Southern Winter Weather Driving

[Dtownandrew]

It snowed a few inches today in cities that don't usually have snow, so as you can imagine, traffic and the driving capability of people was pretty poor. Being from up north and having to deal with FEET of snow, I really have a hard time understanding why people here cannot drive in a few inches of snow. It isn't that hard...

[excuseyou77]

I've lived in the midwest for a few years, and there snow is just a way of life. It's so interesting the way it's handled here; probably because it's so rare. It's so pretty outside tho.

[Milord]

Yeah driving during winter can be hazardous if one isn't used to it! Drive safe and don't go too fast! I love that, usually, we are the ones being buried under six feet of snow and so far there isn't a lot of snow here.

Washington, Virginia, Maryland and company : we are with you!

[Shevanel]

I love driving in snow xD even though I hate snow xD

you kidding? people in san diego can't even handle rain. if it ever snowed here they'd have to close the roads and ticket people for even thinking about driving.

[starfish]

A few points.

The cities in the south don't have the equipment to deal with winter weather conditions. According to a coworker. Rochester, MN has more sand trucks than Dallas Texas. Rochester has a population of 100k and a land area of 39 sq. miles. Dallas has a population of 1.2 million and a land area of 342 sq. miles. Then again Dallas has a yearly snow fall of 2.7" while Rochester has 48.8"

Drivers also don't have much experience driving in winter weather conditions. I am a Texas native and have been driving for nearly 15 years. I'm getting close to having 250K miles under my belt. I only have about 300 miles of winter weather driving experience. Of those 200 came while driving back from Tulsa this Christmas.

The biggest one is the temperature. When we get winter weather it is a rapid weather change. Typically it is 40-50 then bam cold front and it drops down to about 30 and we get sleet. The ground is still above freezing so it melts and then refreezes overnight as the temperature drops to the mid teens. This forms a slick sheet of ice, that is damn near impossible to drive on. Especially when your car doesn't have winter tires on it. All-season tires really suck in these conditions.

When you get actual snow driving is much easier, even if ice forms. The snow acts as grit that forms a rough surface that the tires can grip.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_mn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_texas

[excuseyou77]

^ Great points. That's why in Atlanta things shut down so fast. It doesn't even take a flake of snow to fall from the sky yet before everything starts to close. In a place like Indianapolis, they have multiple snow plows and salt trucks and they have them all ready in time. Not as much equipment here.

[Étoile]

Yeah, everyone was excited down here that we were actually getting snow, even my parents. Mind you, we get it one day every 10 years maybe, so it's very rare.

[Dtownandrew]

Originally Posted by starfish

A few points.

The cities in the south don't have the equipment to deal with winter weather conditions. According to a coworker.

Agreed, but totally not an excuse for running a red light and then almost fish-tailing into me. I feel like if you're going to do that in a snow storm, you should at least be able to drive in the snow. No amount of salt/plow equipment is going to stop someone from fishtailing when they slam their breaks on in slush going fifty mph.

[excuseyou77]

Originally Posted by Dtownandrew

Agreed, but totally not an excuse for running a red light and then almost fish-tailing into me. I feel like if you're going to do that in a snow storm, you should at least be able to drive in the snow. No amount of salt/plow equipment is going to stop someone from fishtailing when they slam their breaks on in slush going fifty mph.

I remember when we had more ice than snow last month and they kept showing all the car accidents on the news. It was cringe-worthy. Some people just don't have any common sense I guess.

[Doreibo]

Down under we don't get much snow or ice. You can go to the snow mountains and get a good layer up there but it can't compare to any where else. The driving isn't that hard though. What snow stays on the roads or what ice forms is easily solved by chains.

[starfish]

Originally Posted by Dtownandrew

Agreed, but totally not an excuse for running a red light and then almost fish-tailing into me. I feel like if you're going to do that in a snow storm, you should at least be able to drive in the snow. No amount of salt/plow equipment is going to stop someone from fishtailing when they slam their breaks on in slush going fifty mph.

That is due to inexperience driving in those conditions. Folks don't account for the increased stopping distance and either drive too fast or don't start stopping soon enough.

[Katherine]

It's not really the snow I'm worried about so much as the ice that's on the roads now. Ice is really difficult to drive on if you're not used to it.

People around here don't have a clue how to deal with it. Every time there's even the slightest mention of snow around here, people freak out and start buying all the bread, milk and canned foods they can find. Local news obsesses over the snow, and schools shut down like crazy. It's actually kind of funny, to be honest. xD

[jazzrawr]

Haha, being from Canada I just laugh at the places that shut down after 2 inches of snow.
Seriously, it takes about 4 feet of snow, -50 weather, or complete white-out conditions to shut anything down here. We're tanks. XD

Driving in the snow isn't too big a deal here, but we do it like, 5 months of the year, so we're used to it.

[507bro]

I think most people speed in the snow and that a no no when driving in snow
and brake too early causing the car to skid and hit other cars.
I guess they have to learn the hard way.

[xequar]

Originally Posted by starfish

A few points.

The cities in the south don't have the equipment to deal with winter weather conditions. According to a coworker. Rochester, MN has more sand trucks than Dallas Texas. Rochester has a population of 100k and a land area of 39 sq. miles. Dallas has a population of 1.2 million and a land area of 342 sq. miles. Then again Dallas has a yearly snow fall of 2.7" while Rochester has 48.8"

BFD. In Michigan, we don't even bother to plow until there's several inches of snow on the ground, and even then we don't plow everything. Right now on I-94 through Metro Detroit, there is still snow and ice in the left lane from the snow we got last week.

Also, less than three inches of snow is NOT a valid reason to slow down. If you can't keep your car under control at freeway speeds with an inch of snow on the ground, get off the fucking road! Driving in snow's not hard. And those that disagree with that assessment, drive in Michigan for awhile during the winter. If you can't keep freeway speeds in the snow, you WILL die and kill others because of your recklessness.