What NOT to do
Winter driving can be tricky but here are a few things I can tell you NOT to do:Speeding. Not to get all scientific but…the faster you’re going, the more momentum you have, the harder it is for you to STOP or maneuver. (A body in motion tends to stay in motion) With limited traction and varying road conditions you’re never quite sure what you’re going to encounter. It doesn’t matter if you have 4 wheel drive or all wheel drive. Once the tires loose adhesion to the road the adventure begins! Speeding is the easiest way to gob up your vehicle in bad weather.
Sudden maneuvers. Going straight isn’t usually the problem. It’s changing directions that’s the challenge! Again physics says a body in motion tends to stay in motion. A body in motion also wants to keep going in the direction it’s going. This isn’t as noticeable on dry roads but when you decrease the friction between the tires and the road (rain, ice, snow) it’ll become obvious.
Driving over the piles of snow/ice the plows have left on the road. Don’t drive over the mounds of snow & ice the plows have created in the process of clearing the road. There’s very little traction to be found, it’s uneven, and you’re never sure about what other debris is in the pile along with the ice & snow.
Where am I going with this?
Last night on the way to a concert I saw a woman break these rules and almost gob her car up really well/kill herself. She was flying along. (I’m all for speeding but NOT when the weather is bad.) She cut across 3 lanes of traffic, over the pile of snow/ice the plows left behind. And then her car began to spin. She did at least a 360 and nearly hit the Jersey barriers on both sides of the exit. She was the luckiest woman in Pittsburgh last night. It was after rush hour so there weren’t as many cars on the road so there was no reason for her to be speeding or to cut over 3 lanes of traffic or to drive over the ice/snow. She was being and idiot and a lucky 1 at that!
I don’t know how she managed not to hit anything. It was amazing. It was like the stunts you see in the movies.
I’m sure an underwear change was required when she got home.
Labels: Darwin award candidate, stupid people, stupidity
posted by ChowderHead @ 2/16/2007 09:22:00 AM
3 Comments:
May I offer a few more tips to your great post?
When you know an ice storm is coming:
- Get your ice scrapers and broom/brush OUT of the car before the ice comes.
- Fill up your gas tank. What if your gas tank lid is frozen shut?
- Fill up your windshield wiper tank. What if your hood is frozen shut?
- If your doors are frozen shut and you keep tugging on them and they don't budge - keep an eye on them if it warms up or the sun comes out. Yesterday both my passenger side doors started to open while I was driving. I'm so lucky I could pull over and shut them BEFORE I hit the parkway.
Be safe out there people!!
*sigh*
You know for all the ranting we do about bad drivers, you know they'll always be out there. And with the new distractions they place in cars now? Sheesh!
Michelle: Good additions!
PW: Yep. Bad driver have and will always exist. It's just amazing to me how lucky they are.
Yep. Too many damn distractions.
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