Triple-H

It is snowing like crazy hear, visibility is less than a quarter mile, the roads are nasty and the temps are cold enough we are getting a lot of freezing.

I came into the agency this morning to check up on a few things. While driving here I saw something so funny I nearly had to pull over, I was laughing so hard the tears were welling up in my eyes...

As we all know, often it is more about the driver than it is the vehicle. As the story goes this woman in a Subaru Forester pulls up to the exit of a parking lot, looks to see if traffic is coming, sees traffic coming and decides to jump out into traffic anyway. The Forester leaps out of the parking lot, that good AWD working just fine, then as the car goes across the road and needs to turn to get going in the right lane the woman must have panicked at how fast she was going and let off the gas while she was turning. Well let me just say, trailing throttle oversteer raised its head. The backend of that Forester snapped around so fast - this is where I started to laugh. Well there was enough speed in the Forester than when that backend started to rotate it just kept coming. It did 270 degrees of rotation leaving it pointed head on into the lane of oncoming traffic - this is where I am laughing so hard my eyes are watering.

I was a good 1/4 mile away but I was headed right towards this situation. And you guessed it. Once the Forester spun the driver went into brain shut down. So there it is blocking traffic, all the cars headed straight for her are now sliding to both sides of her, and that means one of them was now coming right at me - and yes, this is when it was not so funny anymore. Well I was able to stop my 4,000 pound truck with good snow tires quick enough to stay out of harms way, but it was a bit harry for a second.

Oh, and after I was past the Forester, the woman was just then beginning to try and figure out how to turn around and get going.

Boy, jumping out into traffic really saved her some time.

That AWD system is not fool proof when a fool is driving.

I love the snow.

jlangton

That is to funny

Jasonoff

Fongu

Winter hit for real here today too.

Just put the snows on the winter beater, but I'm hiding out as long as possible until all the idiots take each other out. I remember talking to a tow truck guy about who gives him the most business in the winter. No surprise, its trucks, SUVs and AWD vehicles. Yeah it the car!

matrix

Damit...I had to shovel the driveway this morning....

Ahh, the first snow...let the fun begin ...

BioBanker

the most periless driving experience I ever had was when I was behind the wheel of my parents old Cherokee with 4WD about 15 years ago. For you Ottawa folk, I was leaving the Valley at Camp Fortune.

I was at the top of a 2 mile hill with a ton of turns in it, it was snowing, there was a slow car infront of me. It took me all of two seconds to blow by that car, only to realize that my back end was gone before I even got back into my lane. So there I was fishtailing with the rear end going from one side of the road to the other. I was countersteering every 5 seconds in the opposit direction, but I couldnt break that fishtail. 20 seconds later - still fishtailing at about 60km/h - and really wishing that I could use the brake. I could not - I would have been in the ditch.

Then a SAAB comes up the hill from around the corner. Flashing its lights at me like crazy cuz Im headed in its direction, still fishtailing (more than a 1/4 mile of fishtailing by now). Even worse, there is no where for that poor driver to go, 8 foot high snowbanks on each side of the two lane road, which was probably even narrow mid winter. I couldnt do a single thing to get that damn jeep under control.

In an act of laser like precision, that SAAB timed its pass by me perfectly between zags.

It all turned out fine, but Im one with 4wd giving a person false security.

Fongu

You've must of been going down that steep part just exiting Camp Fortune. Definitely not a good place to pass when snowing.

Actually, it was a winter incident in my Integra that eventually prompted me to want a new car ... a S2000! I was one of those guys where all-seasons were good enough if you drive slow enough. Of course it was the last winter storm of the spring during rush hour driving home. I was driving around 30 kph down a straight undeveloped road. Traffic was backed up at the light and the CRV in front of me started to wiggle under braking. No problem, I was like 40 feet behind it. As soon as I touched the brake the wheels locked. The traffic compacted the snow to glare ice. So here I am slowly sliding to my doom. Just before I get to the CRV, off the brake and steer ... at 5 kph the wheels caught and it steered around. Yeah, avoided that, just steer back straight ... my outside wheel slipped into the run off ditch and the car turned 90 degrees to the road. Car nose first 45 degrees into the ditch. It wouldn't have been a big deal, a tow with no damage, but it just happened where there was one of those proposal for construction signs. Three posts and two plywood panels. So here I am about 2 kph slow motion sliding into the ditch and go through this sign the two plywood panels twirl over my windshield over the car just like a slow motion Dukes of Hazard. Well at least I didn't hit that CRV ... one of the plywood panels flies over the road and dings that CRV! It would have cost less to just hit the CRV at that slow speed bumper to bumper. DOOOOOH!

Well snow tires for me now. Even the crappy winter traction Integra drives reasonably on snow now.

MOTU

I think my most fun in the winter was when I was still working out of a van.

I was driving on the 401 near Dixie, headed for the 410 and home. The night before we had a pretty good ice/snow storm. I'm in the left lane, 200 ft or so in front of me, and in the middle lane is a transport truck. Off the top of the truck comes a couple of "snow balls" they hit the windshield of the van, poof. No big deal. Then, slowly this HUGH sheet of ice slides of the top of this truck. This sheet was at least 6' x 8', it tumbles in the air and breaks into a couple of smaller asteroids. At this point everthing is in slow motion. It is painfully obvious that one of these monsters is going to hit me. I cross my legs under the seat, so I don't panic break, grip the wheel hard to keep her straight, and close my eyes. CRASH, a chunk about 3' x 4' rockets through the windshield on the passenger side, the windshield folds in over the dash leaving me with just enough space to stear. Thank God it didn't hit the drivers side. I'm still going about 60mph, yes we were still in mph then. I've got to pull over to the side with bits of glass and snow flying everywhere.

Took me an hour to get all the glass out of my boots, and about a year for it to stop blowing up out of the defroster vents when I turned the fan on.


I still keep a good distance behind transports now in the winter.

wing

Saw a Hyundai Sante Fe in the ditch today, not sure how he managed that one.

I got a subaru impreza for the winter with snows. AWD rocks. I took it to an empty parking lot and got a feel for it. Starts to slide POWER on and get out of it.

So I was driving down carling took a right turn a tad too fast in the slippery crap (no roads were plowed today) and started to fish tail, I hammered the gas and just kept on going It was fun.

I was passing idiots all over the place, although I was still very carefull while slowing for stops and such.

Mindcore

Some people.. I tell ya