I guess I need to point out that Maryland is south of the Mason-Dixon line. And while that doesn't make it in the South, it does make everyone here officially a Snow Weenie™. I mean, you don't see that in Pennsylvania, and that's only a half hour motorcycle ride* from here.
* Well, when all this Global Warming melts ....
12 comments:
It's all the immigrant drivers... sigh
As a lifelong Midwesterner transplanted to a quasi-Southern state, I laughed at the panic that ensued with an inch of snow. The first time I left the house, though, I learned never to do it again. Even though I know what I'm doing, nobody else does, so it's like running a gauntlet of drunks juggling chainsaws.
Now I stay holed up until it melts. I make sure to have enough alcohol to last.
We used to say in Texas, there are two kinds of people in Texas, those who think they know how to drive on ice and those that know they can't.
The difference is all those Yankees who are used to salted/sanded/otherwise treated roads in the winter and those who have tried to drive on roads covered with a combination of ice, water and oil.
In Atlanta they make a big deal out of prep, and then fail at the prep, so idiots go out and think the roads are drivable and discover they are not when they see cars sliding sideways down peachtree.
"You don't see that in Pennsylvania..."
You've clearly never driven on the PA Turnpike, Route 202, or the Schuylkill Expressway during a snowstorm.
Actually, I've done a lot of driving on "roads covered with a combination of ice, water, and oil." And I know enough to stay off them, if at all possible.
(That's something Yankees learn.)
Last I heard, South Carolina has such big problems with snow because SC gummint won't buy our own snowplows, instead insists on borrowing them from Tampa.
There was a time when I drove to work 'anyway', even when the snow covered the ice covering the last snow.
I never thought that 4-wheel drive was worth a bucket of warm spit (actually less, sometimes) under these conditions, but I always figured that if I drove slow enough, and just COASTED to a stop, and started the coast/stop early enough, I could stay out of serious trouble.
Then there was the year when I parked my car on a gentle slope, and watched it slide downhill after I got out of the car. Parked in gear, parking brakes on and every possible precaution taken .... including having chains on.
I didn't watch it very far. I was busy falling down ... not even trying to walk, with treaded boots on.
Since then, when the road was sucky I either slowly found my way home, or I found a nearby motel, and just forted up. And yes, it's a very good idea to have cash and a bottle of whiskey stashed in the car. A very large bottle, for when the weather is decades-bad.
The important thing to remember with 4 wheel/ was is that if you get stuck in 4wd, 4wd is not going to get you unstuck by itself.
Also funny are the people who think Pick up trucks with unloaded rear ends are going to do well on ice.
A=F/M
Max F = us * g* mass at drive axle, thus the mer weight is shifted away from an axle the less force is available to move the vehicle forward.
Most readers of this blog are more than familiar with basic mechanics/ physics so I am preaching to the choir, oh well
That's funny. Almost as funny as how the folks up there keep going on about "Superstorm Sandy" which was barely a category 1 strength with winds of 80 mph. When there is a hurricane that weak down here, we don't even cancel school.
I always get a chuckle out of all those northerners who chide southerners for not being able to properly drive on snow and ice.
Folks, we don't have to know how to drive in the snow, it comes so rarely down here.
However, having driven around in the north a few times, I can attest that northerners for the most part can't seem to drive under the opposite conditions - those commonly found at high noon on the fourth of July.
(...ducking for cover now that I have stirred up that hornets nest.)
You nailed it, Raptor. Although those having the problems were most likely hive-dwellers from Philly or Pittsburgh.
And R.K.Brumbelow, y'all just aren't using the right pickup trucks. If you fill the bed up with a bunch of drunks, you'll have music as you drive along, and if you start to skid, just have one of them drunks stand up and take a whiz onto the tires. Makes for some quick traction. And the drunks usually have enough to last for however long you care to drive, as long as you've got a full keg in the bed of the truck to start with...
}:-]
Ha! The pic is spot on but short about 1400 cars in the accident.
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