Why is Momentum Theory so hard to grasp RE: winter driving?

Lack of experience and/or care.
Lots of school districts removing driver's ED because of budget constraints. "Taxation is theft" and all.
Lack of parents being parents and teaching their kids how to properly drive. Will also blame everybody else for their kid's problems.
Complacency kills.
Person in front of them causing it.
Ill-equipped for the travel.
Not knowing when it's time to turn around.
Overzealous law enforcement that does not allow any sort of practice in empty or abandoned parking lots - also leading to lack of experience.

I'm willing to bet some of those cars that got stuck is some sort of doctor that also wonders why weight control is a hard theory to grasp.
 
I wish drivers would slow down on icy roads, blowing snow or foggy conditions. It would only add a few minutes to the trip in most cases. It’s like those drivers don’t have a second to spare when behind the wheel, and it’s unsafe for them and me as well.
I get passed all the time in bad weather, and often see some of the same vehicles in the highway ditches. I’ve had to stop to assist in wrecks with injuries a few times, vehicles that had blown by me in bad weather only minutes before.
 
That's on driver training (or the lack thereof).

Avoiding dedicated snows in a place that gets real winter is like deer hunting with a .22LR. Yeah, you can do it, and many people have, and yes, .308 is better, but neither is going to help you much if you can't shoot. Better training however, never makes the .22LR the better cartridge, it just makes you more proficient with both of them.
All seasons have a friction characteristic that makes them unpleasant in snow: They hold, laterally, until they spontaneously let go. Since sliding friction is less than static, they keep sliding sideways once they start. Even a "good" driver would have a hard time pulling out of that one.

Snows, on the other hand, maintain or enhance their lateral grip once they start sliding, so one can pull out of a spin by countersteering, which comes intuitively. In short, they reward drivers of all abilities.

In my 30 years of driving I've been around dolts who arrive, breathlessly declaring "it's really bad out there." Well, it was for them. They're the same people who say "I'll get by on all seasons" and are the ones who get stuck at traffic lights on hills, blocking things for everyone.
 
My two cents.

Cars today are too low to drive in fresh snow.
In all but the worst cases roads are plowed relatively quickly and/or snow melts within a couple of days if not hours.
No states require* snow tires and why would they when winter temps can swing into the 60's within a day or days,

Basically for the driving public at large there just aren't that many opportunities to learn how to drive in the snow so expectations should be adjusted accordingly.

On an aside I remember when my dad had to put studded snows on his Bonneville because the roads remained snow covered for a week or more. My sister lives in the same area and decades later their roads are plowed fairly quickly so A/S for her. I haven't had to drive on snow covered streets since 1994. Think about that.


*Some areas do require chains under certain conditions but that's not really relevant.
 
Plain and simple: a body in motion tends to stay in motion. This afternoon, the Twin Cities got dumped with 6"+ of thick, heavy snow in a matter of 6 hours. We're now expecting a second round overnight which will bring an additional 4".

I couldn't believe the amount of people I saw stuck in the ditch. What is so hard about paying attention to your vehicle and surroundings?

When the weather gets like this, I RARELY stop for stop signs. I RARELY attempt to use ANY major freeway unless absolutely necessary. I plan my route around known inclines and sharp turns. My goal is to keep my car in motion at a pace that's both safe while providing the momentum needed to overcome 99% of snow drifts and the like. I can't remember the last time I got stuck, and that includes 2 winters driving a Panther with 18" low profile snow tires on the rear only.
What happens if you come up to a busy 4-way stop intersection? You gonna blow by the stop sign, and possibly t-bone another car? Or what happens with everyone else has the same mentality as you?

There is no "*" when it comes to stop signs. It's still a stop sign you need to obey in all weather conditions.

Having your car properly prepared for the snow, will allow you to stop, maneuver and get going again.

Major arteries tend to be better, since they usually get the first attention when it comes to plows.
 
My goal is to keep my car in motion at a pace that's both safe while providing the momentum needed to overcome 99% of snow drifts and the like.
This is exactly how I have passed stuck Jeeps and trucks in my Scion, even when sporting all seasons.
 
What cracks me up in my area is drivers will go 10-15 mph under when it's just raining, but add some snow and ice to the mix and everyone is trying to speed, tailgating etc. I don't get it 🤦
Yeah, in the city there is a subset of drivers that just kind of accept that they might have an accident and don't really seem to try that hard to avoid it? In the country where an accident is likely to be head on, I don't find people so casual about losing control...
I find now that we have speed limiters on the transport trucks they aren't quite so dumb on the 4 lane highways and some actually slow down for slippery roads.... 10-15 years ago it seemed they would just go 70mph on ice and snow until one of them had an accident... I still avoid 4 lane highways as much as I can though in bad weather.
 
Physics is not taught in high school anymore? That can't possibly be true. I did some substitute teaching three years ago and it was definitely offered as an elective, just as it was in the 80s when I was in high school.
Physics is thought in school, but problem is that a lot of physics has to be experienced.
If kids are not playing outside, they can’t fall down on ice, they can’t hit something bcs. too fast on sled, they can’t fall off the bike when slippery if they are not on the bike in the first place. Therefore, they don’t have understanding how slick roads “work” if they never had to deal with it.
All that is shaping someone’s experiences, and once they are actually behind steering wheel on ice roads, they know that things are serious, even if they have never driven on it.
The problem are helicopter parents. In CO they passed law that parents of kids who play away from home cannot get in trouble bcs. Karen saw them and since Karen doesn’t have anything in life to do, she call cops.
 
Physics is not taught in high school anymore? That can't possibly be true. I did some substitute teaching three years ago and it was definitely offered as an elective, just as it was in the 80s when I was in high school.


My thinking is that it is taught but it needs to be experienced.


I just read @edyvw comment above.
 
Plain and simple: a body in motion tends to stay in motion. This afternoon, the Twin Cities got dumped with 6"+ of thick, heavy snow in a matter of 6 hours. We're now expecting a second round overnight which will bring an additional 4".

I couldn't believe the amount of people I saw stuck in the ditch. What is so hard about paying attention to your vehicle and surroundings?

When the weather gets like this, I RARELY stop for stop signs. I RARELY attempt to use ANY major freeway unless absolutely necessary. I plan my route around known inclines and sharp turns. My goal is to keep my car in motion at a pace that's both safe while providing the momentum needed to overcome 99% of snow drifts and the like. I can't remember the last time I got stuck, and that includes 2 winters driving a Panther with 18" low profile snow tires on the rear only.
Cuz everyone is in a hurry to go nowhere and playing on the phone instead of paying attention to DRIVING said vehicle.
 
All seasons have a friction characteristic that makes them unpleasant in snow: They hold, laterally, until they spontaneously let go. Since sliding friction is less than static, they keep sliding sideways once they start. Even a "good" driver would have a hard time pulling out of that one.

Snows, on the other hand, maintain or enhance their lateral grip once they start sliding, so one can pull out of a spin by countersteering, which comes intuitively. In short, they reward drivers of all abilities.

In my 30 years of driving I've been around dolts who arrive, breathlessly declaring "it's really bad out there." Well, it was for them. They're the same people who say "I'll get by on all seasons" and are the ones who get stuck at traffic lights on hills, blocking things for everyone.
All Season tires are of course a spectrum. I found the LTX M/S (and M/S2) to be surprisingly good in the snow and ice, but others are absolutely horrendous and exactly as you describe.
 
Most unusual icy road wreck I came across a few minutes after it happened (many years ago) -
In my work truck, waiting to turn right onto an iced over 2 lane highway, I waited until a new looking blue Dodge Dakota went by at what I thought was a high speed for the conditions. I remember going pretty slow once I was on the highway, it was so slick.
Several minutes later I spotted the back end of the Dakota pickup sticking up through the ice of a pond, which was on the edge of the road. The driver had made it out and was getting up on his feet at the edge of the pond. I stopped and ran to help him up the embankment, he was soaking wet head to toe, and it was -20 C. Got him into my work truck and cranked up the heat. He wanted to go home, so I drove him there. He assured me he would call his wife as soon as he got in, so someone could look after him.
 
I wish drivers would slow down on icy roads, blowing snow or foggy conditions. It would only add a few minutes to the trip in most cases. It’s like those drivers don’t have a second to spare when behind the wheel, and it’s unsafe for them and me as well.
I get passed all the time in bad weather, and often see some of the same vehicles in the highway ditches. I’ve had to stop to assist in wrecks with injuries a few times, vehicles that had blown by me in bad weather only minutes before.
I think i’ve only had that happen once. I actually started driving faster once i realized how few of those faster drivers were in the ditch. could be a regional thing. We get mostly snow up here.

I figure I will ditch it every so often. Been almost 20 years since I have. But its bound to happen some time.
 
I was just pondering this driving Wolf Creek several days ago. It was snow pack and slick in spots, but we don't really get the ice the Midwest does.

Regardless, my personal policy is maintain a reasonable level of speed on the climbs. That's usually 40-45mph for me in 4wd trucks with good all terrains.

No one seems to understand you get INSTANT "gravity" braking if you let off the throttle on a climb. Instead, you've got drivers CREEPING at 15-20 mph thinking it's "safer" but they're just one small problem away from simply being stuck.

Going downhill of course no one understands compression braking.....it's just brake light city.
 
Understanding tires for one, and most every new vehicle seems to have low profile wide tires, I'll reference as the 'sport' look, even the AWD vehicles, the sport look obviously sells better. And being they're getting an AWD, what could be better in any road conditions...

My observation of a Lexus IS350, basically (to me) a AWD v6 Corolla, my thought was unclear as to what makes sense to any of this, a car with AWD but low profile wide tires, so you could off-road with it but no ground clearance? And why would anyone who wants a fast car buy an AWD? I'm sure there's reason, fun car, and it might be better handling in the rain.

Next I'd say the driver's anxiety and lack of patience, we all probably make mistakes when driving and best to stay away from any and every vehicle as much as you can. I'll even slow way down just to stay back from the driver in front of me, or a slow pace in the left turn lane to stay back out of the intersection until it's cleared.

Tailgating and not using the turn signal are 2 other things that may cause confusion as road conditions change...I try to stay way back especially on the highway where there can be a whole gang of cars tailgating each other, and sometimes you can't even see there's another car in front of said tailgater's.
 
My observation of a Lexus IS350, basically (to me) a AWD v6 Corolla, my thought was unclear as to what makes sense to any of this, a car with AWD but low profile wide tires, so you could off-road with it but no ground clearance? And why would anyone who wants a fast car buy an AWD? I'm sure there's reason, fun car, and it might be better handling in the rain.

AWD is not just for off roading. It has it's perks on the track and in everyday driving. The benefits start to shine in poor weather conditions.
 
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