. Oh how I wish I were!

There are a lot of fools in California........

The ones that don't change their crazy speeding in the rain.....

And the ones that do.....crawl along as though they'd NEVER seen rain before!

[shanti]

21. hi miss peggy!

:hi: you don't even want to talk about driving in the california tule fog up here! :scared:

[Oeditpus Rex]

Nope, she's not

Kollyforniyans either drive 40 in the rain or don't slow down at all. If you're doing a nominal freeway speed — say, 55 — within a minute some bozo'll blow by you at 70 or so and throw a rooster tail all over you. :grr:

[AirmensMom]

17. Same here in FL, Peggy.

They got 5 mph in the rain. And they STOP in the middle of the road -- for no reason! I've seen them parked in the road looking at a map. No wonder our car insurance is so high.

[seemunkee]

40. Which proves that intelligence is water soluble

Rain and snow wash it right out of most drivers head.

[MidwestMomma]

5. That's why I NEVER get on the highways in the snow

I'm not a good snow driver so I always wait for the traffic crush to die down and take the side roads.

But I feel your pain. I just don't get why people that are nervous snow drivers get on the highway when it is snowing. That's just craziness...

[KitchenWitch]

8. One of the best things my dad ever did for me

Was to take me out on a frozen lake (the ice was thick enough) right after it had snowed. He had me drive around on the lake for about an hour and a half, so I could get a feel for how a car handles in snow and ice. It gave me some confidence in my ability to handle slick road conditions.

[MidwestMomma]

11. That's my problem....no confidence

When I was in college I hit a slick spot on the highway and skidded back and forth across the road (in slow motion it seemed) and then did a 180 and ended up in a snowbank on the side of the road facing the opposite way of traffic.

If it wasn't for that snowbank, I would have rolled and since then I just can't handle high speeds and snow on the road.

Man, I am such a wimp :(

[KitchenWitch]

14. Sounds terrifying.

about 10 years ago, my mom was driving on I-94 in Wisconsin, and she hit a patch of ice and ended up rolling her car. She was fine (wore her seatbelt) just a few scratches. As it turned out, a highway patrolman happened to witness the accident as he was en route to another crash on the road. It was kind of a sudden thing.

[shanti]

22. damn, my ex did the same thing!

driving on some black ice near tacoma, washington. me and the baby were in the car too. we smashed up the right bumper on the guard rail and veered across the road into a snowbank. we were able to get the car started and out of there before someone else came along and hit US. however, we ended up limping back to the city with NO lights, and man...it's dark out there in the pines in washington! that was a heavy snow year too, my last there. i hate snow and won't drive in it now. everyone around here goes up to tahoe in the winter, but i have never because of the snow factor.

[Jamastiene]

27. I've always found that fact fascinating.

We have pines here too. The canopy makes it dark in there. I put it in a song as a lyric, "It's always dark inside the forest..."

[RevCheesehead]

16. Snow driving was my first behind-the-wheel experience.

I got my temps in January. Mom drove to the local community college parking lot and had me practice snow driving. Spun around once or twice, started & stopped, skidded. Then she turns to me and says, "wanna go to Madison?" So we did.

My first day driving. :)

[Jamastiene]

25. My stepdad did the same exact thing for me.

I'm glad he did too. I was able to practice in the yard with his truck before actually getting on the road. I did that for maybe an hour or two just taking his left right turn around go here go there instructions. Next thing I knew I was driving to the grocery store like it was nothing. I won't drive the car in the snow or ice unless I absolutely have to, but I'll drive his truck. I drive the truck better than the car in some cases.

[Robeson]

6. Just the opposite here in Nashville. We get more ice than snow when...

...it's bad weather. Down here, people start panicking when it starts icing, and they speed up. It's like the movie "Nashville" by Robert Altman during an ice storm here. Cars slamming into everybody, everywhere...

[KitchenWitch]

7. I have seen the film clips of that

I think they show them on our local news to entertain us...

[Common Sense Party]

18. When I lived in Nashville, all someone had to do

was MENTION the word "snow" and people would start driving badly.

They would get in accidents in a mad dash to the Kroger to stock up on bread and milk.

This Iowa boy had never SEEN such poor driving.

[KitchenWitch]

19. Welcome to DU

Yes, we upper midwesterners sure do drive in extreme conditions.

[Common Sense Party]

20. Thank you kindly.

[Robeson]

23. You got it!...

...and welcome to the DU!...:hi:

[Blue Gardener]

33. Welcome to DU!

I'm an Iowa girl that grew up out in the country. We had to learn to drive on the worst snowy roads or we would be stuck at home all winter. We lived on a gravel road with lots of hills and curves. The only thing I don't like to drive on is ice. Then I will stay home!

[WCGreen]

9. And while we're at it....

Can;t people use a fucking turn signal anymore.....

[KitchenWitch]

10. Word!

:hi:

[MnFats]

13. My main beef is tailgating SUV drivers.

inching closer and closer -- you have no room to get out of the way -- until they're about 12 inches off your back bumper -- on this slushy crap that's so slippery.

it's as if they're saying:
"Peon! Your puny vehicle is no match for my four-wheel drive Armada (actual SUV name), a mighty vehicle. If our vehicles collide, you and yours will be crushed while I will not be scratched, because I paid $45,000 for my mighty vehicle.
Never mind that I drive it to and from work every day, alone, and have not yet once driven it anywhere where an SUV might actually be needed. By the way, I do NOT have a small penis!"

am I right or what?

[KitchenWitch]

15. No shit.

What they do not realize, is that perhaps they can go faster in bad conditions, but they take much longer to stop than smaller vehicles.

[Jamastiene]

28. Also, they giant SUV drivers will get up on your ass at night

with the bright lights on and blind the hell out of you. I could have sworn I saw a sneer on the face of that one that was tailgating me the other night. There was no ice, but being blinded at night by rude "brights in your eyes" drivers is no picnic either. I sincerely thought about making the asshole buy my little hoopdy. These idiots down here drive with the fog lights on 100% clear nights. That's so annoying.

[datasuspect]

38. that is when you slow down to 15 mph.

when i was younger though, i'd jam on the brakes if some motherfucker was doing that shit.

[Jamastiene]

24. Will do.

I can and have driven in light snow and on ice a little bit, but I don't really like the feeling of "oh shit" that I get when I do something stupid. We don't have that kind of weather but maybe once or twice a year at most and it melts pretty quickly (like in a day or two) so I tend to stock up and hole up. If I have to drive, it's only in case of emergency, I try to let other drivers go first and then deal with my nerves after they have gone their merry way. If I do drive in it, though, it's only for a hop/skip/jump down to my stepdad's house to get the heater or something. There is very little traffic here when it's icy o snowy. It's like a desserted little ghost town, except for the smell of buring Kerosene heaters and wood stoves. Technically, I could walk that without freezing to death, but it's not that far to drive. I do need my practice.

[obxhead]

26. It was raining here, down south

but the weather people wanted to call it "freezing rain".... Mind you it was 37 degrees.

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

20 MPH on a highway posted at 55.

[Jamastiene]

29. I noticed that too.

Every single weathercast I saw said freezing rain or snow and there was nothing but rain. The temperature on the local news channel stayed on 32 degrees practically all night last night and all day today, but there was no ice and it did not freeze. It was just rain. They like to overreact and psyche people out. Makes me kind of wonder if they are in cahoots with the local grocery stores. The great bread and milk dash has got to be a business boon.

[obxhead]

30. Why do they always buy bread and milk

I've never understood that. Why buy crap that will go bad if the power goes out (a serious threat in ice storms)

[RevCheesehead]

31. They get a hankering for French Toast.

Because they grab eggs, too.

[Jamastiene]

32. I've always asked the same question.

Canned goods and fresh water would be the most logical thing to stock up on. I've never gotten the milk part especially. What do they do? Sit around and suck a bottle until the power comes back on? I guess the bread is to wipe away the tears when they realize there's nothing to eat that will satisfy them. Why they buy the bread and milk, I don't know. I could probably answer the chicken and egg thing easier than figuring that out.

[Tari]

34. And why don't people clean the snow/ice off their windshiels before they

get on the road? You'd think they'd want to actually see where they're going. Would it kill them to start their car a few minutes early, turn on the defroster & scrape the damn windshield? They could clear off the rest of the windows, too. Could they please keep the washer fluid reservoir filled with the stuff that melts ice & cleans the wet road crap off the glass. Maybe they could even check their wiper blades and replace them if they don't work worth a shit.

And if not, what you said.

[KitchenWitch]

35. Hear hear!

I love getting behind the car that has so much damn snow on it that it is like driving behind a blizzard. :sarcasm:

[Tari]

39. Oh, but not as much as I love one of those cars coming towards me in

the oncoming lane with their windshield covered in snow/ice/dirt.

:sarcasm:

[Clintmax]

36. LOL! I hear ya, MissKitchen!

And I feel your pain! "GET THE FUCKING HELLS OFF THE GODDAMNED ROAD, IDIOT!"

[KitchenWitch]

37. And one wonders why road rage is such a problem!

:shrug:

[ET Awful]

41. Thank you! And to add to it . . .

If you don't have an ice-scraper, use something to get the frickin' ice off your windshield so you can see. If it's raining or snowing and your wipers don't work, don't freakin' drive. If your tires are bald, don't drive and slide all over the place.

When the prevailing speed is 50-55, do NOT drive 80 and then get pissed off and start flashing your brights at people in front of you, especially when they have no other lane to go into.

Finally, when it's icey or snowing, USE YOUR FUCKING TURN SIGNALS. If you just stop suddenly and turn, and the roads are slick, people behind you have a hell of a lot harder time stopping and not crushing you.