Actual advice for Southerners driving on snow.

[Are_grits_groceries]

Very good advice actually.

[oasis]

1. Mmmmm, biscuits and gravy.

[TEB]

2. When I used to run Pennsylvania to Charlotte nc

I remember joking as we stayed in hotels to rest after night linehaul. Snow ice I heard a guy say that we only have one snow plow in this state I thought how true everything just stops.

[shanny]

3. I'd say, pretend your brakes are out...

because they are.

[sarge43]

9. I'd say, drive like god hates you and wants to mess you up. n/t

[lastlib]

14. No brakes, no steering, and everyone else on the highway is drunk.....

What I was once told.

[shanny]

20. Not bad.

I usually add that you should do only one thing at a time: slow WAY down and then turn.


The first snowfall of the season is always the worst because the accumulated oil/grease on the roads makes them slick as snot. After that it gets easier. I imagine that effect is only magnified in similarly dry climates with very rare snowfalls.

[Drahthaardogs]

36. Brakes are your enemy in the snow

Nothing will make you lose control faster than hard braking. That's why you drive slow, less braking

[kag]

4. I grew up in East Texas

Well...Northeast Texas. About once every three years we'd get one storm with an inch or two of snow. Schools and businesses closed. The whole town would shut down.

Now I live in the foothills above Boulder, Colorado. The school bus route goes right in front of our house, so even our little dirt road gets plowed early. For the schools to close, the snow plows have to not be able to get through, and that's a LOT of snow.

I have impressed the hell out of my relatives from Texas, driving through a snowstorm like it's just another trip to the store. (Of course, studded tires and 4wd help. ) I guess it's just what you're used to.

[redstatebluegirl]

5. I have yet to see an Oklahoma resident who can drive on snow.

We were both raised in snow country so it is nothing to us, but the advice above certainly fits native Oklahomans . Love it!

[argyl]

6. Living in North Central Texas most of the winter precip was sleet or freezing drizzle.

Worked night shift for years. And the safest way to drive on icy roads is to have them pretty much to yourself.

[PJMcK]

7. Watch a couple of YouTube snow crash videos

They'll scare the hell out of you and you'll drive defensively ever after.

Here's one:

There really are some times when you shouldn't drive.

[kozar]

8. My Saturday ruined at

7AM!! I will be spending the rest of my day applying ice packs to my neck after 16 minutes of shaking my head in disbelief. Not to mention all the honey and tea I need to drink after 16 mins of repeating, WTF????????????


Hoarsely,
Koz out

[PJMcK]

10. Sorry, Koz!

My son turned me onto this genre and what strikes me in most of the clips is how suddenly these accidents happen. The carelessness is also remarkable.

Drive safely and I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

[Tarc]

24. I watch this and similar stuff most every day at lunch break

"Instant Karma", "Road Rage", "How Not to Drive Your Car in Russia", etc...

Weirdly addicting.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Karma at 1:50 as the driver going much too fast for conditions goes off the road. . . . nt

[central scrutinizer]

32. Icy hills unsafe at any speed

Portland Oregon a few years ago

https://m.

[PJMcK]

35. Like I said:

Some days you shouldn’t drive.

[Drifter]

11. Yep, Pretend you don't have brakes

because at times, you won't

Cheers
Drifter

[watoos]

12. Some of the plow drivers down South don't know how to drive/plow.

I was driving from Houston to Muskogee after a terrible snow storm. The plows had 3 foot high snow banks in the middle of the 2 lanes. It was a 2 lane highway each direction with a cement medial strip in between. We counted over 100 wrecks with one small pickup resting atop the medial strip.

The advice given is quite accurate, Slow the Hell down.

[Sunsky]

13. Thanks for the advice lol

I have never driven in snow, and the thought of doing so scares the heck out of me. I have postponed trips due to this

[Jersey Devil]

15. lol, moved to NC from NJ and last yr with 1/2 in snow everything closed for 3 days

Nobody has a clue how to drive in snow and all you see is cars upside down in the drainage ditches along the sides of the roads. It's like demolition derby time when it snows, so I lock the car in the garage and don't drive until every last bit of snow is gone.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. I'd rather have a foot of snow than a half inch of ice. In NW

Arkansas, it seems we always get the ice.

[watoos]

19. There is absolutely no trick to driving on ice other than slowing down.

The advice of no steering and no braking is pretty accurate. If you absolutely have to brake you must gently pump the brakes. On ice going downhill, no brakes, downshift to the lowest gear.

Black ice is the absolute worst because you don't know it's there. I once drove on black ice on the interstate with my flashers on, half on and half off the highway as cars flew by me. I passed some of those cars later on as they landed off road.

[dembotoz]

34. got this advice from a trucker re black ice

turn off the radio and fan and listen..
slush makes tire nice like wet pavement
ice makes no sound...if it is all quiet expect that you are on ice

[GoCubsGo]

17. And. having 4WD will not keep you out of the ditch anymore than 2WD will.

If you are going too fast on an icy road, those four wheels will lose traction. regardless of what you have.

My advice as a Midwesterner who lives in the South: Just stay off the roads if at all possible, even if you know how to handle those conditions. Most other people on the road don't. They are what you need to worry about.

[Staph]

37. A friend of mine said that he would be fine - he had four wheel drive.

But I reminded him that it doesn't mean four wheel stop!

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

21. When I was stati0ned at Fort Benning, Georgia in the late 1960s

They got about an inch of snow which brought civilian traffic to a complete standstill. It wasn't helped by there being essentially no snow removal equipment.

We northern boys said, "This is what we call 'good winter driving conditions'."

[LittleGirl]

22. This is perfect

I grew up in northern Indiana where the Lake (Michigan) effect would dump a foot of snow overnight. I can drive like a champ in snow. But my spouse grew up in London and I won't let him drive in the snow ever!

[raging moderate]

23. I always play Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy in my head.

I remember it from that Walt Disney movie long, long ago.

[Cracklin Charlie]

25. I was in Dallas a couple years ago after a big snowfall.

I couldn’t believe how many cars were driving around with 7-10 inches of snow on them. Like snow bubbles!

People...sweep that snow off the car before driving!

[samnsara]

26. love it!!

[hlthe2b]

27. LOL

Of course that only means they will ride the brake and slide off the road going downhill... or go so damned slowly uphill that they fail to make it up, sliding back into the frustrated line of cars behind them.

Yup. I've seen it all.

[MissB]

30. Yeah I live on a hill- and a curve.

If I’m in town during a snowstorm, I grab a cup of tea and sit at my dining room table, which has the best view of the curve as it has windows along two sides of the room. A few years ago, we had a record 6 cars stuck on our little section of curve. Half were trying to come up the road. One car sat there for four days (we’d driven them home the night of the snowstorm after warming them up with hot cocoa- their house was about an hour across town and back.)

Lots of cars bumpered around the corner - the inside edge doesn’t have a ditch as our property is above the road. At some point the county closed all the other roads leading down to the highway except our little road. Made for a steady stream of cars trying very hard to get home.

[Ohiogal]

28. I might add

Many Northerers forget how to drive in the winter time, too. Idiots are everywhere.

[KG]

29. stay home

[Goldenlight]

31. Driving in the snow.

I am a born and raised westerner that has lived in the western mountains for some time. If you are in an actual slide 4 wheel drive will not save you, however your winter tires will help. Do not slam on your brakes, pump them. Lastly, steer into the direction you want to go. If you try to over correct you will most likely spin out. If you get stuck use kitty litter/ dirt . I keep kitty litter in my car in the winter and has saved me on 2 occasions .

[Wounded Bear]

33. I have simpler advice...

Don't.

[blogslut]

38. There's always an intitial 3-hour period where everyone forgets how to drive in snow.

People go a bit insane when the weather changes. The roads are dangerous. The stores fill up. Some idiot who thought they could breeze through it all, is predictably there, stuck by the side of the road.

My personal snow-driving rule is to wait as long as possible to get in a car and to never ever exceed 20MPH.

[OAITW r.2.0]

39. Been driving in New England for 50 years...

I haven't bothered using my studded snow tires for the last few yesrs, sticking with my all weathers. I think, after watching this, I'll have my snow tires mounted.

[nitpicker]

40. This also fits driving in heavy downpours

Along with driving 10 mph under the speed limit.