Driving in snow

[Murphy2012]

Not a snow, cold, or ice fan, yet I live in NH! It seems the older I get, the less use for it I have.

Although, it does give me more reason to stay inside and brew in my kitchen, and not go outside to do yard work or gardening!

 

[Psylocide]

Driving in snow is easy.

Stopping can be tricky tho'.

Maybe that is why it's often suggested to NOT do 60mph on a snow covered highway. How easily so many forget.

Yeah... especially when the speed limit is 75. Going unnecessarily slow in lower visibility is more of a danger than the slick road conditions.

 

[vincentAlpha]

I've no issue driving it myself, but yea it is those other drivers who get spooked by a couple inches of snow that are what keep my off the roads these days. I live in Newfoundland now and I was not honestly expecting just how freaked out people get here over a bit of snow on the roads. Seriously makes me miss the backroads of eastern Ontario, may not have been the best shape come winter but you didn't have to worry about more than a couple people and more likely than not they knew how to drive in snow.

 

[z-bob]

I don't like it. A few things that help tho' (I drive a 2WD pickup):

• Remove the ABS fuse so I actually have brakes when there's patches of ice on the road.
• Put skinny tires on (LT215/85R16's)
• Put a few bags of concrete in the back.

 

[GHBWNY]

I don't like it. A few things that help tho' (I drive a 2WD pickup):
Remove the ABS fuse so I actually have brakes when there's patches of ice on the road.
Put skinny tires on (LT215/85R16's)
Put a few bags of concrete in the back.


Gotta love those old VW Bugs with rear engine, rear-wheel drive and 165/80-15 snow tires! NOTHING could stop that car from going through snow! Except when the snow got so deep that the rear wheels would drive the front end up onto the snow so far the front wheels would be off the ground. Downside was, VWs had a horrible heater, even before the heater cores rotted out.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I enjoy snow driving. especially when no one is on the roads. When I was learning to drive my dad took me to an unplowed parking lot and we practiced driving in it to experience what it feels like to lose control and how to regain it. My girlfriend a couple years later got in a snow related accident and afterwards I did the same for her. My biggest problem with winter weather is the fact that people around here seem to forget how to drive if anyone even mentions some sort of moisture in the air. Heck if someone sneezes people all forget what they are doing.

 

[BrewerinBR]

I live in western central portion of the lower peninsula of Michigan and my house in the woods is on a hill about 1200 feet above sea level. About 50 miles west as the crow flies is Lake Michigan at about 600 feet above sea level. This time of year the west/north west winds blow cold arctic air across that 150 plus miles of open fresh water the snow starts to pile up, and 18 to 24 inches overnight is not an uncommon thing. My work place is 86 road miles north west of home and all but 11 miles is on 2 lane blacktop through the Manistee National Forest. Even more fun is the lack of light, it is dark when I leave home in the morning and the sun is setting when I leave work.
It is not the snow covered roads through dark uninhabited forest, it is not the ice covered intersections without lights where the white tails stand, it is not the snow driven by gale force winds into a frenzied blinding blizzard, it is not the fact I have 2WD Chevy 1/2 ton.

It is the turkey's that bother me the most, those wild, unpredictable birds need to be respected and kept away from as they can react strangely and without warning or reason, especially when they are behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle.

 

[M4car223]

• Put a few bags of concrete in the back.

I had a though last year with bags of concrete. Everybody told me to buy bags of sand to weigh down the drive axle. After some brews while the wife and kids were gone to soccer I remembered getting in trouble, when I was younger, for leaving several bags of concrete outside in the georgia rain and humidity that my old man needed. They set up pretty quickly, so I plan on lining the bed of my truck with bags, drinking some beer and spraying them with the hose in hopes that they set up in the bag and are form fitted so I don't have to worry about a weight shift in a turn on snow....a "friend" of mine dealing with snow and the need for additional weight for traction learned that last winter.

 

[z-bob]

I just stack them right behind the wheel wells and let the snow set up the concrete. That puts the weight where it can do the most good, and also doesn't keep me from using the bed (like hauling a ton of firewood all winter does) The only problem is... where do those concrete blocks go if I have a wreck?

 

[M4car223]

Yeah, 80 lb solid blocks to the back of the skull don't sound like much of my idea of a good time.

 

[BrewerinBR]

use large bags of cheap cat liter and when you get stuck it helps provide traction

 

[BuffaloJohn]

I love driving in the snow! When the first snow comes, I go to a large parking lot and play...

I do this because I don't want to panic when someone near me makes a bad move and I have to react. Knowing your car and how it handles in the snow can save you. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

 

[M4car223]

I love driving in the snow! When the first snow comes, I go to a large parking lot and play...

I do this because I don't want to panic when someone near me makes a bad move and I have to react. Knowing your car and how it handles in the snow can save you. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

That is the only thing that I love about driving in the snow, being able to play without destroying hundreds of dollars in rubber. Also snow mobiles....how did I end up living for 30 years and never experience one, let alone a trail ride around First Connecticut Lake in NH? Lots of fun and beautiful scenery. Enjoyable until the new guy with the heavy thumb runs his machine out of fuel about 2 miles until we get back to the camp. It takes a lot of work to sip fuel out of each sled so that one doesn't get very low and run out like mine.....or I mean"my friends"

 

[StonesBally]

Snow driving is fun without a lot of traffic. I'm from Leelanau County, MI and we get a lot of Lake effect there. Driving in snow is fine, ice stinks, and melted slush is the worst. My favorite is driving on a two lane country road at night with low visibility. You have to stay centered between the ditches to stay on the road. Scared the hell out of my pregnant wife a few years ago during Christmas doing that. She had never seen it like that before and was freaked out. I was having a good time asking her to snap some pictures for her safety- freak father!

 

[Tin4]

Well what are your thoughts? Love it? Hate it? Roads are pretty icy with drifted snow over top right now. Ugh.

I'm a native Texan.

Anyone have pics of this sno? Am I spelling that right? You guys mean like, cold rain right?

 

[DrunkleJon]

I'm a native Texan.

Anyone have pics of this sno? Am I spelling that right? You guys mean like, cold rain right?

Exactly like it. Think of unflavored sno-cones all over the place. And if you look hard sometimes you can find yellow flavored!

 

[BuffaloJohn]

well, not quite...here in Rochester, NY it's about 5 F outside. When it's that cold the snow looks more like confectionery sugar

 

[GHBWNY]

I love driving in the snow! When the first snow comes, I go to a large parking lot and play...

I do this because I don't want to panic when someone near me makes a bad move and I have to react. Knowing your car and how it handles in the snow can save you. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

Donut anyone?

 

[GHBWNY]

I live in western central portion of the lower peninsula of Michigan and my house in the woods is on a hill about 1200 feet above sea level. About 50 miles west as the crow flies is Lake Michigan at about 600 feet above sea level. This time of year the west/north west winds blow cold arctic air across that 150 plus miles of open fresh water the snow starts to pile up, and 18 to 24 inches overnight is not an uncommon thing. My work place is 86 road miles north west of home and all but 11 miles is on 2 lane blacktop through the Manistee National Forest. Even more fun is the lack of light, it is dark when I leave home in the morning and the sun is setting when I leave work.
It is not the snow covered roads through dark uninhabited forest, it is not the ice covered intersections without lights where the white tails stand, it is not the snow driven by gale force winds into a frenzied blinding blizzard, it is not the fact I have 2WD Chevy 1/2 ton.

It is the turkey's that bother me the most, those wild, unpredictable birds need to be respected and kept away from as they can react strangely and without warning or reason, especially when they are behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle.

I spent my early childhood in Roscommon a little NE of you. Back then, it was pretty much red pines, sand, 2-lane (concrete) roads and a lot of deer-hunting and trout fishing. But a great place to grow up!

 

[Tin4]

Exactly like it. Think of unflavored sno-cones all over the place. And if you look hard sometimes you can find yellow flavored!

There's no flavor to it? What's the point then?

 

[BrewerinBR]

I'm a native Texan.

Anyone have pics of this sno? Am I spelling that right? You guys mean like, cold rain right?

Here you go some snow out my front window and back window

 

[BrewerinBR]

Here is another snow pic ... this is from my office window.

 

[Psylocide]

WEEEE!!!

 

[Zepth]

The worst part about it, is that everyone thinks they are a good driver. In my opinion, the better someone thinks they are at driving, the worse they actually are. If you are comfortable and care-free, you are not paying the road the attention it deserves. It only takes you looking down at the radio or phone for a split second for something disgusting and catastrophic to happen. Driving professionally was some of the most terrifying years of my life. You see things unimaginable, snow or not.

Not entirely false. I'd be willing to bet that most of the people we're accusing of not knowing how to drive would love to disagree with us. I've seen some particularly creative things in my few years driving daily. Guy coming at me on a one way street on a bicycle in the middle of the middle lane comes to mind. Going down the highway 3 weeks ago and a van is coming head on at me on a divided highway. He got out of the way.

For reference point, the daily driver:

 

[unionrdr]

Here is another snow pic ... this is from my office window.

Ever see any deer in that field? Nice vantage point for a 220 swift!

WEEEE!!!

WeeeOOOHSH*****T! Reminds me of driving from Cleveland back home in the afternoon when it was already getting dark.

 

[GHBWNY]

Going down the highway 3 weeks ago and a van is coming head on at me on a divided highway. He got out of the way.

Reminds me of the story of the 80-year old couple. The wife decides to get her nearly-senile husband a cellphone so she can keep track of him wherever he goes. So, he leaves the house with his new cellphone, gets in the car and heads out onto the freeway. A few minutes later, she hears on the news that there is someone driving in the wrong direction on the freeway against the oncoming traffic. Very worried, she calls her husband and asks, "Dear, are you on the freeway?" "Yes," he says. "Well, be very careful! The news said there is someone driving the wrong way on the freeway." He replies, "There's not just ONE person driving the wrong way --- there's HUNDREDS of people driving the wrong way!!"

 

[BrewerinBR]

Yes I see deer and turkey and pheasant, rabbits and squirrels all the time.
This is an Indian Reservation and I am not citizen of this Tribe so I am on foreign soil so I do not bring weapons here.

 

[1977Brewer]

North Texans can barely handle driving in rain. Ice and snow basically shut this place down. I have been deemed "neccessary personnel" by management, so if we do get some slick stuff, I just leave the house an hour early and pray the whole way in to work.

 

[unionrdr]

North Texans can barely handle driving in rain. Ice and snow basically shut this place down. I have been deemed "neccessary personnel" by management, so if we do get some slick stuff, I just leave the house an hour early and pray the whole way in to work.

It was the same way in Cinci in the early 80's when I got transfered. They couldn't drive in the wet at all. Cars all over the center strip, birms, whatever. Like Spa in Grand Prix! Just threaten snow down there, like 2" & the whole place panics & shuts down asap. But in all fairness, they didn't have any equipment to deal with snow. I'd be on my way to work & it's like HEAD'S UP WHOVILLE!