I wish people would learn to drive in the snow! (Portland: homes, gated)

[slyfox2]

Originally Posted by namder1

Just because they have Maine plates doesn't mean they are FROM Maine......lots of folks from "away" nowadays.

OH no....not more xenophobia. This is the USA. Only in Maine do you ever hear this xenophobia(and only on this forum, since living now in Maine for four years, I have never heard this from anyone).

No one would ever even think to say something like "Just because they have Maryland plates doesn't mean they are FROM Maryland......lots of folks from "away" nowadays.

If you have Maine plates and you pay taxes in Maine, then you are from Maine now. You may just not be a very good driver in snow.

People who were by dumb luck born in Maine are no more THE CHOSEN PEOPLE than a certain religious group is. If anything, people who lived somewhere else, and then packed up all their stuff, and moved to a place where they didn't know a soul, many hundreds of miles from where they lived before, are the real Maine People. People who convert to Maine at huge inconvenience to themselves are the REAL thing because the loved this place so much that they would seriously inconvenience themselves to live here.

Everyone else is just an accident of birth.

[arctichomesteader]

Some vehicles can't go more than 10 or 20 in snow with snow tires, I really don't know how to explain it though. My parents have a VW Jetta that way, doesn't matter how good the tires are or how good you are at driving, if there's snow on the road it's 25 max and that gets hairy. So they mostly walk in the winter.

The real danger in winter are the tailgaters. I was in a wreck last month because someone from Boston felt his 4 wheel drive meant he could tailgate me then pass me on top of a steep mountain road.

[maineborzoi]

Especially since 'everyone knows that if someone has a Maryland plate- they can't drive or their vehicle might break down as never inspected...'.. (* runs off giggling...)

[GreenGene]

Originally Posted by CoastalMaineiac

But I want to rant about Type 1 drivers today. There is such a thing as being too timid in slippery conditions, as going too slowly can work against you just as much as going too quickly, especially in any area with steep hills.

Agreed. Driving in snow would be so much easier on everyone if we all followed a couple of common sense guidelines. (1) Easy does it. No rapid acceleration ('cuz chances are, you can't anyway) and no slamming on the brakes (fastest way to see the ditch that I know of). And (2) Anticipate. Assuming you've been on that particular road before, you *know* there's a hill coming, you *know* there's a traffic light around the next corner. Drive like it. Gently accelerate prior to getting to the hill, so your chances of actually making it to the top of the hill are increased. Ease up on the gas when coming down a hill, and especially when approaching a traffic light.

And if you are - by nature - a tailgater, please don't do it in the snow.

Originally Posted by maineborzoi

In Virginia, especially around Northern Va where we lived for quite some time, its all government wth people from all over the world. A long standing joke in Virginia at the sign of the first snow flake of " IT'S SNOWING!! QUICK- Get in the Ditches !" .

A few words in defense of drivers in the D.C. area. First, many people in the area are not from the area - they're from all over the country (all over the world), and that includes places like Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and yes, Maine too. People don't suddenly forget how to drive in snow.

D.C. often doesn't get snow ... they get a wonderful wintry mix that often features more ice than snow.

Since D.C. doesn't get much snow - some years, none at all - there aren't many people out there with snow tires on their vehicles. The various jurisdictions have snow removal equipment, but what and how much equipment they have is based on how much snow they may get ... and that's generally not much.

So, you have a fair number of people who DO know how to drive in the snow, but ... it's more ice than snow, the vehicle doesn't have snow tires, the roads aren't treated/plowed in anything resembling a timely manner, and on a very good day the traffic in the area can be a nightmare. In bad weather - in just rain! - a 45-minute commute can easily double in length, or more.

I learned to drive in snow when I was 18 - sort of a baptism by fire - heading back to school, driving from D.C. to Ithaca, NY. Didn't know when I left home that I'd hit a blizzard going through PA. It was a white-knuckle trip, but I made it and I learned a lot on that trip.

Much later in life, I spent 6 hours driving in the snow from D.C. to our home in northern VA (a trip that would ordinary take 45 minutes), and what I learned on that trip was, if it's snowing - if there's even a serious threat of snow - stay the hell home. From that moment on I drove as little as possible in the snow in the D.C. area, and I'm a happier person for it!

[Nor'Eastah]

Anybody remember the Blizzard of '78?

In Rhode Island, where we lived then, the whole state was pretty much shut down for a week (e.g. we got hit pretty badly). I was at work when it started, and heard a radio report of cars piled up and stuck on I-95. So I decided to go home (good thing...my co-workers ended up there at work for days!) and the only good way to get there was by I-95. Don't ask me how I did it. I was in a 2WD pickup, and I just gunned it. Had to be 6-8" of unplowed snow on the highway. I passed everything that was stuck, and just cruised along until I reached my exit.

I was taught to drive at age 15 by my grandfather (born 1887). Those were the days before "driving schools". Got my license on my 16th birthday (no snow in the summer, thankfully!) and was expected to carry my weight from then on. Gramps taught me well!

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by bangorme

Well, I once saw a survey that claimed that the better driver you THINK you are, the worse you actually are.
.

So, what are you trying to say?

[mainebrokerman]

the timid too slow drivers can cause accidents,,,,ive seen many snails this year....
ive got a suggestion for the retired prius and Subaru drivers that drive wayyy too slow

don't venture out on your morning coffee/paper til after 8 am

before that time, people are going to work, and very impatient

[MadJack]

...and #3, those with overpriced/underpowered 'hybrid' pieces of crap who hurry out from a stop sign only to cut you off and hold you at 10 to 15 MPH!
News Flash: Those 400 air-bags in your prius won't save your life when you pull out in front of a plow truck and it squishes you like a bug. The laws of physics are not on your side...

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by MadJack

...and #3, those with overpriced/underpowered 'hybrid' pieces of crap who hurry out from a stop sign only to cut you off and hold you at 10 to 15 MPH!
News Flash: Those 400 air-bags in your prius won't save your life when you pull out in front of a plow truck and it squishes you like a bug. The laws of physics are not on your side...

Is it Prius' that drive 10 to 15 mph?

0-60 in 10.2 seconds is not very under-powered in my mind.

[slyfox2]

Just drove into Bar Harbor from NW MDI. Road was snow covered and 3-4 inches deep in some spots. No issues at all with my Subaru Impreza with General Altimac Arctic Tires. Actually almost no one who was out there was driving without 4WD or AWD, and this time at least, everybody was giving good distrance between cars, and driving sanely. I guess the only people who drive in the middle of a snowstorm have the right tires and cars and actually know how to drive in the *****.

Caribou NWS says maybe 6 - 10 before its over today. I think we have 4.5 now. My wife says the driveway needs another blow job. My wife doesn't normally talk like that, so maybe she's getting the cabin or snow fever too.
Maybe she has Snow Dementia. My Father in Law's real dementia started with a language problem.