winter driving advise

Winter driving advice? The skinny pedal on the right is not the brake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npTRXr4Sgxg&feature=related

 

What a bunch of idiots. The ones in the video that is.

 

I have been on ice like this... nothing you really can do but ride it out... I was coming home one time and in freezing rain, it was fine going in but in a split second coming back nobody could stay on the road.. The temp must of hit that magic temp or something. I was in a Volkswagen beetle (old school VW beetle)and it seemed to be doing better then what the other cars could do.. A semi had slid almost into the ditch and was half way on the road and half way in the ditch. I tried to stop and noway was I going to be able to stop.. when I touched the brake it just started getting a little sideways. There was cars on the other side of the road that was just stopped in the road. I headed for the ditch and baja'ed threw it.. Should of seen the truckers face lol he looked a little shocked but hey it was better then smashing into the back of his trl.. I made it past accident after accident.. I turned onto a road and was less then mile from my house. The road has a pretty good peek in the center and slopes down on both sides. Well a 4X4 was coming my way so I had to ease off the center that I was trying to stadddle so I would not slide off. Well when I started to get over I felt the car sliding.. I had the wheel turned all the way left and it just kept going towards the ditch.. This ditch I could not baja threw because it was really deep. Anyways my front tire just went off into the grass and I just parked it.. I knew I was not going to get out even though it looked like it would easily backup. The ice would of just made me slide further into the ditch if I had tried.. So I walked home waited a few hours and walked back and drove it out. I was glad nobody slammed into the back of it..

 

Heh heh, I spent about four hours sitting on Monument Hill (N/B) back in the late '60's. There were two big rigs jackknifed near the top, and the road was so bad that even the tow trucks were having a hard time. This was back when it was just 4 lane, 2 north and 2 south. There was no access road on the NB side yet.

I used to run Denver/Springs/Pueblo in either a van or a box truck, depending on how much load there was. It could get interesting.

OK to get back on topic here;

Some of our jobs really don't have a lot of choice but to run if it is at all possible. Contract mail haulers, line haul drivers and the like, pretty much have to go, if the road is open.

That being said, it is still my strong belief that if you are able to wait for a couple of hours to avoid chaining up, then do so. Chains are necessary, but I've always believed that you use them to get out of bad conditions, rather than to go into bad conditions.

When you are on ice and snow, the big key is consistancy. Keep it slow and steady, anticipate your turns and your stops. Know that wind can blow you right across the ice, particularly if you are empty. Keep it slow.

Sometimes you have problems in knowing whether you are on ice or just wet road. If there is no "splash factor" from other traffic, guess what?

Oh, did I mention - keep your speed down?

 

I believe it has been said but here it is again: dont hit the breaks in a panic/slide, push the clutch in to take the power away from the drives. This will allow you to straighten out if need be. Obviously there are times you must break as well, but hte clutch helps.

 

If you are white-knuckling the steering wheel you are going too fast, slow down until you can relax.

 

Don't drive in the snow. Pull over and let them clear the roads until you proceed. Have fun, watch all the other drivers that do drive in the snow, they usually dont make it.

 

Aw, that's half the fun. But seriously, being able to tell where the road is, is important.

 

Perhaps that was tongue-in-cheek, chompi. In reality, only the worst blizzards stop the trucking industry. Drivers who will not drive in hazardous conditions soon find themselves working construction or in a factory. Perhaps I was merely lucky, but I never slid off the road or hit anyone, did lots of white knuckle driving to maintain the schedule, and tied up in a truck stop only a few times when the roads were officially closed and snow was too deep to maintain 30 mph. I can remember only one time when an employer would not let us deadhead home for the weekend during a blizzard. On another occasion, my employer gave me the option of staying home. I stayed home, and Stroh brewery posted the load on a board. An old man took the load and used chains part of the way out of St. Paul. He had to deliver the beer in Benton Harbor as a way to meet an obligation to pick up another load out east. By the way, plows in Michigan are usually parked between midnight and 6:00 a.m. The truckers keep on truckin'.

 

Keep your lights clean. Snow will build up and your tail lights will disappear.