I gotta ask

[chauncey]

The folks on this side of the pond have difficulty with snowy roads...do you other folks?


.

[rtbaum]

I was there 2 weeks ago

[Manfred M]

You call that snow? That looks like a light dusting to me.

[chauncey]

That's my point, it was a light dusting and the people still drove like idiots.

[IzzieK]

When we went to North Dakota, our SUV (an Acura MDX) drove us up to where the road finally shut on us. Snow was about a feet high all the way...we saw trucks, cars, SUVs, etc. lining up the road we were passing. We have an excellent vehicle and well maintained so we did not have any probs at all.

Manfred, I was complaining of 14 degs here when -28 could have killed me...

[pnodrog]

I have heard about snow but if any did miraculously fall on my road it would quickly get covered in dust... Mind you we meet (or bump into) plenty of people that do not know how to drive safely on an unsealed road.

[Glenn NK]

I don't have any trouble with snowy roads - any longer. I left heavy snow/cold country in March 2000, and I (kind of) don't miss it.

The trick with bad roads is to avoid them - too often people think they have to go somewhere - even risking their lives for it. When I think back to the stunts I did when I was much younger, I wonder why I lived to be as old as I am.

It rained all day here - people aren't complaining at all it seems because today's temp was +7.5 C - not balmy, but I saw some snowdrops this morning (flowers - the little white droopy ones).
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.o...empercode=k300

I think I'll try for a few closeup images tomorrow.

Glenn

[Black Pearl]

We don't usually get really bad snow - have the odd time but it isn't a regular thing - but I have never been unable to complete a journey. Nine times out of ten all you need is a bit of common sense and a careful right foot. As has been said a rather worryingly large percentage of the motoring population are idiots and drive the way they would in dry warm conditions regardless of what is outside their car.

For what its worth I have a 1.6l Ford Focus and not some monstrous 4x4.

[krispix]

We don't usually get really bad snow - have the odd time but it isn't a regular thing - but I have never been unable to complete a journey. Nine times out of ten all you need is a bit of common sense and a careful right foot. As has been said a rather worryingly large percentage of the motoring population are idiots and drive the way they would in dry warm conditions regardless of what is outside their car.

For what its worth I have a 1.6l Ford Focus and not some monstrous 4x4.

I have to agree with Robin. Our snowfalls are, generally, pretty weak affairs and don't hang about for long. The Authorities are pretty good at gritting the major roads so it's only the side road that can be tricky. In urban areas cars parked on both sides of the road, leaving very small gaps, can be quite treacherous, but scenes as shown in the OP are still fairly common in the country. That's when the people who rant about 4x4's and 'Global Warming' for 10 months of the year suddenly start praising these nice people who drag them out of the ditch they've just driven into!

[Donald]

Up here in Scotland we can usually expect snow, but not in the quantity and for so long as some parts of North America (or mainland Europe)gets. For us, the Gulf Stream is a major influence on our weather.

There is a thriving winter sports industry concentrated in a few centres and much higher levels but here, where we're about 500 ft above sea level, I've only ever twice been prevented from getting in or out of our village due to snow.

In terms of moving about, it does seem to be the case that, in a general sense, people have lost the skills associated with winter driving. There is much more of an attitude of 'Well, the roads should be clear, so I can drive at normal speeds'. And people don't seem to know how to control skids etc. Us of an older generation can remember when it was a case of a 'let a little air out of the tyres to improve grip and take it cautiously' and we still adhere to those principles.

[Tringa]

I think the difficulty depends on the driver's experience of snowy conditions. A few years ago I drove the 70ish miles from the west coast to Scotland to Inverness. The road surface had disappeared under compacted snow and it was snowing heavily but everyone was keeping the speed down (the journey took the best part of three hours) and leaving lots of room and all the vehicles that I could see in front or behind had no mishaps.

In and around London snow is rare and 5-7cm is a lot. Due to the volume of traffic it compacts quickly and thawing and re-freezing can, on minor roads, provide very difficult conditions, but I still see people driving too fast and too close.

Dave

[dabhand]

Narrow tires with tread, one gear higher than normal, no excessive acceleration or braking, constant concentration and drive assuming neither the drivers in front or behind will have any idea of how to handle the conditions - then you should be ok, well at least until someone answers their mobile phone

[rtbaum]

Snow packed roads are fact of life in my neck of the woods for 5 months of the year. The real fun begins with black ice, virtually invisible and treacherous. My tour of the ditch was due to it, first time in 30 years!!

[AB26]

Let me put it this way Chauncey: if ever we were to get a “little dusting” like that, South
Africans will be told to stay at home and not to drive at all.

You want to have a discussion about idiots on the road………………….? With a population of 40 Million and 13 000 deaths on our roads every year – guess what?

[xpatUSA]

Get a little here every few years. Last time was three years ago:



Perhaps a couple of inches or so.

[flashback]

Around my part of the world 4x4 SUVs are abundant. Interestingly they are pushed as vehicles that will get you anywhere, unfortunately (based on my personal experience) the drivers are never instructed that said vehicles will go through the snow but are little different than other vehicles when it comes to stopping in it. People seem to think that by pushing that 4W drive button they can just continue on as if it's a warm spring day. Hence most of the winter accidents I've been at are usually a result of driving too fast for conditions, inattention and a fair helping of stupididity (which holds true for probably all of the MVAs I've been to.)

[Donald]

Around my part of the world 4x4 SUVs are abundant. Interestingly they are pushed as vehicles that will get you anywhere, ...

...and a fair helping of stupididity

The ability of owners (of the urban variety who do NOT need such a vehicle) to properly drive these things seems to be in inverse proportion to the size of them. Unfortunately the brain size of the person behind the wheel also seems to diminish as the size of the vehicle increases!

[chauncey]

I do go out in this type of snowstorm weather for the important stuff...like photography.
Gazebo is on a peninsula...is a popular place for weddings during the summer.

[ajohnw]

Not sure I agree entirely with some posts concerning the UK. It's true that we have had long period of warmer weather and virtually no snow over most of the UK so some have never driven on it and some don't even seem to be prepared to think about just how to go about it - never heard of engine braking for instance and would probably stall the engine if they tried it. Pity people who drive auto's and expect braking to be anything like normal. Cold weather (UK style) and snow brings chaos to some parts of the UK at times. Fresh snow isn't too bad but it always thaws slightly and then freezes. Cities get clogged up so the gritters can't get out. When gritters do get out here in Birmingham there have been cases of them refusing to do some roads as it would be too dangerous - they might skid! As it's often wet and sometime sub zero we also get problems with wet black ice. The gritters do mostly cope with that on main road especially in less well populated areas.

Something else seems to have been forgotten in the UK as well from the time that most cars were rear wheel drive. Many people would have something in the garage to weigh down the back - large thick concrete slab(s) were best. eg 2in 3x2 compressed.

I have spent many happy weeks working in Arjeplog in Sweden during their coldest periods. It's a few miles from the artic circle. Snow isn't much of a problems really as it's so cold. Sometimes the sun might thaw out a thin dusting in some places and along comes wet black ice when it part freezes and even studded tyres wont help much. Dry ice well below zero and studded tyres isn't too bad. My worst experience there was being forced to drive over snow on the road by an on coming Volvo who wasn't obeying the rules - 2 tracks clear of snow on each side but the lady was using one of mine. Some time later I found that I could only steer more or less straight ahead as the wheel arches were packed.

One thing that gets me about this whole subject is the media and adverts - 4x4's great to get up to speed but in real terms no better at stopping and that's the real problem made worse by the fact that people can drive faster in them.

John
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[Mike Buckley]

I would be shocked if more than 1% of the people in the snowy areas of the U.S. know that once the car starts skidding that you should accelerate and turn the steering wheel in the direction of the skid. Most people intuitively put on the brakes and turn in the opposite direction of the skid and that's what causes a lot of the accidents.

Most people I've talked to about this don't realize that you shouldn't be applying the brake at all while turning in the snow. The brakes should be applied to slow down the car sufficiently before entering the curve.