Anyone else iced in?

[paradox]

So I live in Texas where nobody owns snow chains or is capable of driving responsibly on ice. I also live out in the sticks so there hasn't been a sand truck within 30 miles of my place.

We were stocked up and ready, thankfully, but we haven't been anywhere since Thursday. I am enjoying the crap out of it, but my kids are getting a little cabin fever. They were irritated to hear that school is canceled again tomorrow. LOL.

 

[bobqdevon]

Up here, Even though I have a big, heavy, 4x4 suburban, I also have an ATV with a plow on it, lovely because it's legal to operate on the roads, so I can get pretty much anywhere I need to when it snows. It's wicked fun to tear down the highway at 55 on a little ATV in the snow too

 

[akane]

Snow chains are actually illegal in most places. Don't know why everyone from down south thinks we get out snow chains in the winter. You pretty much have to go to canada or alaska for that and then you are more likely to see people using snowmobiles or 4wheelers to get around.

Glad the ice storm went south of us. We got some snow yesterday though and more due tomorrow. Not that it's a big deal here. Since we were renting a house in the middle of nowhere we bought vehicles with 4wheel drive so now that we are in town right next to interstate where there are state, county, and city snow plows going by we can drive in about anything. My husband's crv is a little light and skids on ice or compacted snow somewhat but my small truck has a killer manual low 4wheel drive setting that will plow through snow over the bumper. It just can't go past 30mph when you turn that on and it can only be switched off in park.

The real problem is the other idiots on the road. The closer it gets to christmas the more insane people get and the more snow and ice layers we have for them to drive through. I already got rear ended and lost a license plate light. My husband got cut off 3 times just going between towns including someone who tried to cross 3 lanes over snow in to a full turning lane forcing them to a dead stop in front of him. Odds of them ever getting in to the turning lanes from where they were are pretty darn low so they probably just backed up the only lane that went through the next 2 lights until they gave it up.

 

[DogCatMom]

Snow chains are actually illegal in most places. ...

The real problem is the other idiots on the road. The closer it gets to christmas the more insane people get and the more snow and ice layers we have for them to drive through. I already got rear ended and lost a license plate light. My husband got cut off 3 times just going between towns including someone who tried to cross 3 lanes over snow in to a full turning lane forcing them to a dead stop in front of him. Odds of them ever getting in to the turning lanes from where they were are pretty darn low so they probably just backed up the only lane that went through the next 2 lights until they gave it up.

1) Snow chains are *required* in California whenever and wherever the California Highway Patrol says they are. This is usually related to road conditions at elevation but is not restricted to winter months. I've seen ice over Donner Pass on August 20.

2) It's just incredible how so many people simply don't know how to drive, regardless of the weather. It's scary.... Here in the S.F. Bay Area, the "winter" is usually a cold-ish (30s, 40s) rainy season. It usually does this every year, you know...but people keep blasting down the road, headlights OFF, wipers OFF, during the first few rains of the season. :shock: The problem is: they take others, probably good drivers, with them when they wipe out. :angry:

When I lived in Atlanta, an incredible ice storm hit. No power for five days, the city didn't have snow plows or anything, no de-icing supplies, so the roads were impassable until temps rose. My BF and I lucked out, though: we had a gas stove, gas heat, and gas hot water. It didn't really matter that our rented house didn't have power, because we put the food on the back porch to stay cold that week!

 

[JessicaR]

What amazes me is that every year, when we first start getting snow and ice, people just seem to forget how to drive on ice :roll: I mean come on people its Ohio we get ice and snow every year, its not to hard to remember to slow down!

Where I live it is illegal to have chains on your vehicle, and unfortunately the idiots (irresponsible drivers) out there have now made it illegal to drive any atv/snowmobiles on the road even during a level 3 snow emergency.

 

[Frecs]

Whenever it starts precipitating and is near or at freezing, I hear my father's voice in my head "slow down...remember overpasses freeze first". The only times I have gone into a snow bank or slide off the road was due to some other idiot's stupidity...sigh.

 

[LilacGal]

My dad used to say that too, along with "if the road looks wet it's always ice" at least from Oct-Apr. The middle of no-where PA is a great place to learn about ice and snow.

 

[akane]

The only thing either of us has ever done was drive the crv in to a snow drift on a gravel road that turned out to be too deep. It was the first warm day of the new year so we wanted to take the dogs hiking and it turned out there was a dip in the road on a turn. The crv just sank right in to it. We called my mom who came with a bigger suv and was going to back up to tie the vehicles together and pull out the crv but she got too close to the edge and the ditch you couldn't see pulled her in. Then we had 2 stuck suvs. We spent about 30mins rocking her vehicle loose and then getting the crv free. We should have just pushed the much lighter crv in the first place. lol

We have a university nearby so tons of college students who may be new to driving or from a warmer state with little to no ice and snow. Every year they have to learn how to drive in snow. Plus 100s of people go from biking, which is huge in the 3 towns clustered together here because public transportation is very poor in Iowa, to driving. It puts a lot more people on the streets.

 

[Frecs]

Yep...and "if you are fishtailing, turn the wheel in the direction of the spin"...that has gotten me through a couple of tough situations, too. I'm so glad I listened to Dad.

 

[skysthelimit]

It is incredible how many people don't know how to drive, period. There are just as many accidents, if not more during the snow free months in OH. I often wonder how people even get there licenses. When I got mine here, I did not take the test on actual roads with actual traffic, so pretty much anyone who can steer a car can get a license. You really do not need to know how to drive. Just pass the test and don't hit the cone.

Drivers ed was not a requirement either. So basically people are out there, learning on the road, not really knowing the laws of physics and driving until they find out first hand.

Combine that with the general selfish attitudes of society, and you have a recipe for snow cones and disaster.

Good thing is, there has been very little precipitation here, and the cold has finally reached us, but no ice except in the rabbit dishes.
The city and ODOT are very good with clearing and salting the roads. Sometimes the side streets get neglected, but the main ones are white with salt.

 

[Random Rabbit]

I operate under the thought that * You Cannot drive safely ON Ice *. period. Sn*w if one uses a little common sense... can be gotten thru.
I'm also blessed that when it is horrible out... i Can stay put.

Fortunately... our state, NY, permits studded sn*w tires thru certain months... and i have those on my car. I drive slower when conditions are bad, much to the frustrations of the Speedy Gonzales of the world. But i will pull over to let them pass. ( when and where it is safe to do so).
(must admit.. i tend to feel a tiny bit smug on the few occasions that i Have let them fly by... only later to see them off the road.. )

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

....I-I-it rained a week ago...

And school got cancelled....

So... That's what alaskas up to.....

And it was like 27 F this week......

 

[akane]

If you leave city limits you have no choice but to drive on ice part of the year here. They do not salt all the highways or even all the interstate lanes very well and of course they do nothing to gravel roads. Black ice is a fact of life. You keep an eye out for it so you can react and keep the vehicle from sliding.

I haven't damaged a car on black ice but I did turn a bone in my ankle in to a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle that the doctors just left to heal as best it could since there wasn't a big enough piece to pin anything together. I was stepping around a corner on the sidewalk after dark which in the country means pitch black. The outside of my knee and the bottom of my foot were touching the ground at the same time and I blindly reacted, throwing myself off the ground and on to my other side. Then I was facing 100ft of frozen gravel driveway with a broken ankle. I tried crawling back to the house but the rocks dug in to my knees too much so I hopped on one foot across the ice and managed not to fall. It was rather embarassing because I prided myself on my ability to slide, run, and play on ice without falling. Ice is just normal here.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I practice drove someone's car last week- I had not driven in almost 4 years-- It is well below freezing right now, snow is falling, there IS ice on the roads-- Ztomorrow at 10, a buddy is picking me up, and driving me to the one persons house-- From there, I will drive her about 60 miles to have a surgical procedure to implant a pain block (she is a cancer patient,) Then, gotta drive back-- Good thing- the first drive, her place to the surgeon, will have me starting out in the heaviest areas of accumulation-The way the snow drops here, Sky gets less snow than I do--and I Will be driving in her direction first-- Thankfully, I will also be driving into familiar, where I grew up territory-- because yes, people forget how to drive-- And I have yet to figure out how driving a monstrous, 4 wheel drive vehicle is supposed to impart automatic supremacy on a road- my first winter back here after 25 years, I saw plenty of 4wheel drive vehicles standing on their noses in ditches!!!
I snugged up my tin-can home best as I could- and will pray that the power holds out-as long as the winds don't get bad,, and people don't use utility poles as car-targets, the power shout stay on.....

 

[Cottie]

We don't get "iced in". The last time I can recall the roads being closed due to the weather was during snowpocalypse. Every emergency vehicle in the county was stuck in the snow; the county started using giant plows for EMS and those got stuck, too. Firemen resorted to borrowing snowmobiles from farmers so they could get to people trapped in cars in subzero temperatures.

The only saving grace we've had with these cold fronts is we're still in the lake effect area. For some reason, they're bumping around Michigan and leaving our area of Illinois largely unscathed. Still cold as could be (-5 right now and dropping), but we're not getting precipitation dumped on us.<br /><br />__________ Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:02 pm __________<br /><br />

I operate under the thought that * You Cannot drive safely ON Ice *. period. Sn*w if one uses a little common sense... can be gotten thru.

:yeahthat:

I'd add that powdery snow can be gotten through. The slushy, thick, snowball snow is a pretty big problem.

Fortunately... our state, NY, permits studded sn*w tires thru certain months... and i have those on my car. I drive slower when conditions are bad, much to the frustrations of the Speedy Gonzales of the world. But i will pull over to let them pass. ( when and where it is safe to do so).
(must admit.. i tend to feel a tiny bit smug on the few occasions that i Have let them fly by... only later to see them off the road.. )

I see this a lot with "4 wheel drive" vehicles. It does no good if you don't know how to use it!

 

[akane]

I did slide my mom's giant auto 4wheel drive suv sideways down an on ramp and took a "shortcut" when turning it around where 3 gravel roads met. That doesn't mean 4wheel drive doesn't help. I drove a rear wheel drive medium-large pickup (extended cab but not full bed) for years as my first vehicle and I never put it in the ditch but when I got my first 4wheel drive suv it was soooo much easier to get around. I can't count how many times I had to push that truck or coat the ground in ice melt and cat litter because it wouldn't go up a little incline in the driveway or I'd get one back tire on the ice and it wouldn't turn the corner on that tire. I'd have to drive straight, cutting in to the other lane, to get the tire off the ice so I could turn.

Once I got that suv with 4wheel drive options (same as is on my current pickup) I never had to worry about my vehicle again. I'd just punch the button, wait a second, and plow right through the snow, slush, or across the ice. We didn't plow our gravel driveway. When the snow got too deep for my husband's crv I would take the very low sitting chevy suv out there, put it in 4 low, and drive down the couple 100' of driveway. It would clear the snow down to about 1' deep and then my husband's crv could make it as soon as his auto 4wheel drive kicked in.

 

[bobqdevon]

The middle of no-where PA is a great place to learn about ice and snow.

:yeahthat:

Same with W.VA.<br /><br />__________ Thu Dec 12, 2013 9:49 am __________<br /><br />

I'd just punch the button, wait a second, and plow right through the snow, slush, or across the ice. We didn't plow our gravel driveway. When the snow got too deep for my husband's crv I would take the very low sitting chevy suv out there, put it in 4 low, and drive down the couple 100' of driveway. It would clear the snow down to about 1' deep and then my husband's crv could make it as soon as his auto 4wheel drive kicked in.

That's why I like my older Suburban. Grab the handle, yank back, and go. No pushing buttons and waiting. The instant you pull the handle, you're in 4wd. The ATV we have engages it automatically when needed. Not a big fan of it, but it's the only option they offer anymore