Driving I-80 across Wyoming this weekend (transfer, cars, areas)

[ElkHunter]

So, what your saying is there are idiots on the road. I drive a 4 wheel drive, 3/4 ton truck that weighs 8400 lbs. I drive it reasonably and because there are people that don't know how to drive or be responsible, I have to suffer. Ok, got it. haha The best thing we could do on I-80 is to outlaw semi's. Period. If conditions warrant 30 mph, the semi's blow past me at 60. They have to make a buck and they don't give a rat's patuty if they kill somebody. They want to make miles.

Originally Posted by sunsprit

The problem, ElkH, was that ... in the past ... folks like you slowed down and drove appropriately for the nasty conditions. As you say, sometimes 10-15mph was a prudent speed and you arrived at your destination safely.

With the increased traffic density on I-80 these days, and a lot of ignorant drivers out there with some pretty good vehicles (AWD, 4x4, and modern hydrophiliic tires) ... they think that they can go a lot faster. So, we get a "mix" of slow moving traffic and ever increasingly faster drivers trying to go past them ... hey, if you can do 20, I can do 30, and if you can do 30, I can do 40, and so on. Ego, macho, road rage, and "get there itis" seem to rule the day, and common courtesey is lacking among many. I've been forced off the road by those who think that 75 mph is still OK in these conditions and they've passed me (doing 40 or so) while barely able to keep their vehicle (or big semi-rig) under control within two lanes. I pull over as far as I can and slow down to allow as much margin as possible for them to pass me ... even then, I've narrowly escaped a collision when I was at the roadway edge and they came blazing past me.

So, it's come down to mandating safety for the first responders as well as the rest of the highway users. The patrol simply can't deal with all the idiots out there on the highway anymore, and it's easier and more cost effective to just shut the road down instead of dealing with injury accidents in adverse conditions. It's also a lot more efficient when it comes time to plow the roads to not have vehicles stranded out there in the roadway.

Thankfully, they still allow us "locals" to use the frontage roads and back roads to get around past the closed highway stretches when the storms really have the roads shut down. I've gotten home from Cheyenne many times on the back country roads when I-80 was closed to all traffic.

[tiedyed]

Sometimes if you go on 30 from Walcott Junction to Laramie there is a lot less wind and you don't have to wrestle with the semi's. I traveled between Jackson and Laramie for years and in the winter, almost always went that way. It's about 35 miles longer, but can be safer in some respects but you can go slowly when you want to. (I'm one of those go realllllllllllllllllllllllllllll slooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww kinda winter drivers).

[Kristynwy]

I don't blame you Elkhunter for feeling that way, especially living here as long as you have. I used to think the roads closed only when there was ice or blizzards lol ... And all the sudden people are scared of a couple inches and blowing snow..

I agree it should be up to people what they want to do at their own risk, especially for those of us with 4 wheel drive and trucks...

[sunsprit]

Kristnwy ... from the viewpoint of rugged independence and individual freedom, I'd agree with you ...

But there's another side to all of that "freedom" ... and that's "taking responsibility for one's actions".

The problem here for Wyoming is that a lot of folks choose to go out ... even with 4x4's and trucks ... and make very foolish choices about getting places in hazardous conditions. When the choices result in "accidents" ... and injuries to themselves and, possibly others .... those folks are the first to call upon public funded resources. Like the SPatrol, ambulance services, medical providers, etc. Not to mention putting those emergency responders at personal risk under some very difficult conditions.

The responsible citizens ... taxpayers like you and me ... are simply fed up with the results and the expenses. The SPatrol doesn't have the funding to accomodate all of the stupid behaviors out there on the roads today. Driving 70 in white out conditions just doesn't get me motivated to help ... through public services ... the idiots. I've got two neighbors, ex WyHP ... with stories of sheer stupidity on the roads that are tragic, yet completely the results of bad and careless driving under the circumstances; some were simply property damage, some were fatalities ....

Now, OTOH, if you want to hold the folks individually and fully responsible for their poor choices, such as paying for the tow trucks, paying for their own emergency services, paying for the damages they cause others ... we might be able to see a more common ground here.

I, for one, am tired of firing up my JD4020 in brutally nasty local conditions to pull some idiot out of the barpit along our county road in the dead of night because they "needed" to head out to the truckstop (12 miles away) for some smokes .... in zero visibility conditions with snowdrifts blocking the road. I'm all for helping my neighbors out ... we depend upon each other out here ... but risking my equipment and well being for stupid behavior is wearing thin, especially when I do it out of my own pocket.

OH ... all the folks I've helped out were driving 4x4 pick up trucks ... you know, the "invincible" go anywhere, anytime equipment ... with superior drivers (legends in their own minds, one and all). All of a sudden, their invicibility wears thin when even a 4020 can't pull them out and they've also crashed through my fence and they're really stuck for the evening ... and like, they think it's now my responsibility to help get them back home until the roads can be plowed out and their truck rescued.

Sometimes, I just want to tell them that I really can't help them except to offer the use of the 'phone to contact emergency services ... much as I'd like to help, there's a point where their stupidity is just beyond help.

[ElkHunter]

As a professional driver, I can tell you that they shut down the roads early. When they do, I take the old road because they don't shut them down. I continue driving and have "NEVER" gotten stuck or ended up in the ditch. For years I did 4000 miles every two weeks and only worked between Laural Montana and Gillette, Forsyth and Casper. During blizzards, I often run over the top into Greybull.

[suzco]

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007...80-in-wyoming/
Three Coloradans were killed yesterday in an accident on I-80 in Wyoming.

[GingerSpice]

I was just bitchin' about this a couple of days ago to myself and now I'm gonna vent....

Some background and creds:
I'm from Texas. These roads always looks hazardous to me because I'm not use to drivin' in snow but havin' said that..living in Wyoming now..I've garnered some experience. Actually, for reasons unavoidable ex. my children's health, I've wound up on I-80 for the past 3 winters in the worst snow we've had all year..all 3 years.

My worst complaint is the semi's. As someone up above said, they have no concern for others on the road. They blow past..creating white out conditions for myself in what is already not ideal road conditions. They act like they are God's Gift to the road while makin' it hazardous to those of us trying to show caution. I have no concern for their lives when they show no concern themselves but I AM concerned with my life and those of my children. I'm not talking about ALL the semi's because there are some who are going slow and showin concern for the others on the road but there is always those few you see comin' up in your rearview and you just pray they don't lose control anywhere near you or cause someone else to lose control near you.

I don't mind when they close the road because they are just showin' concern for my life by not allowing me (or the idiot on the road who thinks he's invincible) to do things that might be stupid (like get on the road with the idiot who thinks he's invincible).

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

I'm trying to figure out what has got this state spooked about I-80. Let me explain.

I've traveled I-80 in over a foot of snow, winds hitting 90+. Could only make 10 or maybe 15 miles per hour. But we got to where we were going. They would shut down the Interstate if it really got bad. But if you could move, they held off until a car or two got stuck.

Today, you get 2 inches of snow and all the gates are shut. No travel allowed.

What happened to the time when we were responsible adults and could determine if we were capable of driving in that weather? Now it seems that the state has become a baby sitter and we are no longer responsible adults.

The new states ideas. It snowed 2 inches, shut the gates. These people don't know what's good for them.

Elk Hunter,
Be glad you don't live near "The Grapevine" section of I-5 in California. It seems like it gets shut down anytime snow sticks on the ground. My joke about it is if someone sneezes and it freezes, they shut it down. Having driven in the snow for as long as I've been driving, I can see things from both sides. I just returned home from spending Christmas in Denver. There were storms on I-70 between Vail and Denver on the way out, and on I-70/I-15 between Fremont Junction and Cedar City on the way back. The visibility was poor at times, and I couldn't even tell if the road was icy or just wet at times. On both directions of my trip, I had people passing me at significantly higher speeds than what I was doing, and I'm normally no slouch. I couldn't believe the speed these people were driving. Some of them were in cars, SUVs, and pickups, while others were in semis.

The scariest part of my drive was last night as I was heading west toward Salina, UT. It had started snowing pretty heavily, and the snow was obviously sticking to the road. I was in four wheel drive traveling about 45 to 55 MPH when a huge semi passed me at about 75 MPH. I decided that I didn't want to be around when he wrecked it, so I just held back a bit. I saw him later after he exited the highway, so I know he made it to where he was going, but his speed scared me.

I agree that it's mostly the trucks that cause problems around where I live, and can see them being problematic on I-80 as well. It seems that Truckers are often concerned with trying to get through before they need to put on chains (or before the road closes), so they will go as quickly as they can to try to make it through.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by jdavid93225

Elk Hunter,
Be glad you don't live near "The Grapevine" section of I-5 in California. It seems like it gets shut down anytime snow sticks on the ground. My joke about it is if someone sneezes and it freezes, they shut it down. Having driven in the snow for as long as I've been driving, I can see things from both sides. I just returned home from spending Christmas in Denver. There were storms on I-70 between Vail and Denver on the way out, and on I-70/I-15 between Fremont Junction and Cedar City on the way back. The visibility was poor at times, and I couldn't even tell if the road was icy or just wet at times. On both directions of my trip, I had people passing me at significantly higher speeds than what I was doing, and I'm normally no slouch. I couldn't believe the speed these people were driving. Some of them were in cars, SUVs, and pickups, while others were in semis.

The scariest part of my drive was last night as I was heading west toward Salina, UT. It had started snowing pretty heavily, and the snow was obviously sticking to the road. I was in four wheel drive traveling about 45 to 55 MPH when a huge semi passed me at about 75 MPH. I decided that I didn't want to be around when he wrecked it, so I just held back a bit. I saw him later after he exited the highway, so I know he made it to where he was going, but his speed scared me.

I agree that it's mostly the trucks that cause problems around where I live, and can see them being problematic on I-80 as well. It seems that Truckers are often concerned with trying to get through before they need to put on chains (or before the road closes), so they will go as quickly as they can to try to make it through.

West toward Salina and you were in 4 wheel drive? How deep was the snow? I won't even lock in the hubs till it's about 8 inches deep. Or I'm pulling a grade like, Teluride, Lincoln, Cabbage Patch, 68 Mile Run, Raton, or Aberdeen.

Glad you made it back safely.

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

West toward Salina and you were in 4 wheel drive? How deep was the snow? I won't even lock in the hubs till it's about 8 inches deep. Or I'm pulling a grade like, Teluride, Lincoln, Cabbage Patch, 68 Mile Run, Raton, or Aberdeen.

Glad you made it back safely.

The snow wasn't terribly deep, but it was packed down and very icy. There was quite a bit of traffic on the road, and I wasn't particularly interested in being in or causing an accident, so I used 4 wheel drive to make sure I stayed where I wanted to. I probably didn't need it, but I have it, and it's easy to engage (push a button-no hubs to lock), so I figured, why not? I don't use it a whole lot otherwise, so I thought it would be good to lube the drivetrain, too.