Today was a holiday for my wife and me. She went to the gym in the morning while I surfed.
We then decided to go out and do a little shopping here and there.
We'd had maybe 3" of very dry snow, which stayed on the road because it was so cold, with a high of 10F today. For this reason, there was also no ice, it being too cold to allow any melting which could then freeze.
We got stuck behind a number of people who just couldn't get moving in the snow.
Whether they had badly worn tires or merely tires that weren't worth a darn when new I have no idea. I'm guessing that their driving skills may not have been up to the conditions as well, but anyone who lives here should know how to drive in snow.
We were on the Firestone Affinity Touring tires that came on the '02 Accord we were driving nearly new when I bought it. They are not bad at all in snow and are wearing like iron, but they are nothing special. With reasonable following disrances, I never even got into the ABS, as you shouldn't unless in a real emergency. ABS isn't for allowing you to drive faster, it's to save you in an emergency situation where steering combined with braking may allow you to avoid a collision.
My rant is twofold.
If you can't drive at a reasonable speed in winter conditions, then you should stay home or at least move aside and let other traffic by. Don't hold everybody else up.
If the problem is that you can't get any traction, while everyone around you is moving pretty well, then you either need to buy better tires or some new tires that have actual tread. Until that time, either stay home or pull off and let the rest of the traffic past.
To crawl at ten miles per hour and hold up everyone else is not acceptable, and this is what actually happened on some moderate hills.
The malafactors were driving two Toyotas, one a Corolla and the other a Camry. The Corolla driver had both the good grace and the good manners to drift into the center turn lane to allow other traffic by. The woman in the Camry couldn't seem to grasp this simple idea and stayed in the traffic lane, holding up a number of other drivers as well as creating an unsafe bunching of following traffic, although I maintained a safe distance behind the Avalon that was behind the Camry. The guy in the Escape behind me didn't get this and tailgated me hard. Ironically, when we finally came to a four lane section of road, the guy in the Escape whipped around me, with the name of a major multi-line insurer headquarted in Columbus emblazoned on its side.
I'm tempted to send an email, since this adjuster wasn't driving in either a safe or courteous manner, as would be appropriate when the name of your employer is stenciled on the side of the vehicle entrusted to your use.
Anyway, my wife and me both enjoyed the day. Part of the enjoyment was in our mutual appreciation of just how foolishly other people behave when driving.
You have to laugh.
We then decided to go out and do a little shopping here and there.
We'd had maybe 3" of very dry snow, which stayed on the road because it was so cold, with a high of 10F today. For this reason, there was also no ice, it being too cold to allow any melting which could then freeze.
We got stuck behind a number of people who just couldn't get moving in the snow.
Whether they had badly worn tires or merely tires that weren't worth a darn when new I have no idea. I'm guessing that their driving skills may not have been up to the conditions as well, but anyone who lives here should know how to drive in snow.
We were on the Firestone Affinity Touring tires that came on the '02 Accord we were driving nearly new when I bought it. They are not bad at all in snow and are wearing like iron, but they are nothing special. With reasonable following disrances, I never even got into the ABS, as you shouldn't unless in a real emergency. ABS isn't for allowing you to drive faster, it's to save you in an emergency situation where steering combined with braking may allow you to avoid a collision.
My rant is twofold.
If you can't drive at a reasonable speed in winter conditions, then you should stay home or at least move aside and let other traffic by. Don't hold everybody else up.
If the problem is that you can't get any traction, while everyone around you is moving pretty well, then you either need to buy better tires or some new tires that have actual tread. Until that time, either stay home or pull off and let the rest of the traffic past.
To crawl at ten miles per hour and hold up everyone else is not acceptable, and this is what actually happened on some moderate hills.
The malafactors were driving two Toyotas, one a Corolla and the other a Camry. The Corolla driver had both the good grace and the good manners to drift into the center turn lane to allow other traffic by. The woman in the Camry couldn't seem to grasp this simple idea and stayed in the traffic lane, holding up a number of other drivers as well as creating an unsafe bunching of following traffic, although I maintained a safe distance behind the Avalon that was behind the Camry. The guy in the Escape behind me didn't get this and tailgated me hard. Ironically, when we finally came to a four lane section of road, the guy in the Escape whipped around me, with the name of a major multi-line insurer headquarted in Columbus emblazoned on its side.
I'm tempted to send an email, since this adjuster wasn't driving in either a safe or courteous manner, as would be appropriate when the name of your employer is stenciled on the side of the vehicle entrusted to your use.
Anyway, my wife and me both enjoyed the day. Part of the enjoyment was in our mutual appreciation of just how foolishly other people behave when driving.
You have to laugh.
