Daring motorists urged to smarten up before taking on bad weather(tips for southern)

Steely Dan

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http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/us/winter-storm-learning-lessons/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Daring motorists urged to smarten up before taking on bad weather
By Michael Martinez, CNN
updated 10:09 PM EST, Thu February 13, 2014

(CNN) -- To understand how human nature sometimes doesn't heed winter weather warnings, listen to how Deanna Hunt didn't listen.

She ventured into Wednesday's storm in North Carolina, rendering herself stuck in her car on a snowbound road -- even after the nation saw two weeks ago how Georgia motorists were forced to sleep in their cars while stuck in another storm.

Such standstills frustrate officials who warn the public of deadly weather. They're now studying ways to improve messaging, the National Weather Service said....


Ok, here are some tips from a cold weather expert. My Phd. in cold weather was earned from living forty years in Rochester. There are a lot of others with Phd's in cold weather, who are smarter than I am, and I urge them to chime in as well.

A four wheel drive vehicle is useless on ice. All wheel drive is better, but is just as useless on solid ice. Don't kid yourself that your four wheel or AWD cars make it safer on ice. FOUR WHEEL AND AWD DRIVE DO NOT STOP FASTER THAN ANY OTHER CAR ON ICE OR SNOW! GIVE YOURSELF PLENTY OF ROOM BETWEEN CARS! SLOW THE :censored: DOWN!

In the north we are equipped to deal with ice and snow. I lived in Delaware for awhile just east of Philly. They had a storm that would have closed schools for a day in Rochester, that ended up closing schools for a week down there. Don't kid yourself into believing that if northerners can do it so can I. You're area isn't set up to deal with this weather. You most likely don't have storehouses full of salt and fleets of salt trucks to treat the roads like we do.

Stock up on supplies. When the storm warnings are off, overload on stuff. I'm a pack rat. I don't like going out in storms so I have a lot of canned food, frozen food and toilet paper. (BTW, toilet paper never spoils, you'll eventually use it anyway, and can be used as tissues on a roll. I'm single and buy the twelve pack rolls) You can get lunch meats and freeze it for sandwiches. If you refrigerate bread it lasts a long, long time. Pasta lasts forever and only needs water and heat to cook. Canned or bottled spaghetti sauces last a lot longer on the shelf than winter will. If you stock up on this stuff you won't have to go out and fight the crowds of people in the grocery store for dwindling stocks.

If you're afraid of losing power pick up some more blankets. The older ones you have now could probably use replacing anyway. You can use the old ones and new ones on top of each other. Nothing sucks more than trying to sleep when your cold. Think about getting chills with a cold, it's like that.

Make sure you have cold remedies around. Coughing, sneezing, runny noses and stuff like that there can happen a lot more with rising and falling temperatures. If you already have some Nyquil or Robitussin or other cold remedies around you don't have to go out for them when your sick. Especially if it's one of those days when road warnings are out.

If you go into a slide in your car this is what I do (This only works if you drive a standard and front wheel drive car, as far as I know.) turn away from the skid, take the car out of gear, put it back into the next lowest gear and gently hit the gas. Then once the wheels grip and start moving forward turn the wheel to straighten out again. For me, this straightens the car out the best way I've tried.

This is probably obvious, but try to drive in the same rut the car before you is digging. It's really obvious when you see two black lines with a white snowy one in the middle. If you don't HAVE to change lanes, don't change lanes. Trying to move across those white dividers can really make you slip and make the car very hard to control. If your stuck behind someone going slow, deal with it. Better to get home than not get home for a lot longer because you're in an accident.

Don't do any distracted driving, ever, but especially in tough winter conditions. You will need both hands to control the car even in straight line times.

Those are Steely's helpful household tips for the homebound cold weather Websleuthers. :thumb:
 
Well said Steely Dan!

Not much else I can think of to add from someone who grew up in Canada.

I now install winter tires (rated for snow and ice) on my all-wheel drive vehicle in late November until end of March, early April..it helps and I would feel uncomfortable driving a vehicle in winter without winter tires now.
 
Well said Steely Dan!

Not much else I can think of to add from someone who grew up in Canada.

I now install winter tires (rated for snow and ice) on my all-wheel drive vehicle in late November until end of March, early April..it helps and I would feel uncomfortable driving a vehicle in winter without winter tires now.

All weather work for me.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/us/winter-storm-learning-lessons/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Daring motorists urged to smarten up before taking on bad weather
By Michael Martinez, CNN
updated 10:09 PM EST, Thu February 13, 2014

(CNN) -- To understand how human nature sometimes doesn't heed winter weather warnings, listen to how Deanna Hunt didn't listen.

She ventured into Wednesday's storm in North Carolina, rendering herself stuck in her car on a snowbound road -- even after the nation saw two weeks ago how Georgia motorists were forced to sleep in their cars while stuck in another storm.

Such standstills frustrate officials who warn the public of deadly weather. They're now studying ways to improve messaging, the National Weather Service said....


Ok, here are some tips from a cold weather expert. My Phd. in cold weather was earned from living forty years in Rochester. There are a lot of others with Phd's in cold weather, who are smarter than I am, and I urge them to chime in as well.

A four wheel drive vehicle is useless on ice. All wheel drive is better, but is just as useless on solid ice. Don't kid yourself that your four wheel or AWD cars make it safer on ice. FOUR WHEEL AND AWD DRIVE DO NOT STOP FASTER THAN ANY OTHER CAR ON ICE OR SNOW! GIVE YOURSELF PLENTY OF ROOM BETWEEN CARS! SLOW THE :censored: DOWN!

In the north we are equipped to deal with ice and snow. I lived in Delaware for awhile just east of Philly. They had a storm that would have closed schools for a day in Rochester, that ended up closing schools for a week down there. Don't kid yourself into believing that if northerners can do it so can I. You're area isn't set up to deal with this weather. You most likely don't have storehouses full of salt and fleets of salt trucks to treat the roads like we do.

Stock up on supplies. When the storm warnings are off, overload on stuff. I'm a pack rat. I don't like going out in storms so I have a lot of canned food, frozen food and toilet paper. (BTW, toilet paper never spoils, you'll eventually use it anyway, and can be used as tissues on a roll. I'm single and buy the twelve pack rolls) You can get lunch meats and freeze it for sandwiches. If you refrigerate bread it lasts a long, long time. Pasta lasts forever and only needs water and heat to cook. Canned or bottled spaghetti sauces last a lot longer on the shelf than winter will. If you stock up on this stuff you won't have to go out and fight the crowds of people in the grocery store for dwindling stocks.

If you're afraid of losing power pick up some more blankets. The older ones you have now could probably use replacing anyway. You can use the old ones and new ones on top of each other. Nothing sucks more than trying to sleep when your cold. Think about getting chills with a cold, it's like that.

Make sure you have cold remedies around. Coughing, sneezing, runny noses and stuff like that there can happen a lot more with rising and falling temperatures. If you already have some Nyquil or Robitussin or other cold remedies around you don't have to go out for them when your sick. Especially if it's one of those days when road warnings are out.

If you go into a slide in your car this is what I do (This only works if you drive a standard and front wheel drive car, as far as I know.) turn away from the skid, take the car out of gear, put it back into the next lowest gear and gently hit the gas. Then once the wheels grip and start moving forward turn the wheel to straighten out again. For me, this straightens the car out the best way I've tried.

This is probably obvious, but try to drive in the same rut the car before you is digging. It's really obvious when you see two black lines with a white snowy one in the middle. If you don't HAVE to change lanes, don't change lanes. Trying to move across those white dividers can really make you slip and make the car very hard to control. If your stuck behind someone going slow, deal with it. Better to get home than not get home for a lot longer because you're in an accident.

Don't do any distracted driving, ever, but especially in tough winter conditions. You will need both hands to control the car even in straight line times.

Those are Steely's helpful household tips for the homebound cold weather Websleuthers. :thumb:

Or as NC Governor McCrory said: 'Don't put on your stupid hat'

http://www.wncn.com/story/24704437/mccrory-dont-put-on-your-stupid-hat
 
I grew up in Vermont. Took my driving test the day after a snow storm.

I've found that if on ice and your car starts to slide, hands off the wheel, feet off the pedals. The car should stop on it's own.

Also, when starting off in slippery conditions, shift your automatic down to 1 and let the engine do the work. Slowly shift up as you gain control.

And it's better to go too slow than fast and get in an accident.
 
Heh! That's 'cause you're in Rochester. :blushing:

For ... erumph .. "real" winter driving, we use studded snow tires.

Remember in the old days when there would be reminders to people to "put your snow tires on"?
 
With more snow on the way, I'll add a couple of things.

Really, don't go out unless you have to. If you are lucky, and work is called off, stay inside. Get some food in before it comes, and as Steely said, stock up starting in Autumn or rotating last years stock out starting in Autumn. Also, if you have little ones, milk can be put in the freezer, it thaws out just fine with no changes. Bundle up in layers too keep warm, socks and a hat (toboggan in U.S., touk in Canada)help even at home if the heat goes out.

If you have to drive anywhere, drive SLOWLY. Just slow down. You cannot go the speed limit in ice and snow. Let others go around if they want to risk it, ignore them, and pay attention to your own car with both hands on the wheel at all times.

Put a shovel in the car. You don't need to buy a special folding camping shovel, or a spare snow shovel, just take it with you. Put some of the sidewalk salt in the car. You can put it in any container you like. Even kitty litter is better than nothing to help get a grip on ice. Put a blanket in there, some trash bags can be used to cover shoes or hands to keep them dry if you need to get out and shovel in deep snow, or as an extra layer over your coat. Put some kind of packaged snack in there, oatmeal bar, beef jerky, whatever you like, just in case you get stranded. A flashlight with new batteries and spare new batteries. If you have a cell phone, charge it before you get in the car and get a car cell phone charger. If the snow and ice is really bad, take any daily required medications with you, in their prescription bottles with your name on it. A bottle of water is nice, but will freeze eventually. Can be thawed in the sun. Throw in a box of matches too, just in case. (I know, I am thinking extreme weather and stranded.) Throw in a pair of old shoes, socks, gloves, and a sweatshirt/pants, for dry extras in case you get wet, or just cold.

There's plenty more, but please, don't go out if you do not have to. It is not the time to go shopping, visiting, or to bars as some around here do. Stay inside. Stock up in advance on all you need and/or may want. If you do have to go out, drive slowly.
 

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