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I disagree. It's only a crapshoot, if you don't know what you are doing. Most people do not. I grew up in the Midwest driving on snow and ice and never had a problem with it. It's mostly just common sense. Drive very slow and avoid dangerous situations where you might wreck. Many times I stopped on top of a hill, and saw dozens of spun out cars on the road ahead of me. So I just made a U-turn and went back the direction I came from. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to drive down an un-sanded hill where other cars are already wrecked. Yet you can sit at the top of the hill and watch idiot after idiot come flying over the top of the hill at full speed and crashing into the mess below them. But that's not weather issues, it's just stupidity.
Sometimes the best way to deal with icy roads, is just stay home, until the road conditions improve. When I was growing up, that's what we usually did.
And you're wrong, because the problem is that you always have incomplete information.
Conditions vary. It might be sheer ice one moment, partial ice the next, clear pavement after that. And maybe this is all covered by a dusting of snow, so you just don't know. Maybe it's been sanded beneath that snow, maybe not
It's also a crapshoot because in order to get anywhere, you'll have to take risks. That's just the nature of the driving. On the worst of icy conditions - when a layer of freezing rain is down - there's no way the flow of traffic will allow you to go slow enough and to leave enough distance between yourself and the vehicle ahead of you.
Accepting that your information will never be complete and that you are to some extent inevitably at the mercy of other drivers is critical. The fool who thinks they can drive perfectly on ice in completely safety will eventually be disabused of his hubris. Winter driving is defensive, but no defense is 100% effective. The best you can do is wisely play the odds, but you're still rolling the dice. I don't want to be around drivers who 'know' everything will be fine so long as they do X, Y and Z - I want to be around the drivers who understand the inherently risky nature of driving on ice. They're the better roadmates.
Just wrecked my car after hitting a patch of black ice in the middle of the curve on an Autobahn exit. Was not expecting it there, I was going slowly but once I hit it I had no chance. I think just the inside bit of the curve which was in the shade was iced.
And you're wrong, because the problem is that you always have incomplete information.
Conditions vary. It might be sheer ice one moment, partial ice the next, clear pavement after that. And maybe this is all covered by a dusting of snow, so you just don't know. Maybe it's been sanded beneath that snow, maybe not
It's also a crapshoot because in order to get anywhere, you'll have to take risks. That's just the nature of the driving. On the worst of icy conditions - when a layer of freezing rain is down - there's no way the flow of traffic will allow you to go slow enough and to leave enough distance between yourself and the vehicle ahead of you.
Accepting that your information will never be complete and that you are to some extent inevitably at the mercy of other drivers is critical. The fool who thinks they can drive perfectly on ice in completely safety will eventually be disabused of his hubris. Winter driving is defensive, but no defense is 100% effective. The best you can do is wisely play the odds, but you're still rolling the dice. I don't want to be around drivers who 'know' everything will be fine so long as they do X, Y and Z - I want to be around the drivers who understand the inherently risky nature of driving on ice. They're the better roadmates.
That sounds like the old argument, I have to tailgate because everybody else is. No you don't. Drive responsibly, slow down, and keep enough space between you and other vehicles, and you will be fine.
The only three reasons I can think of for crashing on ice, is 1. Driving too fast for conditions. You should never drive over 30 mph on icy roads, and in most cases you should be driving much slower than that. 2. Following too close to other vehicles. On ice you should have about 6 - 10 seconds of space between you and the vehicle in front of you. Basically the road should be empty in front of you. 3. Driving down a steep un-sanded hill. Just don't do that. If you have to, park your car a wait for a sand truck to come before you even attempt to drive down a hill in ice.
Driving off the road should always be the preferred alternative to hitting another vehicle. You have a responsibility to not hit other cars. Hitting other vehicles could result in serious injuries to many people.
You're responding to a post from 7 years ago. I don't disagree with you. I believe my point was that sometimes you just have no choice. The car is going to go where it wants to if you're going too fast. I really do not remember why I posted the above quote.
Not fast, it was a patch of ice right at the apex of the curve, I was probably going 40-50kmh max. I hit the guardrail. My car is fixable but it was getting old and really is not worth spending the money on.
Putting your car in neutral helps a lot when your on icy roads trying to stop. That is in older cars any way. Ice can be fun and terrifying depending on the situation.
Putting your car in neutral helps a lot when your on icy roads trying to stop. That is in older cars any way. Ice can be fun and terrifying depending on the situation.
I see this advice a lot. I learned differently. Putting it in neutral means the wheels will lock up easier. That puts you in a skid on the ice. Leaving it in gear means that when you let off the brake, the wheel turns instead of staying locked, giving you some control. That has always worked for me. How does throwing it in neutral help at all? I'm willing to learn, even though what I have done worked fine for over 30 years.
when I find myself in an uncontrolled spin, I quickly turn on my emergency flashers and squish down into the seat below the dash. It doesn't really help any but I imagine it looks pretty weird to the other drivers around me as I spin past them.
On tv they have been showing accidents by drivers skidding on ice in Pittsburgh and other East coast cities. It looks wild and helpless & a lot of fun but I am sure scary also. What can a driver do when he hits ice on the road? Not hit the brakes, right?
Me, I used to floor it around a corner covered in snow, steer into it and saw the wheel left to right to keep it sideways, blipping the throttle too. Turn off the ***** switch (traction control) and raise hell when it snowed. Used to do insane donuts in parking lots during storms. But if your traveling along and all of a sudden hit a patch of ice, say the rear end kicks out to the left, steer left. I never hit the brakes, I usually (if it was automatic trans) rip it from drive into 2nd and hold the gas to the floor, manual, wind it up and down shift.
I don't suggest my method to the average driver... I used to race stock cars on dirt ovals... Going fast sideways was what you had to do to win a race...
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