Winter driving: learn how to do it

[rudeguy]

I've had vehicles sideways a few times hitting black ice on the road. Never wrecked, but it's an "exciting" wakeup while driving.

I've never wrecked and only spun out an accident twice. Like doc said...the semi one scared me like I've never been scared. Sliding is a wake up. Doing spinnies with cars or semis coming at you will make you appreciate driving a whole new way.

I've spun out while messing around countless times. Its part of the fun of winter and it builds skill. Nothing like throwing a 20 foot rooster tail while going sideways. But the semi spin still scares me. I had zero control and no chance of recovering until the road was ready to let me recover. Pretty sure I had chunks of the seat cover stuck in my butt cheeks.

 

[Ruptga]

If you are scared, don't drive. You driving 50MPH slower than everyone is going to get someone hurt.

On snow the people driving slower than everyone else are most definitely NOT the cause of the accidents.

Your statement is correct, but in the context of what you're replying to it is absolutely false. Ever hear something along the lines of "old people don't get into accidents, they cause them"? It's the exact same scenario. People uncomfortable with keeping the pace should immediately find a slower road, for their sake and everyone else's.

 

[SketchMaster]

Want to see some skilled winter drivers? Come to Colorado, where we have FL and CA transplants jamming up the roads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5exATIaQiI&feature=related

I was out driving that whole day in my Suzuki SX4 with blizzacks, I had no problem. At one point I watched a guy sliding backwards, with his foot hard on the gas, grinding his rear right rim (he managed to pop his tire) against the curb.

I hate winter driving out here...

 

[Exterous]

I think part of the problem is no one learns how to drive their car in bad weather other than first hand experience on a crowded highway. I've always made it a habit of taking a new car to a slick\snowed parking lot and finding out what it takes to make it slide. It won't cover every eventuality but at least it gives me some feel for how the car should handle\be handled.

Wipe the snow off your damn car so you can see. Yes the back window too.

I can see just fine. Now the car behind me on the other hand...

Man that brings back memories. I used to drive a Caprice Classic and that boat would take on some snow. When I got on the expressway I looked like a goddamn comet from the massive snow tail

Abrams will break your fuel budget; but you will have no one challenging you for parking spaces

Excuse me - I'm going to go warm up the jet turbine so I can run to the grocery store.

 

[Exterous]

I was out driving that whole day in my Suzuki SX4 with blizzacks, I had no problem.

Thats the other problem.
"New tires? Those are expensive! I'll just stick with my bald ones. They do just fine right now!" (Now being September when its still warm)
"You want how much for good traction tires?! No these super cheap budget ones will be fine"

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Your statement is correct, but in the context of what you're replying to it is absolutely false. Ever hear something along the lines of "old people don't get into accidents, they cause them"? It's the exact same scenario. People uncomfortable with keeping the pace should immediately find a slower road, for their sake and everyone else's.

To use your own image:

I've heard that plenty of times and it's pure bullshit each and every time. A driver MUST be in control of their vehicle at all times. ALL times. If a person driving too slowly causes another person to crash that person was NOT in control of their vehicle. Yes, large differences in speed can be a big problem and having some cars doing 10 mph while others are doing 70 is a recipe for disaster. But in dangerous conditions whether rain, snow, ice, fog, dark, whatever too slow is always better and the people who crash are the people who don't show the conditions the proper respect. Nearly running into somebody driving slowly might be what triggers the crash, but the person driving too fast is the one at fault.

 

[JulesMaximus]

You have no idea how happy I am that I never have to drive in snow. It's not that I don't know how, because I do, it is all the other idiots on the road who don't know how and the chaos they create.

 

[xSauronx]

i will just stay where we dont really get snow. it is stupid cold here now, was 25 when i woke up and itll be 30 tonight...thats cold enough, its too cold. when its so cold that water changes its state of being that is some shit i can do without

/but i know how to safely drive in the shit if i have to in these flatter areas

 

[OverVolt]

I spun out on the highway at 40mph in 2 feet of snow and an SUV swerved around me. Went back home on side roads. Sorry work!

This was a few years ago. Basically it had snowed 2 feet and I was in a compact car. The snow was coming down the worst right when I had to be at work so when I left there were other compact cars on the road with me and over the next 30 min or so I was the only one left because they all got stuck in ditches and shit presumably.

I caught 2 feet of snow at 40mph by sliding out of the ruts on the highway, I lost traction just a little bit and started catching deeper parts of snow. Doing so caused the car to keep veering harder and harder into the snowbank. In order to counter steer out of that it had spun me out on the highway as soon as I got out of the snowbank. Scary shit to be facing the wrong way and see an SUV going 40mph coming at you.

I took the next exit in my little shitbox economy car and there was a Nissan Xterra who had flipped on his side laying in a snowbank. I was going by like *put* *put* *put* *put* *put* *put* *put* hung my head out the window and said "sorry if I stop I'll get stuck!" and kept going. Cause seriously the snow was scraping the bottom of my car and lifting me up, and he had like an extra foot of clearance and still flipped. That particular exit mustve had 2.5 feet of snow and was unplowed. So lucky I didn't get stuck there. I was goosing the throttle for every bit of forward momentum, one tire slip and I woulda been stuck too. It was uphill. Ugh. Not ideal.

I took side streets home after that and got stuck parking at home. Took so much concentration not to get stuck as soon as I was home I stopped trying as hard and got stuck in the parking lot of my house and I was like screw it whatever I'm home close enough.

 

[rudeguy]

You have no idea how happy I am that I never have to drive in snow. It's not that I don't know how, because I do, it is all the other idiots on the road who don't know how and the chaos they create.

Yep. My main focus is always looking for a way out if the other guy does something dumb. People pass me because I leave a big gap when the roads are bad. Go ahead...I'll hang back. I also do everything I can to not drive beside people when its nasty. I don't need to get taken out if they slide.

Now if I have the road to myself. ..I have fun. I may have turned onto my street today more sideways than straight and I may have oversteered into my driveway making some cool tracks.

 

[notposting]

Oh man...you guys are a whole different breed. Its below freezing and the roads might be ok? Better still do 85 just to make sure!

The road crews over here absolutely blow too.

My wife is from the UP, I lived up there (and stole her away mwahaha) for several years. One year we had a bunch of company, some family and friends from the UP and from Grand Rapids area at our place. Big snowfall the day before/day of everyone arriving. And it just stayed, the whole long weekend. We received some questions about the genealogy of the road crews here.

4" of light fluff? Drop salt on it until it turns into thick slop.
Overnight temps in high 20's, maybe some light precipitation? Salt the roads in advance? HELL NO THAT SHIT MIGHT BE GETTING SLIPPERY OUT THERE WE STAYING HOME
Ever, ever, consider dropping your goddamn plow blade and scraping ANY of this shit off the roads? HELL NO TOO NOISY WANT TO LISTEN TO RADIO
Is it October? Is the most menacing thing we are seeing is piles of leaves by the road? DROP ALL THE SALTS! (then whine about being out of salt in February)

I hate the road crews here.

 

[mmntech]

Don't worry, I got this. I've got my SUV with it's AWD. I can do blasting up icy side streets doing 100km/h in this baby. Look at that asshole in the car driving too slow. Should get a big SUV like me. I'm going to drive up his ass for awhile. Now I'm upsidedown. Don't worry, I got this brah.

I've only spun out once. Tying to be a smartass doing J-turns on an empty road with the e-break. Got stuck a couple times in parking lots. Never got into any serious trouble driving in the winter, knock on wood. Probably because I slow down and take my time if the roads are bad. The problem with a lot of folks though is they don't leave enough time for themselves, get in a rush, and end up in the ditch. You're probably not going to get fired or reprimanded if you show up late for work on a crappy day. Nor is the company going to implode if you don't make that meeting.

The worst offenders are the SUVs. As I mocked above, they seem to think AWD makes them invincible. High centre of gravity combined with excessive speed. They make up the bulk of vehicles I see in the ditch. Pickup trucks are another bad offender. Once again because the driver thinks they have 4WD, they're safe. Though if you've got no weight in the box (common for white hat trucks), that back end will fish tail if you don't watch it like a hawk.

 

[Howard]

And ABS...you will have better control...but a stop takes longer.

That depends on the type of conditions.

 

[schneiderguy]

What is winter?
What is snow?

Please respond.

 

[Jeff7]

RWD worked well for the past 70 years; One learns how to feel the road and not be stupid.

As to going as fast as you want comment;
not wise; you have no idea what is under your treads; more than likely it is not clean/bare pavement and your stopping distance is reduced from what you are used to.

Candles worked well for thousands of years. I still prefer electrical lighting though.

 

[RockinZ28]

This will be my first real winter. Snowing a little tonight. Think it was also the first time in my life I've turned on the home heater. Lived in Los Angeles the past 23 years, moved to Indiana 3 weeks ago.

 

[nageov3t]

for the love of god, please brush off the snow on top of your car too.

I shouldn't expect to be forced to drive in blizzard conditions with 0 visibility even though it's a clear and sunny day just because there's 5' of snow blowing off the roof of your car.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I love seeing how many morons think AWD is magic...and will help them stop. I love seeing them in the ditch as I drive by.

And ABS...you will have better control...but a stop takes longer.

I always laughed when I drove my old Camaro through the winters. I'd be driving along passing 4x4 SUVs, AWD Subarus, etc in the ditches, and here I am in a sporty car with all season tires cruising by :awe:

Now I have a 4x4 SUV and it is certainly better than plain RWD in the bad stuff (the extra ground clearance and more aggressive tires also help). But regardless of the type of drive, braking is pretty much still the same and that is mostly what gets people in trouble.

BTW, the snow on the roof annoys me too. I climb up and stand on my tires to brush the snow off the roof of my SUV. I don't expect everyone to get everything off (that's asking a bit much) but at least get the majority of it. The little bit left that will blow off is no big deal.

 

[natto fire]

I always laughed when I drove my old Camaro through the winters. I'd be driving along passing 4x4 SUVs, AWD Subarus, etc in the ditches, and here I am in a sporty car with all season tires cruising by :awe:

Now I have a 4x4 SUV and it is certainly better than plain RWD in the bad stuff (the extra ground clearance and more aggressive tires also help). But regardless of the type of drive, braking is pretty much still the same and that is mostly what gets people in trouble.

BTW, the snow on the roof annoys me too. I climb up and stand on my tires to brush the snow off the roof of my SUV. I don't expect everyone to get everything off (that's asking a bit much) but at least get the majority of it. The little bit left that will blow off is no big deal.

Yes, all cars are 4WB and most are 2WS, but I still enjoy pulling away from a stop light with gusto on my Falken Rocky Mountains and Jeep Grand Cherokee in PT 4WD. Hoping we get a decent winter when I get back as I recently acquired a FWD vehicle but held on to the Jeep for the possible winter weather.

My first snow I was rocking some Kumho road tires, and the switch to the Rocky Mountains were very noticeable in mud and snow, when I lived near Santa Fe at the time, and would get crazy in the BLM lands.

Tires are what I preach, and even though my NPG transfer case is a beast, it did not really show it's strengths until I put some proper rubber on my Jeep.

 

[rudeguy]

This will be my first real winter. Snowing a little tonight. Think it was also the first time in my life I've turned on the home heater. Lived in Los Angeles the past 23 years, moved to Indiana 3 weeks ago.

I was born in IN!

Just relax and leave plenty early. Don't do anything dumb and take your time. Driving in snow is actually pretty fun once you get the hang of it.

 

[natto fire]

I was born in IN!

Just relax and leave plenty early. Don't do anything dumb and take your time. Driving in snow is actually pretty fun once you get the hang of it.

Certainly separates the boys from the men. Loads of style points to be had. I was raised near lake effect snow in Ohio, although "fake" climate change seems to have reduced it lately.

Controlling a drift probably makes you look like a jerk to most people, but most people are too busy texting to really have an opinion worth caring about.

 

[WelshBloke]

for the love of god, please brush off the snow on top of your car too.

I shouldn't expect to be forced to drive in blizzard conditions with 0 visibility even though it's a clear and sunny day just because there's 5' of snow blowing off the roof of your car.

I was going to add that.

Theres always that amusing moment when they pull up sharply at the lights and we get to laugh at the snow that was once on the roof and is now on the windscreen. :biggrin:

 

[jaedaliu]

What is winter?
What is snow?

Please respond.

Please look up Lake Tahoe.

Or if you want to drive further to get a better look, Mammoth.

 

[johny12]

Make sure your vehicle is properly equipped, slow down, leave plenty of room between you and other vehicles, anticipate problems instead of reacting to them and learn to use your vehicle's controls.

 

[jaedaliu]

Make sure your vehicle is properly equipped, slow down, leave plenty of room between you and other vehicles, anticipate problems instead of reacting to them and learn to use your vehicle's controls.

You're just teaching us how to drive properly, regardless of season.