Gail wrote:
> People here don't know how to drive in 
> rain, forget snow.

Same here. It rained while I was signing the paperwork for my house, and 
on the way home, about 25-30 miles, we saw no less than six cars on 
their roofs. Not just off the road, mind, but actually upside-down.

And in Georgia, they close everything if there's snow on the ground. All 
schools, government buildings, banks, everything shuts down if there's 
any white on the ground at all.  At least they know they're clueless. :-)

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)

Post a reply to this message

"Darren New" <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote in message 
news:4909dffc$1@news.povray.org...
> Gail wrote:
>> People here don't know how to drive in rain, forget snow.
>
> Same here. It rained while I was signing the paperwork for my house, and 
> on the way home, about 25-30 miles, we saw no less than six cars on their 
> roofs. Not just off the road, mind, but actually upside-down.

I recall a few years back getting caught in a sudden storm. I decided to 
pull off the road (there was a petrol station just ahead) because at 
40km/hr, I could not see the end of my bonnet. There was no sign of the car 
in front which was perhaps 4 car lengths ahead.
Just as I pulled out of that lane, a car came flying past, no lights,  at 
probably 80-100 km/hr. Unless he had radar or similar installed in the car, 
there was no way he could have known what was ahead

> And in Georgia, they close everything if there's snow on the ground. All 
> schools, government buildings, banks, everything shuts down if there's any 
> white on the ground at all.  At least they know they're clueless. :-)

Here it snows so seldom (once every 10 years or so) that no one would even 
think about that. No one would consider that it would affect anything.

Post a reply to this message

> Snow... WTF?! o_O

I just got a new set of winter tyres fitted this morning - bring on the snow 
:-)

Post a reply to this message

> That is, I was driving down the M45 [which is almost deserted] at a mere 
> 50 MPH due to the dense snow. This was clearly far too slow for the car 
> behind me, so he sprints off past me like I was standing still.

Not a problem in itself, if he could see far enough ahead to stop safely if 
he needed to.  Lots of people regularly drive here at speeds of over 50 mph 
in the snow quite safely.

> About a mile ahead of me, I see him zigging between other cars... and then 
> I see his headlights do a complete 360...

Hehe, here's a tutorial how to do a 360 in the snow without using the 
handbrake: steer to the left a bit, then brake and steer the other way 
quickly.  I suspect he did exactly that not realising how his car would 
react.  What works ok in the dry or wet, often gives totally different 
results in the snow because one or more tyres can obviously completely lose 
grip much easier.

> When I reached that point in the road, the car was pointing the wrong way 
> down the hard shoulder, apparently undamaged but covered in mowed grass, 
> with the occupant standing in the driver's side doorway looking at the 
> car.

He should be lucky he didn't damage anybody else or their cars.  Anyway, I 
guess even if nobody reported him to the police, he will likely drive more 
safely from now on after that episode.

Post a reply to this message

>> That is, I was driving down the M45 [which is almost deserted] at a 
>> mere 50 MPH due to the dense snow. This was clearly far too slow for 
>> the car behind me, so he sprints off past me like I was standing still.
> 
> Not a problem in itself, if he could see far enough ahead to stop safely 
> if he needed to.  Lots of people regularly drive here at speeds of over 
> 50 mph in the snow quite safely.

Well I was having trouble seeing where I'm going. OTOH, my wipers don't 
work properly. (They leave a streak at *exactly* eye-level. How do blade 
manufacturers do that? If the blade is going to leave a streak, it is 
*always* at exactly eye-level...)

> Hehe, here's a tutorial how to do a 360 in the snow without using the 
> handbrake: steer to the left a bit, then brake and steer the other way 
> quickly.  I suspect he did exactly that not realising how his car would 
> react.  What works ok in the dry or wet, often gives totally different 
> results in the snow because one or more tyres can obviously completely 
> lose grip much easier.

The snow basically turned to slush as soon as it touched the road, so it 
was like driving through a river... heh. Not the weather for weaving in 
between cars at motorway speeds. :-P

> He should be lucky he didn't damage anybody else or their cars.

Damn straight!

> Anyway, 
> I guess even if nobody reported him to the police, he will likely drive 
> more safely from now on after that episode.

For the sake of my faith in humanity, I *want* to believe you... but I 
suspect not.

Post a reply to this message

Invisible wrote:

> For the sake of my faith in humanity, I *want* to believe you... but I 
> suspect not.

^^ Yeah, that

Even getting arrested, thrown in jail and losing their license doesn't 
seem to stop drunk drivers ...

-- 
~Mike

Post a reply to this message