It didn't snow all morning, so I went to town for groceries. Then it started to snow, but it was more like snow drizzle. I called it lame Memphis snow and kicked at the slush and headed home. The snow gods got very angry indeed and it began pouring down snow. They closed Donner Pass so there was tons of traffic on the highway headed north, and it took me like 25 minutes to go 5 miles. Then I stopped at another grocery store (I'm picky, what can I say?) and watched people spin out like retards.
I have decided driving on snow isn't much harder than driving in the rain. I spent about 10 years driving tiny lightweight ricer sports cars, with no ABS, usually with bad tires, and those things will hydroplane and slide with any amount of water on the road. Driving a medium weight truck on a couple inches of snow is pretty similar... except that (almost) everybody around me is also going very slow.
We have plenty of food, and we're home safe, so whatever happens is ok with me :)
I like driving on snow and ice. As long as you know what you're doing and the drivers are you are reasonably competent, it's not a problem.
ReplyDeleteI actually find people in small cars / light trucks are better in bad weather than people in SUVs and large trucks. The drivers of smaller cars are more aware of their limits and the safety issues, while the drivers of the larger cars assume they can muscle through anything.
Which after more than one storm in Alaska meant the ditches were full of trucks and SUVs while those of us in little cars crept cautiously around the city.
Enjoy the snow! (What else can you do, really?)
Halt Near X is clearly a stronger and probably a better person than I will ever be, amen.
ReplyDeleteI stay home when it snows...not just because I have a silly little "girly" truck without 4 wheel drive, but also because we get so little practice with sn*w here in the Swamp that the other drivers are maniacs. Better to call in 'stuck' and have another cuppa, sez me!
AareneX, driving on ice and snow in the south is a whole different ball of wax! I'm actually living in Houston right now, and I called in sick the two times temps dropped below freezing.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter how capable I am on ice -- the drivers around me are not, and I don't want to be anywhere near them when they spin out of control.
You won't get any argument on me about it being better in some situations to stay home!
You had to use sick days when it snowed, Halt Near X? Wow. In Memphis, when it snows, either your job closes or they ask nicely if you could please come in.
ReplyDeleteI think yall are right. I do drive extremely cautiously, because I have a girly truck with 2WD. People with bigger 4WD trucks seem to go faster / more aggressively. Still, they all seem to know what they're doing, unlike Memphis. In Memphis half the drivers won't go more than 10 mph and the other half drive like the roads are dry (and promptly crash into the 10 mph crew).