Driving in Snow.... (Keene, Berlin, Colebrook: dangerous, cars, gas)

[Torrey]

Originally Posted by NHHunter

Its easy to drive in the snow, just respect it, slow down. 4x4 is the best, followed by AWD then front wheel drive.

I have driven in snow all my life and I strongly disagree with the poster that said pick ups are poor in the snow. I would take a 4x4 over an AWD anyday in the snow

Pick ups ARE poor in the snow, unless you throw a few hundred pounds of sand bags in the bed over the axle area to get weight over the rear tires for traction. I can distinctly remember a lot of pick ups sliding all over who didn't do this before venturing out.

[southernjewishgal]

I've actually never really driven in the snow. We don't get that much snow so when we do I just call in sick. I'll have to get over that real quick!

[lisa g]

Thanks for this thread! SLOWING DOWN is of key primary importance.
I'm considering swapping our all seasons for snows, not because I've had a problem, but for the additional peace of mind.
Suzet- I should mention that the majority of cars here are very dirty a lot of the time (my own included)....that's a bit of a cultural difference, eh?

[OCCASparky]

Originally Posted by lisa g

Thanks for this thread! SLOWING DOWN is of key primary importance.
I'm considering swapping our all seasons for snows, not because I've had a problem, but for the additional peace of mind.
Suzet- I should mention that the majority of cars here are very dirty a lot of the time (my own included)....that's a bit of a cultural difference, eh?

It's not so much a cultrual difference as a practical realization that as soon as you wash the salt off from one storm, here comes the next one.

Seriously, I'll do it every few weeks whether or not it needs it, then when mud season is over get my car detailed inside and out.

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by lisa g

Thanks for this thread! SLOWING DOWN is of key primary importance.
I'm considering swapping our all seasons for snows, not because I've had a problem, but for the additional peace of mind.
Suzet- I should mention that the majority of cars here are very dirty a lot of the time (my own included)....that's a bit of a cultural difference, eh?

Cars in the southwest are always dirty too. Only it's dust not salt. Dust gets EVERYWHERE. Outside the car. Inside the car. In your house. Wash your car or dust your furniture and 24 hours later there's a noticeable film of dust again. Then you get the forest fires, and everything is covered in ash.

New cars in New England actually look shiny. In L.A. it seemed like everyone chose a matte finish for their paint.

[Valerie C]

Have you been through white-pine pollen season yet rmcewan? Everything has a greenish/yellow glow for a couple of weeks, and it's important to leave car windows closed while in the driveway, etc or it gets on everything in the car, similar to dust in the southwest I would imagine...

[Colebrook]

A couple of weeks ago, the wife and I were coming home from shopping in Berlin. Along the stretch between Errol and Dixville we come across an overturned SUV. There were 5-6 guys standing around it. I stopped to see if everything was alright, the guys said the people were still inside ! There was a man and a woman inside the overturned SUV and nobody was doing a GD thing about it ! I crawled inside the truck as the woman was crawling out, she was wearing her seat belt. The man was stuffed up under the dashboard all rolled into a ball. I asked if he was alright. He started talking weird and rambling on about all the paper work he has to do. All this going on while people are hollering about gas leaking out.I grabbed the guys arm and pulled him out from under the dash and then hand him out to the guys on the outside. After checking to see if every thing is ok Barb and went to the Balsams to have them call the Colebrook FD. What pi**** me off is why didn't anybody else try to get those people out of that SUV ??

[southernjewishgal]

Originally Posted by Colebrook

A couple of weeks ago, the wife and I were coming home from shopping in Berlin. Along the stretch between Errol and Dixville we come across an overturned SUV. There were 5-6 guys standing around it. I stopped to see if everything was alright, the guys said the people were still inside ! There was a man and a woman inside the overturned SUV and nobody was doing a GD thing about it ! I crawled inside the truck as the woman was crawling out, she was wearing her seat belt. The man was stuffed up under the dashboard all rolled into a ball. I asked if he was alright. He started talking weird and rambling on about all the paper work he has to do. All this going on while people are hollering about gas leaking out.I grabbed the guys arm and pulled him out from under the dash and then hand him out to the guys on the outside. After checking to see if every thing is ok Barb and went to the Balsams to have them call the Colebrook FD. What pi**** me off is why didn't anybody else try to get those people out of that SUV ??

That's just terrible that no one helped. Terrible. That's just wonderful that you stepped in to help out. All the people there who didn't ought to be ashamed of themselves.

[kelleybell00]

That is terrible Colebrook. Something somewhat similar happened to me a few years ago, only it wasn't a SUV it was an airplane. I was driving down the road on my way to work when an airplane just smacks nose first in the road in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and drove off the road as it came towards me, did a u-turn and landed in a ditch. The passenger climbed out where the windshield used to be, ran across the road and collapsed, so I knew that she wasn't critical and could wait for help. The pilot, on the other hand was wedged in, so I ran over to help him out while several large men just stood back and watched!! I could hear them saying "look out..it could explode"...So should I just stand there and take the chance of watching this man burn??? I just couldn't believe it. It really does lend evidence to "fight or flight." Good for you Colebrook!!!

[NHHunter]

Originally Posted by Torrey

Pick ups ARE poor in the snow, unless you throw a few hundred pounds of sand bags in the bed over the axle area to get weight over the rear tires for traction. I can distinctly remember a lot of pick ups sliding all over who didn't do this before venturing out.

I disagree. I drive in snow all the time, I drive 70,000 miles + per year and hold a CDL-A license. 4x4 pickups are perfect in the snow