So drive already!
People in Northeast Ohio can't drive in snow. Period. My hour-and-ten commute took 2 hours and 40 minutes this morning, at an average speed of 20 mph, because people would not drive. 422 was slow all the way out, and at no time during this was there significant snowfall. (There was slushiness in Cleveland, but traffic there wasn't much slower than usual.) First there was the lineup before Welshfield hill, then another when the Solonoids came on (I hit Solon when I usually arrive at work). Visibility was fine, road slickness almost nonexistent. And yet they crept. And these people had SUVs! "Yeah we got an SUV because we live in the snowbelt and we need traction, 4WD, and protection from accidents." Well, gee, ANY car is safe if you PARK it. Which was what was being done on a lot of roads this morning.
I'm from Michigan. I don't think we got more snow than here, but MI drivers know what to do in it. We know how to pump brakes, for one thing...something I've never seen evidence of here. This means we can go faster and still stop. And if we can't stop, we know how to slide: graceful controlled slides out of harm's way. When I was 16, I took my licence test in the winter, and the cop took me down a village side street which, like all village side streets in Michigan in winter, was paved with compacted snow overed by a glaze of ice. I started to slide, and before I got myself corrected, I was going sideways down the street. Yes, I passed...because the cop knew that anyone who could slide with such aplomb would be a truly fine driver once they'd mastered the finer points.
But the real reason Michiganders drive so well in winter is that everyone has a relative in the auto industry (a brother-in-law, in my case). If you total your car, or somebody else's car, hey, your brother has to eat too. And he can probably get you the employee discount.
Seriously...yes, you need to exercise some care when there's white-out conditions, black ice, or snow up to your hubcaps. For anything less, don't be a wuss...DRIVE!
Comments
Posted by: Jo
Posted on: December 7, 2006 09:36 AM
Dunno the percentage of cars out there that have anti-lock brakes, but drivers aren't supposed to pump them.
That being said, I was always taught to pump the brakes when the roads are crap (mine aren't anti-lock, though).
Posted by:
Posted on: December 7, 2006 08:58 PM
Thank God I do not travel from the same direction as you.