Let the fun begin....
Readers from cold countries know the importance of caution in icy or snowy conditions. In most cases, they have the experience to handle these.Snow? You can drive in snow?
However, you and they may not know that even a light rain may be as dangerous as the worst winter weather.
In much of Canada and the U.S., rainfall is very sporadic during Summer.
As a result, oil residue and dirt accumulates on roads, especially at intersections and on inclines where large vehicles must strain to maintain speed.
When the first rain comes after a dry period, roads can become every bit a slick as in the midst of winter because of the slippery mixture of oil, dirt, and water.
Use caution at the start of a summer rain, and be careful any time driving on slick roads when braking takes longer.
During really bad weather, you may want to check into a hostel or hotel for the duration, even if you are very used to this type of driving.
Otherwise, you'll be on the road with drivers who are not as careful or as skilful as you are.
This is especially true in places like Portland (Oregon), Seattle, Vancouver (both), Victoria, the California mountains, and the southern United States, where most drivers are not used to driving in snow all winter.
13 comments:
It's raining here in AZ today for the first time in about 2 months. Up here in the mountains where I live, it will likely turn to snow over night. We really need it, and, yes, you can drive in snow.
:D!
I've never done it. I've never had to cope with snow. Earthquakes I can handle, snow... I have a lot to learn!
'Snow? You can drive in snow?'
Oh, hell yeah. Fast, too.
;>)
Kinda like how we drive really fast in the fog..?
Snow is drivable. Even without chains
But it's ... white! And cold! And hides the stripy lines!
Yes, but with the lights off to make it more exciting.
;>)
ACK!
The striped lines are more suggestions, anyway.
My personal fave:
black ice.
Black ice in West Texas on I-10, nothing like it.
The joys of rain in San Diego when every other car goes sliding through the intersection. It was worse than when I worked the first snowfall of the year when I was still in traffic. It would start as cold rain so that when the temperature dropped enough to become snow the roads would have a base of ice.
I would write 6 motor vehicle accident reports an hour for the entire evening shift, and they were only required for injury or damage greater than $200. I had two of the patrol cars I was assigned rear ended while I was writing reports with the roof lights spinning.
Some people can drive in the snow, most people just think they can.
It scares me and I've never driven in falling snow. (Driven in snowy mountains with nicely defined roads, and no ice.)
Black ice caused the death of a friend of mine many years ago and nearly killed his wife. How on earth do you prepare for that kind of sabotage on the roads?
The worst such experience I ever had...
I bicycled to work at my part-time job in the Texas Medical Center, along the county hike 'n' bike trail on the bayou, in the morning, when it was above freezing and barely raining. By mid-afternoon, when I cycled home, the temperature froze, the snow came down (yes! snow in Houston!), and a freestanding bridge on the bike path on the way home iced over completely, a visible half-inch or so of ice and snow.
It took me 30 minutes to cross the bridge, holding a railing in one hand and the bicycle in the other. I almost lost the bicycle several times. Getting up the ramp on the far end of the bridge (on foot, of course) was one of the most terrifying experiences I've ever had.
After that, there was the major thoroughfare I had to cross at the end of the bike bridge. Remember, no one in Houston knows how to drive in snow, and people were spinning out, left and right... even I knew how to drive in snow better than most of those Houstonians, and I'm not an expert at it.
Ah, those were the days: the days I hope I never see again!
No thanks! Being a pedestrian or a biker means you take your life in your hands every time you're near cars, but with ice!....
Glad you survived, Steve!
Post a Comment