I remember the days when almost nobody had 4x4s and you were allowed to have studs in your tires. Cars were rear wheel drive and higher horse-powered vehicles were on the road. When I was in my early 20s I had a 400 hp F100 truck with wide tires which was an interesting ride on slippery roads.
After the F100 I have bought 4×4 trucks, the first few with manual transmissions which are better to drive in the winter – I felt you had more control over the vehicle if driven properly. I miss manual transmissions and not having a clutch under my left foot.
Now days lots of people drive trucks and SUVs and become over confident of their driving ability’s on slippery roads. It doesn’t matter what you drive, the road will always win if you go to fast if there is snow on the road. There is also the issue of having the cars around you maintaining control of their vehicles.
Driving in a blizzard or heavy snow event isn’t for the faint of heart. I have driven in these conditions both in the mountains and in Michigan and it is best to stay home or a least only drive the roads you know very well if you have to go out. Here are some winter driving tips from AAA.
- Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Applying the gas slowly to accelerate is the best method for regaining traction and avoiding skids. Don’t try to get moving in a hurry. And take time to slow down for a stoplight. Remember: It takes longer to slow down on icy roads.
- Drive slowly. Everything takes longer on snow-covered roads. Accelerating, stopping, turning – nothing happens as quickly as on dry pavement. Give yourself time to maneuver by driving slowly.
- The normal dry pavement following distance of three to four seconds should be increased to eight to ten seconds. This increased margin of safety will provide the longer distance needed if you have to stop.
- Know your brakes. Whether you have antilock brakes or not, the best way to stop is threshold breaking. Keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal.
- Don’t stop if you can avoid it. There’s a big difference in the amount of inertia it takes to start moving from a full stop versus how much it takes to get moving while still rolling. If you can slow down enough to keep rolling until a traffic light changes, do it.
- Don’t power up hills. Applying extra gas on snow-covered roads just starts your wheels spinning. Try to get a little inertia going before you reach the hill and let that inertia carry you to the top. As you reach the crest of the hill, reduce your speed and proceed down hill as slowly as possible.
- Don’t stop going up a hill. There’s nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Get some inertia going on a flat roadway before you take on the hill.
- Stay home. If you really don’t have to go out, don’t. Even if you can drive well in the snow, not everyone else can. Don’t tempt fate: If you don’t have somewhere you have to be, watch the snow from indoors.
Vehicles have become more complex over the years which have taken a lot of the control from the driver which scares me. When I was a younger man I could fix my own vehicles (I also miss carburetors), now you can’t even change the spark plugs. Now we have several computers and tons of fuses and relays which control the vehicle and all the bells and whistles many of us don’t really need. All of this has added thousands of dollars to the price of a new car or truck. I also hate motorized windows – I would take hand cranks over them any day…. a new 4×4 truck costs 40 grand more than I paid for my first one back in the 1980s….
We shouldn’t see any hazardous driving conditions for the Thanksgiving holiday. It looks to be mainly dry but our cold temperatures will hang on until Friday when we will warm into the 40s.
Anybody heard about a possible snowstorm next week?
Only in this comment section
The latest nws discussion discusses possible accumulating snow as soon as Sunday night and Monday! Who would have thought?
From that discussion:
“Temperatures will
undergo a moderating trend Friday through the weekend with a
chance of rain showers Saturday into Sunday and potential for
mixed rain and snow by late Sunday. Colder weather will return
early next week with lake effect snow showers.”
25* degrees outside feels like January crazzy! INDYDOG14!!
Clipper system on its way B line for west Michigan another 1-3 inches of snow in November who would of thought golllly lol! INDYDOG14!!
Winter is setting up to very wild and Rocky! Bring it!
I’m glad I raked got my snow blower fired up over a month ago this is going to be a very snowy and cold Winter I’m seeing temps in the 20’s next week and snow showers I am ready out at the YARDOFBRICKS …Let it snow Let it snow! INDYDOG14!
What exactly have you been snow blowing for the past month? The ground is bare, any snow we have received so far has either melted on contact with the ground, or is gone within hours. I’ll gladly take this over previous Novembers where we’ve had a foot or more accumulated on the ground like we did just a couple years ago.
Lol keep it snowing keep it snowing! INDYDOG14!!
+1
You know it – we are already seeing late December cold! Bring on a monster SNOWSTORM!
Our coldest overnight temp was actually at 8:30 this morning with a 22.7 degree reading – an almost 10 degree drop from midnight. The sun is out now but I suspect we will see more clouds near the lakeshore counties than not as the winds switch from the north to the west/southwest.
I have a cold spot in my far back yard where the temperature is colder then the rest of my yard. I now have a temperature sensor in that part of the yard. Last night the low in that part of my yard fell to 20.1° for the coldest reading for that sensor this fall so far. The low on my other sensor was 22.3° it looks like my yard was colder then the airport last night. There was a trace of snow fall here last nigh and there is a trace on the ground. The current temperature here is 27.0° (25.7° in the cold spot. Most time when I report the temperature I use the one in the higher part of my yard (that area is generally warmer then the far back yard) BTW I have swapped sensors to see if that is the reason for the cold spot and it is not. Also it looks like the low at GRR was 24°
Slim
Driving on snow and ice is never what I would call “fun” Ice is by far the worst of winter time driving. I could never get why so many people driving 4X4’s think they can drive 70 MPH during a snow storm. I see it every winter where there are several Pick Up Trucks and SUV’s going 70 with snow on the road and low visibility. I have an AWD SUV and while it helps in the snow they are by no means a lot better in the snow then a 2 wheel drive. And for anyone who likes to make fun of how people down south drive in the winter time I say don’t say a word until you drive on some of their roads with ice on them. One of the worst drives I have done is on I 65 and US 231 in Alabama where parts of the road were just a sheet of ice.
Slim
Timely topic. Roads are slippery in spots this morning. The one road I despise this time of year is I-94 from Battle Creek to St. Joseph. It is a dangerous stretch of highway.