I got an email from a friend today, mimicking people who drive SUVs.
“With my SUV I can haul ass over snowy and icy streets with total impunity, without really even paying attention to anything, because my fancy SUV makes me immune to all the basic laws of physics.
It seems a lot of people with SUVs or 4WDs think that way.”Here’s a SUV wreck from earlier today in Arlington:
Full disclosure. I own an older (vintage?) SUV with all-wheel drive and 4 wheel drive. It goes great in the snow. Operative word: GOES. Everyone stops the same. Some people mistakenly think if they have an SUV they are invincible. Not so. Everyone stops the same. ON ice, there is probably no stopping.
There is nothing I like better on a snow day than going 4 wheeling. I don’t go off-road. You can’t see what’s under you but there are some places that are really fun on a snow day, especially over in Loudoun County. I used to see red foxes, horses in pastures, otter and buzzards. Now I see nothing but new housing for miles and miles and miles. Its ugly and sad.
I didn’t go today. I saw the fools out on my street, tearing down the road. There were just too many people out there without 4 wheel drive to make me comfortable. No one should have been out there today without at least all wheel drive. I feared the fools. Tomorrow I will go. There are still places that will be fun.
I will make sure I am not one of those SUV drivers that my friend made fun of. I will know I am not invincible. I know I can go some places other people can’t go. My car is close enough to being a beater car that I don’t worry about cosmetics. I will also know that I have “tires of clay” just like everyone else. I know that I cannot defy the laws of physics while stopping.
Did you go out or stay home? Share your driving experiences.
Didn’t budge an inch. This Yank has learned to dislike snow….and car repair shops.
I’m indoors using the time to clean the grout in my tile floors. DH made the trip to the store this morning for more supplies (food & champagne). I’ve only ventured out to watch the dogs zoom through the yard.
I heard some radio commentator talking about driving into the station in D.C. in the snow. He said it was a bit tricky. Once, when he tried to make a right turn, he just kept on going straight. Slid right down the road.
I recall as a kid in Michigan that the plowed snow was so high at intersections that people put yellow or orange tennis balls on their vehicle radio antennas so other drivers could see them coming to a corner. I also remember the chains for your tires.
In the nearest strip mall, we have some plowed-up snow mountains that appear to be about 15-20 feet high. A bit surprising given that I doubt we’ve had much more than a foot-and-a-bit of snow all winter. Nonetheless, I’ll be interested to see how long those piles last before they melt away.
Sad. Prince Georges police officer was making a traffic stop, lost control of his vehicle, crashed through a fence, and was killed. They are thinking black ice.