Nov. 2014 "Arctic Blast" and "Winter Virgins"

[MarkinWMich]

So, I'm sitting here watching the morning news, the weather comes on, and there is a "News Alert" scrolling along the bottom of my TV screen regarding how the North-South highway, US 131, is closed due to multiple accidents....SIGH. Seriously...we live in Michigan, West Michigan, it snows every year,...alot. Why, oh why, every year do we have to go over this repeatedly. We call them "winter virgins" around here. All it takes is one to screw it up for the rest of us on our morning commute to work.

So, just a few tips for those, especially those in the south, that are currently getting hit with some of the coldest weather in the past 100 years:

1. So, you've got a 4Runner with 4WD...it isn't going to help you while traveling down the highway at 70mph if the idiot in front of you is going 45 with the @$$ end of his vehicle wiggling around on the ice. Slow the #$%^ down! If you blow past him/her kicking up snow in his/her windshield, he/she is going to panic and do something stupid...and seriously could kill someone.

2. 4WD is good for getting the vehicle moving. It isn't going to help you brake on ice. Slow the #$%^ down!

3. 4WD, on ice, may not help you steer around the idiot in front of you...it's ice. Slow the #$%^ down!

The bottom line is that 4WD, on icy roads, will give you a false sense of security. For all intents and purposes, you really cannot drive much faster than the person in a small 2WD commuter car when it comes to driving on icy roads. Take it easy out there.

 

[bythehour]

And here I thought that checking the "Blizzard Pearl" option gave me special powers.

Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Jhalko]

Can you post this on the Jeep forums as well? When I get passed its always either some dude in a Jeep or some nut job in a rear wheel drive beater van.

 

[m85476585]

Good advice.

Someone should also tell the jeep guys that 4L does not give you more traction on snow and ice.

My 4WD 4runner with all season tires handles just a little better than my 2WD civic with all season tires on snow and ice. 4WD helps get going, but it's easy to slide sideways if I try to brake or accelerate while turning, and braking takes longer than usual, obviously. The stability control system is intended to try to keep the vehicle going in the direction the steering wheel is pointed by braking individual wheels, but it only helps a little.

I've always thought that when there's an accident blocking the road they should get out the snowplows and clear it out of the way. Make sure the people in the cars are somewhere safe first, I guess.

 

[MarkinWMich]

I think this sums it up nicely.

Clint Eastwood, Magnum Force, 1973. Classic.

 

[atalarico]

So, I'm a Michigander living in Denver for the last four years, and I echo this sentiment! I'm so glad I grew up in the mitten and learned how to drive there.

We just had our first big snowfall in town this week, and it was a disaster on all of the highways and roads! A friend was stuck on a major highway (nowhere close to an exit) for 2 hours, and I looked at Google maps traffic and saw at least one accident and all red on every highway in the metro area. Oye.

I see it every year, and Colorado is a melting pot of people from different states. The people who have never driven in snow freak out, and the people who have sometimes get too cocky trying to make up for lost time because of the winter newbs, and boom...accidents.

Slow the f@#% down is a great rule for most situations (unless you're being chased by a T-Rex in J-Park). Ice is ice, and unless you have studded tires, 4wd really shouldn't lure you into a false sense of security.

Funny thing I've noticed this year that I haven't in the past, Ford Mustangs! I've noticed at least 10 just struggling in the last three days. It's so weird because it's not a car I notice otherwise, and then boom...there they are fishtailing at 25mph on the highway in maybe 3 inches of snow.

It just cracks me up when people try to drive really impractical rear wheel drive "sports" cars in states that experience real winters.

/rant

 

[MarkinWMich]

Funny thing I've noticed this year that I haven't in the past, Ford Mustangs! I've noticed at least 10 just struggling in the last three days. It's so weird because it's not a car I notice otherwise, and then boom...there they are fishtailing at 25mph on the highway in maybe 3 inches of snow.

It just cracks me up when people try to drive really impractical rear wheel drive "sports" cars in states that experience real winters.

/rant

Dude, it's got traction control. I don't know why I can't get traction! The salesman said it would do just fine in the snow...modern technology, bro! :lie: Hmmm, next time talk to an engineer, not a salesman...just sayin'.

 

[atalarico]

Dude, it's got traction control. I don't know why I can't get traction! The salesman said it would do just fine in the snow...modern technology, bro! :lie: Hmmm, next time talk to an engineer, not a salesman...just sayin'.

lol! I feel like I've actually heard this. Bro! Bro!!!!!

 

[Brique]

I used to live in an apartment where the only way out of the complex was up a steep hill with a sharp right hand turn half way up. I always knew when it had snowed overnight when i was awakened in the morning by the "fvwzzzzzzzzz!!!" sound of southerners trying to gun it up an icy hill. Down here folks seem to think that the appropriate way to regain traction is to push the gas pedal all the way down.

 

[Brique]

I used to live in an apartment where the only way out of the complex was up a steep hill with a sharp right hand turn half way up. I always knew when it had snowed overnight when i was awakened in the morning by the "fvwzzzzzzzzz!!!" sound of southerners trying to gun it up the icy hill. Down here folks seem to think that the appropriate way to regain traction is to push the gas pedal all the way down.

 

[blight1234]

Oh Lord. You should of seen everyone in Atlanta last winter when it snowed. SHIT SHOW!!!!!!!!! I know people that got stuck on highways and side streets and they had to leave their cars there for days until everything melted. A co-worker of mine was in traffic for 9 hours until he decided to park his car on 75N and walk the rest of the way home. A 12 hour journey to get home from work which usually only takes 40 min. Lets just say I was very happy to pull my snow chains out and drive around pulling people out of ditches.

 

[SavageRunner]

Oh Lord. You should of seen everyone in Atlanta last winter when it snowed. SHIT SHOW!!!!!!!!! I know people that got stuck on highways and side streets and they had to leave their cars there for days until everything melted. A co-worker of mine was in traffic for 9 hours until he decided to park his car on 75N and walk the rest of the way home. A 12 hour journey to get home from work which usually only takes 40 min. Lets just say I was very happy to pull my snow chains out and drive around pulling people out of ditches.

Yep, that was crazy. My friend had to leave his Tacoma and walk home. My friends parents went downtown for a show and it got cancelled when they were on the way to it. It took them over 12 hours to get back home. Luckily I was watching it all from home.

 

[Bandit Runner]

[MENTION=112471]MarkinWMich[/MENTION] Great advice! I've lived in MI my whole life, and my wife is from Grand Rapids. We currently live about an hour south of you in Stevensville. We haven't had any snow stick to the ground here yet though.

 

[BettysNephew]

We just went through the first measurable snowfall last night. Friends were coming for dinner and got caught in a four car entanglement. Hopefully now everyone has got the fender benders under their belts and will drive with the egg between your foot and the pedal, at least for a while.

 

[macgyver_ga]

Oh Lord. You should of seen everyone in Atlanta last winter when it snowed. SHIT SHOW!!!!!!!!! I know people that got stuck on highways and side streets and they had to leave their cars there for days until everything melted. A co-worker of mine was in traffic for 9 hours until he decided to park his car on 75N and walk the rest of the way home. A 12 hour journey to get home from work which usually only takes 40 min. Lets just say I was very happy to pull my snow chains out and drive around pulling people out of ditches.

Ah yes, that was fun. Took my wife 10 hours to get home that night. She works at Home Depot in Smyrna and we live in Canton so she sat on 75 for a long time. Her phone went dead about 4.5 hours into the trip so I had no communication with her until she got home (bought her a car charger the next day) Took me 3 hours to get home. I was having to drive in ditches and through someone's front yard at one point to get around all the idiots stuck in the middle of the road. Kept the tow strap hooked up and pulled a few people out. 4x4 FTW, had no problems other than dodging idiots.

 

[MarkinWMich]

YouTube Video: Pure Michigan - Winter Virgins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsR0DeY7f1g

Good for a few laughs.

 

[THatfield]

no one in this state can drive in snow either. 2 inches and traffic is at a crawl. 12 inches and we're zooming at 70. W.T.F.

 

[MarkinWMich]

YouTube Video: Lake Michigan Ice from Coast Guard Helicopter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0jFCN7rjb4

I know, "off topic", but for those of you who have not visited any of the Great Lakes,...you need to take a few weeks vacation and make a trip. Most people describe them as "the ocean without salt and sharks"...they obviously haven't met up with a 5ft long musky with a mouth full of teeth...LOL. No, you can't see across to the other side...even in a plane. When the wind picks up, the waves will crash over the bow of 1000ft lake freighters...and toss them about like little bathtub toys. Good videos on YouTube. Planes and boats simply "disappear" like in the Bermuda Triangle. The western shorelines are beautiful sandy beaches. The eastern shorelines are rocky.

At any rate, since the previous video was about Michigan, I thought I'd share this one too.

 

[GhostRing]

I get off work at midnight in a fairly small town. I try to behave until then.

 

[MarkinWMich]

no one in this state can drive in snow either. 2 inches and traffic is at a crawl. 12 inches and we're zooming at 70. W.T.F.

"Inertia"

You can't drive slow in 12 inches of snow...go as fast as you can.:crazy: