Icy Roads Survey

:D I'm just curious to see how other people feel about driving in icy weather.

Here is our deal: We normally do not receive snow in the winter. Only every once in a while do we get it.

Now is one of those times! :eek: So my wife likes to do the worry-wart thing, saying "Oh my God. Black ice - better watch out!!" :eek: Oogah-Boogah!

LOL Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit....

Anyway, I have never had a icy roads catastrophe, but I know that it CAN happen.
My wife once spun out of control, did a 360 and wound up in a ditch, so that is why she's always on my case if I'm driving. She thinks that transferring her terror to me will keep us/me safe.

Does anyone else have this "frightened spouse" syndrome?

Anybody here willing to admit being real, real scared of the road? LOL

Just thought I'd check. Go ahead and vote, okay?

I'm really really scared to drive on the ice, and I bug my b/f when he is driving.

A couple winters ago, I was driving to town (about 35 miles) on the highway when with no warning my car began to spin, and I ended up in oncoming traffic. Scared me to death.

Because I live in the country, all our travel is highway travel, and with cars going at 70 mph or over in good weather, most every accident is serious. We seem to have a lot of car versus semi accidents and car versus deer/cow accidents.

At any rate, the other morning I had to take James to work (our other car is in the shop) at 5 a.m. Rather he took him, and I was along for the ride so I could drive the car back home.

He didn't even scrape the windshield, he just turned on the defroster. This cleared a hole about the size of my hand. He then drove about 70-75 miles an hour on ice with his head slightly askew so he could see out this "peep hole". I was like...complete freaked out.

So yup...I gripe at him a lot when he drives in bad weather.

I'm really really scared to drive on the ice, and I bug my b/f when he is driving.

A couple winters ago, I was driving to town (about 35 miles) on the highway when with no warning my car began to spin, and I ended up in oncoming traffic. Scared me to death....

:eek: Okay, yeah.. that's a good reason to be scared. That's never happened to me though. I think you and my missus would have lots to talk about over a cup of coffee, Jody. :p


Because I live in the country, all our travel is highway travel, and with cars going at 70 mph or over in good weather, most every accident is serious. We seem to have a lot of car versus semi accidents and car versus deer/cow accidents.

At any rate, the other morning I had to take James to work (our other car is in the shop) at 5 a.m. Rather he took him, and I was along for the ride so I could drive the car back home.

He didn't even scrape the windshield, he just turned on the defroster. This cleared a hole about the size of my hand. He then drove about 70-75 miles an hour on ice with his head slightly askew so he could see out this "peep hole". I was like...complete freaked out.

So yup...I gripe at him a lot when he drives in bad weather.

LOL A lot of this is "dumb male" vs. "cautious female" stuff. But I try not to be a "dumb male" kind of driver.

In the past I have even bugged my wife to get studded tires put on. We don't have them this winter, but we have front-wheel drive which helps.

I figure that the studded tires MIGHT help keep it together in a icy-slide kind of situation like the one you had. Not sure though. Anyone else know??

Whoa! I was out on the roads and things DID get squirrelly with all the slush and a little bit of ice.

Nothing I couldn't handle, but I was thinking about this post the whole time. :eek:
I said to myself, "I better NOT spin out and hit something after making that post on Agelesslove!!" :D

It was okay.

I voted both "spun out and did a 360" and "not really scared of the road." One time I was driving in a snowstorm and went 360 on the freeway, winding up in a snowbank piled against the road's side barrier. Fortunately, it was a Sunday afternoon or a holiday, and there was very little traffic. I wasn't shaken up or anything--just thought it goes with the territory.

Whew!! :eek: Glad you survived that and are here with us, Brother Dave. :D

Yeah we had a pretty bad ice storm last night.. a tree came down in front of our house and hit the electric wires. It looked like flashes of lighting but it was the transformer blowing... it was kinda scary.. we lost power yesturday around 630 pm and got power back this afternoon :eek:

We took the baby and went to my parents house and stayed there... I couldn't go to work I had no clothes to go LOL thank god we got it back.. we had to start bleeding our pipes out so they wouldn't burst and my house got to 52 degrees!! and tomorrow it's not supposed to go over 10 degrees we would be FREEEEZZZINNNGGGG...
I chose every choice besides hitting someone and being scared.. I've lived up here for 32 years and I'm used to this

Lots of spinning out of control here, folks!! :p


Is this a "braking" thing? I tried to talk to my wife about it, but she can't remember what she did wrong.


All I know is that when I start feeling the car go "squirrelly" at a low speed like 20 mph, I just grip that steering wheel to make sure it doesn't "get away from me" and I steer out of the problem.

Because I have ABS (anti-skid braking) I can actually feel the intensity of any brake action -- like a little hammer pounding away at my foot. That helps me, I think. Because I think it's the automatic instinct of braking that puts you into that power slide.

LOL You cannot brake your way out a high-speed ice-slide, correct? You are supposed to steer out of it. If there are any champion ice-drivers from places like MI or MN or someplace, speak up and let me know if I make an error, okay?

So how to slow down for a turn without braking and sliding??

This is where stick shifts come in handy and I sure miss 'em. :D With those, you can slow the car down by downshifting and never even touching the brakes, right? I realized that, this morning when I tried to turn left from the highway and into our residential neighborhood. The car started going squirrelly as I did that brake-and-turn-left- maneuver at the SAME TIME the car rolled over an ice patch, and I had to tell myself "Quit braking, Quit braking!!! AARGH!"

Once I took the foot off the brake and used only the steering wheel to control the car, I recovered and was okay.

Without a stick shift, I think you just need to be super-, super-gentle with that braking and drive very slowly.

What an adventure. OKAY, I'm ready to go out and DO IT AGAIN!!! :eek:

LOL @ icy road survey.
http://www.latindestinations.com/images/icons_Places/3454_PlacePhoto.jpg

I voted that I'm not really scared of the road.

This is my second winter living in snow country. I've been driving here for ski trips for over 20 years (but you don't really get used to it until you live in it). I also grew up driving like a maniac teenager on little skinny winding mountain roads.

You have to drive smart, and if anything on this planet will teach you to slow down, it's icy roads for weeks/months on-end. The temps have been in the single digits at night for a couple of weeks (or more??). It even got down below zero a few times. Therefore, the slight melt that we might get during the day (from vehicles...because it's certainly not getting above freezing very often here lately) just freezes into one big long ice slick on the roads. My street has been one big ice slide for about a month!

Yep, Harrison, in order not to slide when you brake, you just have to slow down and begin braking waaay ahead of time. Four-wheel drive makes a huge difference, I discovered. It's not just for off-road or even for snow. Without the 4W in-gear, my Jeep will slide like any other vehicle.

The spinning out of control isn't just from people braking incorrectly. A driver can hit a slick area or be on an icy road that is virtually straight, and still spin out. All it takes is lack of traction, really - same idea as hydroplaning on water.

If you do start to slide and spin, the first thing to do is take your foot OFF from the brake. It's hard to learn because your first instinct is to pound that right foot into the brake pedal. Focus on stearing to correct the direction of the vehicle and lightly apply intermittent pressure to the brake as you continue to focus on correcting and maintaining the direction of your vehicle.

People just need to SLOW DOWN. (Is there an echo in here?)

People DIE here every year because they drive over the pass at normal speeds in the middle of a snow storm or a freezing spell like this.

P.S. - Not from MI or MN but pitching in my penny and a half anyway. ;)

I voted both "spun out and did a 360" and "not really scared of the road." One time I was driving in a snowstorm and went 360 on the freeway, winding up in a snowbank piled against the road's side barrier. Fortunately, it was a Sunday afternoon or a holiday, and there was very little traffic. I wasn't shaken up or anything--just thought it goes with the territory.

Snowbank?

Tell me that you were not in L.A. :confused: :D

I voted that I'm not really scared of the road.

This is my second winter living in snow country. I've been driving here for ski trips for over 20 years (but you don't really get used to it until you live in it). I also grew up driving like a maniac teenager on little skinny winding mountain roads.

You have to drive smart, and if anything on this planet will teach you to slow down, it's icy roads for weeks/months on-end. The temps have been in the single digits at night for a couple of weeks (or more??). It even got down below zero a few times. Therefore, the slight melt that we might get during the day (from vehicles...because it's certainly not getting above freezing very often here lately) just freezes into one big long ice slick on the roads. My street has been one big ice slide for about a month!

Yep, Harrison, in order not to slide when you brake, you just have to slow down and begin braking waaay ahead of time. Four-wheel drive makes a huge difference, I discovered. It's not just for off-road or even for snow. Without the 4W in-gear, my Jeep will slide like any other vehicle.

The spinning out of control isn't just from people braking incorrectly. A driver can hit a slick area or be on an icy road that is virtually straight, and still spin out. All it takes is lack of traction, really - same idea as hydroplaning on water.

If you do start to slide and spin, the first thing to do is take your foot OFF from the brake. It's hard to learn because your first instinct is to pound that right foot into the brake pedal.....

YEP!! I'm almost certain my wife failed to do the corrective measure above. And of course there's only a tiny fraction of time (seconds? Milliseconds??) to get it right before you're in the path of oncoming traffic. :eek:

P.S. - Not from MI or MN but pitching in my penny and a half anyway. ;)

Totally appreciated!! Hey, you may have saved a life or two tonight, Science Lady!!

Ahhh, The Physics of Winter Driving! :)

LOL You cannot brake your way out a high-speed ice-slide, correct? You are supposed to steer out of it. If there are any champion ice-drivers from places like MI or MN or someplace, speak up and let me know if I make an error, okay?

So how to slow down for a turn without braking and sliding??

This is where stick shifts come in handy and I sure miss 'em. :D With those, you can slow the car down by downshifting and never even touching the brakes, right? I realized that, this morning when I tried to turn left from the highway and into our residential neighborhood. The car started going squirrelly as I did that brake-and-turn-left- maneuver at the SAME TIME the car rolled over an ice patch, and I had to tell myself "Quit braking, Quit braking!!! AARGH!"

:

You do NOT brake in a slide in the Ice... you'll just keep sliding.. You need to go SLOW SLOW SLOW... People think with 4 wheel drives its ok.. it's a little better but ice is different than driving in snow..... No matter what , 4 or 2 wheel drives are dangerous in ice........ My suggestions for anyone out there.... If you have a very light car.. Put heavy sandbags or something very very heavy in your trunk to weigh your car down.. expecially in rear wheel drive vehicles.... but in ice your better off just letting off the break and slowly slow down .and you break ahead of time... slamming your brake will make it worse and can get you out of control that you CAN'T get out of it..I've been thru plenty of slides!!!. Ice is scary:eek:

People just need to SLOW DOWN.


People here are used to it. We live on "Tahoe Time". :) I think that I read somewhere that the definition of "Tahoe Time" is the belief that it doesn't take more than 5 minutes to get from point A to point B but that it actually takes 20.

You can hardly go for a week without someone saying "Ah, well, they're on Tahoe Time." Gotta love it.

Of course, we use this 'excuse' in the summertime as well, when the tourist traffic is out of control. :D

You do NOT brake in a slide in the Ice... you'll just keep sliding.. You need to go SLOW SLOW SLOW... People think with 4 wheel drives its ok.. it's a little better but ice is different than driving in snow..... No matter what , 4 or 2 wheel drives are dangerous in ice........ My suggestions for anyone out there.... If you have a very light car.. Put heavy sandbags or something very very heavy in your trunk to weigh your car down.. expecially in rear wheel drive vehicles.... but in ice your better off just letting off the break and slowly slow down .and you break ahead of time... slamming your brake will make it worse and can get you out of control that you CAN'T get out of it..I've been thru plenty of slides!!!. Ice is scary:eek:

Mer, do people put studs on their tires in the wintertime out there?

I mean, it sounds like it's not as imperative to have 4WD and seems that chains would be a pain and overkill. But lots of people here say that they use studded tires.

I don't know that much about them since I have 4WD so I have all-weather/all-terrain tires.

*shrugs*

Dated a guy from Buffalo who used to laugh at our wimpy snow. Until he dealt with the ice we midwesterners are used to every winter. It gets too cold to snow here but our trees get so weighed down with ice that even our oak tree branches bend all the way to the ground. Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about the tree branches cracking so loudly they sounded like gunshots?

I voted 'yes' to the full 360 spin. We're used to it and we just all give ourselves an extra 15 - 20 minutes travel time on the really bad days.

:)

Snowbank?

Tell me that you were not in L.A. :confused: :D


LOL! No, this was in Minneapolis. I lived there for a couple of years in the late '90s.

Ice up the L.A. freeways? Now THAT would be an adventure!

Mer, do people put studs on their tires in the wintertime out there?

I mean, it sounds like it's not as imperative to have 4WD and seems that chains would be a pain and overkill. But lots of people here say that they use studded tires.

I don't know that much about them since I have 4WD so I have all-weather/all-terrain tires.


No we have winter tires.. more rugged ... but not here..some do ...I have a 4 wd and a 2 wd..... I only would get front wheel around here though it's better in this weather....

Mer, do people put studs on their tires in the wintertime out there?

I mean, it sounds like it's not as imperative to have 4WD and seems that chains would be a pain and overkill. But lots of people here say that they use studded tires.

I don't know that much about them since I have 4WD so I have all-weather/all-terrain tires...

No we have winter tires.. more rugged ... but not here..some do ...I have a 4 wd and a 2 wd..... I only would get front wheel around here though it's better in this weather....

I really like having front-wheel-drive for the main car (Saab) we use. It seems to do fine in the sludge and ice and it works well with the ABS brakes. That car was my wife's pick and I wasn't thrilled at first, but I think it's a good one for winter driving.

We have a "Hillbilly Special" :p for our work vehicle. It is a Ford 4WD truck w/manual shift that I got back in the 90s. It has saved my *** so many times, it's not real. I am pretty much fearless when I'm in that beast. :D

Ya gotta luv the ice!! I sure feel sorry for all the folks who have been buried in it tho......

however, using common sense you can drive in it IF YOU HAVE TO! Go slower than regular speeds...DO NOT BRAKE in a skid!!! MAJOR NO NO!!
like Harrison did, grab the wheel and hang on for dear life!!!or something like that.

When you approach a corner, you should have slowed down LONG before you get there or you will need an alternate plan! if not chances are you are gonna slide past the thing or collide with another car.

I drive 34 miles each way for work and have for several years, lots of experience ice driving... being cautious, slower speeds and leaving extra time to get to your destination are smart moves to ice driving.

Studded tires are illegal in MI. I can remember my dad using chains on the tires and many "salt trucks" still have chains. I have a 4wd vehicle and I still drive cautiously.

I have never done the 360 (knocking on wood!), never done a major skid(just little ones) have not had an accident due to ice (snow yes!)....I am NOT afraid to drive in it- I think that fear is a bad thing, respect the ice and you will be OK...