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Is it hard to drive in snow?
I've never lived in a state with snow or driven through snow before.
I was just curious- have always thought it would be neat to live in a state that gets all four seasons.
Not really.....as long as you drive very carefully and take all necessary precautions, than it's pretty easy. Some people like to exagerrate it's difficulty.....
You just have to remember that you have 1/10th the grip that you normally do, so you have to accelerate, brake and keep your cornering forces way down, sometimes 1/10th of what you can get away with on a dry road. (if you have "all-season tires")
Do everything in slow motion, including steering, and you should be fine 90-99% of the time.
*If you have winter tires, you'll probably have 1/2 to 1/3rd the grip you do on a dry road; not much different than driving in rain with regular tires, so you could drive circles around cars that don't have winter tires.
Ex. On a particularly slippery day it took other motorists 20 seconds to reach 20 km/h (roughly 12 mph) while I could do it in 4-5 seconds with my "winter tires."
The key is to drive slower than you normally would, as stopping isn't the same on snow and even worse on ice. Driving in winter isn't that bad, you get used to it and learn to allow more time to get around.
The problems come in when people overdrive the conditions and think their 4 wheel drive trucks or SUVs make them invincible. With ice, it doesn't matter what kind of vehicle or tires you have very hard to stop quick on ice.
I hated driving in snow. For someone who had never lived in it then suddenly did I fould it difficult... Every time you hit the gas, even lightly the tires will spin some.. mostly all turns you make, you slide a bit and sometimes you try to make turns that are slightly up hill and you spin out or slide.. I was just sick of it by the 2nd month... If you've never driven in it I suggest getting some lessons.. Its always the worst right as the snow starts falling and the plows haven't been out yet... Think of how it would driving on an ice skating rink and thats how it is when that snow first starts falling...
Some people like to exagerrate it's difficulty.....
I agree with this. I moved to PA after having lived in FL all my life and obviously never drove in snow before. Everyone kept telling me I'd have to sell my car because its rear-wheel drive and would be undriveable in snow. Well, that's not the case at all, I got some snow tires, threw some bags of salt in the trunk for extra weight and have had no problems. I get through places some other cars can't because many people have no common sense and try to get through winter on nearly bald all-seasons.
Speaking as one who grew up in New England, snow being on the roads for 1/3 of the year is just something that you grow up with. However, for people who move to areas that have winter, you need to 1) slow down 2) try to relax. Gripping the wheel so tight that you have white knuckles isn't healthy (tend to over-react). Accelerate slowly, come to a stop slowly, most of all try to relax.
The biggest mistake I see is people thinking they can stop because they have a 4x4. There's a reason it's called 4-wheel DRIVE, not 4-wheel STOP.
If there is ice, forget about driving unless you have chains. There are some GREAT you tube videos that show driving on ice:
Speaking as one who grew up in New England, snow being on the roads for 1/3 of the year is just something that you grow up with. However, for people who move to areas that have winter, you need to 1) slow down 2) try to relax. Gripping the wheel so tight that you have white knuckles isn't healthy (tend to over-react). Accelerate slowly, come to a stop slowly, most of all try to relax.
The biggest mistake I see is people thinking they can stop because they have a 4x4. There's a reason it's called 4-wheel DRIVE, not 4-wheel STOP.
If there is ice, forget about driving unless you have chains. There are some GREAT you tube videos that show driving on ice:
whatever the first one was, that was crazy, with the idiots trying to jump out of the cars. And the lady sliding down the hill on her behind Moderator cut: word change ---she is lucky she didn't get run over.
the oregon one, like a ping pong ball bouncing around the intersection.
And the third, priceless with the idiot putting the arrow up in the wrong direction!
Last edited by Jammie; 11-21-2008 at 03:46 PM..
Reason: word change
Those three videos highlight the number one rule in winter driving. SLOW DOWN!!! None of those dipwads had enough common sense to slow down BEFORE they got into trouble. And what were they thinking getting out of their vehicles while sliding in that one video? Was this taken right outside the entrance to a Mental hospital and it was electroshock day?
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