road conditions (Portland, Augusta, Houlton: hotel, law, moving)

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

good point...last sunday, i was travelling up 95 past waterville,, and was passed by 3 18 wheelers,,,, it was snowing hard and it was slippery,,,,
when the first one passed,,there was 4-5 seconds of a complete white-out
so, when the others passed, i slowed right down,,,

on the way back (south) from working......

there was a multi-car pile up around the augusta exits,,,this is when it hits ya....slowwww down,,,or this can happen,,very quickly..!!!

Slowing down is obviously the best solution. Then you have the invincible guy that thinks he's got a good handle on the situation spin out in front of you, losing control and then SPLAT. Youve just hit him broad side through no fault of your own. My son was on the turnpike last week, traffic had stopped due to an accident ahead. My kid looks in his rear view to see another pickup coming up behind him way too fast. He knew the guy couldn't stop in time and was either going to take out my kids rear end or go for the guard rail. Fortunately the guy chose the guard rail. His front end was all stove up. The guy backed off the guard rail and got in line behind my son and waited for traffic to move again. Finally when they got up close to the accident scene, it was two semi's mangled up. Traffic was back up for more than 20 miles causing delays and a lot of angry motorists.

Semi's need to keep right and when the speed limit has been reduced to 45mph, it should apply to them too.

Rant over.

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by island mermaid

Slowing down is obviously the best solution. Then you have the invincible guy that thinks he's got a good handle on the situation spin out in front of you, losing control and then SPLAT. Youve just hit him broad side through no fault of your own.

Defensive driving - you don't know what the other guy's going to do so back up! You won't hit something you aren't too close to.

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by island mermaid

Slowing down is obviously the best solution. Then you have the invincible guy that thinks he's got a good handle on the situation spin out in front of you, losing control and then SPLAT. Youve just hit him broad side through no fault of your own. My son was on the turnpike last week, traffic had stopped due to an accident ahead. My kid looks in his rear view to see another pickup coming up behind him way too fast. He knew the guy couldn't stop in time and was either going to take out my kids rear end or go for the guard rail. Fortunately the guy chose the guard rail. His front end was all stove up. The guy backed off the guard rail and got in line behind my son and waited for traffic to move again. Finally when they got up close to the accident scene, it was two semi's mangled up. Traffic was back up for more than 20 miles causing delays and a lot of angry motorists.

Semi's need to keep right and when the speed limit has been reduced to 45mph, it should apply to them too.

Rant over.

them dam truck drivers.

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by RANGER.101ST

them dam truck drivers.

You KNOW I'm not referring to you! I exclude you in all rants!

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by island mermaid

You KNOW I'm not referring to you! I exclude you in all rants!

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by island mermaid

You bet! You choose to live where less is expected... you don't want or need what some of us expect as some of those services based upon what we pay in taxes. It is what is is... you get what you pay for.

Dirt roads? Do you seriously want to go back to dirt roads? Ridiculous. Let's reinvent the wheel while we're at it.

I like dirt roads too! If they don't start repairing the roads in this state soon they will naturally return to dirt!

[peachie_in_maine]

Does everyone agree the slush is worse then the snow itself?

just making conversation.

I believe we all generally agree that driving careful, not having distractions and having proper road maintaince is helpful.

Isn't it great when we all think alike?

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by peachie_in_maine

Does everyone agree the slush is worse then the snow itself?

just making conversation.

I believe we all generally agree that driving careful, not having distractions and having proper road maintaince is helpful.

Isn't it great when we all think alike?

Well slush is slushier.

Powder is more, well, powdery.

That hard glazed crust layer is kind of hard and icy.





If your driving on slush, then technically your are hydroplaning. Your tires are not connecting the pavement, you have a layer of water between tire and road. So slush build up should indicate that you need to drive slow. Like below the speed of sound.



I don't mind the ice on the road, when there is a layer of powder on top. I feel that the powder gives my tires the illusion of traction. So long as they have that illusion, they seem happy.



I have driven with chains before, and I have driven with studded tires. Since moving to Maine, we simply have not seen any real need to go that far yet.

We may in the future though.



It is better for us that I no longer commute everyday. It is a huge change of lifestyle to go from driving 30,000 miles to 50,000 miles a year commuting; down to where I only drive occasionally. If I were still commuting to work before sunrise each day; and home again after sunset; then I might feel differently.

[Maineah]

Lots of cars off the road around here today. We've been watching a tow truck and obviously inexperienced operator try to pull a Volvo wagon back on to the road from our field for over two hours now. His methods show his lack of experience as he drags the poor car further and further along the edge of the field without getting it on the road. If he would hook parallel to the car and turn it 90 degrees to the road it would come right out.

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by Maineah

Lots of cars off the road around here today. We've been watching a tow truck and obviously inexperienced operator try to pull a Volvo wagon back on to the road from our field for over two hours now. His methods show his lack of experience as he drags the poor car further and further along the edge of the field without getting it on the road. If he would hook parallel to the car and turn it 90 degrees to the road it would come right out.

Don't you have a bull horn? Couldn't you just yell instructions from your front porch? Or you could just go grab the Tundra and show him how it's done!