going fast in snow

Agreed, snow isn't so much of a problem... it's when the roads get icy. Ice (and to a lesser extent, snow) decreases how much friction is available to hold you on the road - big problem for light vehicles, not so much for an 18-wheeler at 80,000 lbs. It becomes a problem when you need that missing chunk of friction - in curves, correcting skids and stopping.

I'll feel out the road a bit before putting the hammer down. Start feeling those little micro-skids? Slow down. Loose the spray coming off of the tires - that means that gunk on the road just froze - slow down. Curves - loose some speed in advance, make sure jake and cruise control are off. Less-traveled portions of the road - exit ramps, turn lanes, shoulders - slow down. Traffic increases - slow down.

It's not that we're driving dangerously fast, it's that the vehicles we drive can deal with it much better than your car or SUV. Our problems come in when we get complacent, and the conditions change on us.

 

I drove US 14 through the Big Horn mountains last week.
The weather got really nasty, snow coming down sideways. I was dead-heading and since I was just about the only one on the road I took it easy and did a little experiment (once I got past the storm) using the engine brake and controlled skids in the straights at low speeds.

You learn to feel those "Micro-skids" and once you get the "feel" and get "comfortable", then it's easier to know what to do whether it's backing off the throttle; engaging the clutch; and steering into a skid.

The most important thing is: You are the driver...don't go past your comfort level and, don't get too confident-no matter how good you think you are.

 

I saw a single axle day cab pulling a trailer in the snow in MI . Been there , done that . He had good reason to go slow .

 

I love 4 wheelers who drive like crazy because they have 4 wheel drive....DUH, ice is ice SLOW DOWN!

I understand about truckers goin what appears to be fast in winter conditions, I also know they call them ACCIDENTS because nobody jumps in the drivers seat and says guess I will have a wreck today. Eventually lady luck will be on her coffee break and they will slow down after that.

 

They also call many of them PREVENTABLE ACCIDENTS too , don't they ?

 

"1 a: an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance b: lack of intention or necessity : chance <met by accident rather than by design>2 a: an unfortunate event resulting especially from carelessness or ignorance b: an unexpected and medically important bodily event especially when injurious <a cerebrovascular accident> c: an unexpected happening causing loss or injury which is not due to any fault or misconduct on the part of the person injured but for which legal relief may be sought."


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accident


So I guess if carelessness or ignorance played into the accident it could/would be a preventable accident.

 

Even more than you think. If the people in the office other than the dispatchers who want you to run, think you should have stopped, then it becomes preventable.

 

**sigh** Ain't that the truth!

 

Drive as fast as YOU feel comfortable with, even if it endangers other vehicles on the road by coming up on their tails in the snow... and pray to God you don't have to "lock 'em up" for some reason. After all, it's all about YOU, right driver? We ask the "4-wheelers" to share the road with us... how about the other way around? I try to be considerate of the others on the road as well, especially when roads are less than ideal. Any of us who have been out here more than a year have seen our share of truckers who thought they "knew what their truck was capable of" and found out the truck is also capable of jacknifing into a ditch, etc. We also have seen those miracles of "4 wheel drive" whose owners think they are capable of anything no matter what the weather... and they join the hot dog truckers in the ditches. Drivers will say "Been driving like this 20 years and ain't dead yet." Well, thank God, driver.

 

Who said anything about coming up on tails of other vehicles ? There's other lanes to get around slow drivers .