This is why I stay off the interstate during periods of inclement weather ...

[Scuba]

Last edited Sat Jan 25, 2014, 10:13 AM - Edit history (1)

Some discussion here this week about the relative safety of interstate highways compared with the "back roads". While the I system may be safer overall, it's my contention that during periods of snow, freezing rain and such, the I is less safe. Here's why I believe that ....

[onehandle]

1. Slow the fuck down. nt

[Scuba]

2. Are you kidding? It could take nearly two minutes longer to get to the destination!!!

[madokie]

7. I remember when I was young the only hiway between here and Tulsa OK, 35 miles away,

was a two lane and I was in a hurry to get to Tulsa for some reason so when I was leaving my hometown, Locust Grove, I was passing everything I could get around. Made it on to Tulsa and pulled in a gas station to fill up with gas and as I was putting the nozzle in the first car I passed went by. I couldn't have been 2 minutes ahead of them and here I was driving like crazy. I seen right then and there that speeding really doesn't help that much.
Only driving I do now in inclement weather is taking my wife to work and back and that mile is one long ass mile I'm here to tell you. I don't even take a chance. I creep along at 20 mph if that. My wife doesn't like driving in the snow and ice plus we have a a car port to park under so I don't have to scrap windows plus I can let the vehicle warm up and come back in where its warm so its not bone chilling cold when we get in so I'm elected to do the driving.
Those days makes for me being a real go getter, take her to work then go get her.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. Old Oklahoma 33

From what I remember of it, that stretch between Locust Grove and Chouteau was hilly and winding.

[madokie]

24. Yup and going back east towards Siloam Springs

it is that way up to smile a mile corner east of Rose ok.
Most of the traffic now has been shifted to the Cherokee Turnpike. You would be amazed at the numbers of people who live in northwest Arkansas that work in Tulsa.
I'd say that a good 50% of the traffic on the turnpike has Arkansas license plates on them.

[maddiemom]

48. And how about the drivers who will hold things up for five minutes while another driver loads up

groceries in a supermarket parking lot, waiting for a space a few spaces closer to the store. Meanwhile they could have parked a few slots further away and been inside the store, already.

[HuskyOffset]

20. Absolutely

That pileup wasn't caused by snow, it was caused by a whole lot of people driving too fast for the conditions. Back when I learned to drive, we had it pounded into our heads that you needed to maintain a three-second following distance when driving conditions were ideal and longer when conditions worsened. I don't know what happened to common sense when driving, but this video is clear evidence that it's not common at all. And this was people who should know better because in Wisconsin we get the same conditions every winter.

[aggiesal]

32. We had ASN old phrase . . .

Less gas.
Less brake.

Basically less gas, so you don't go as fast as normal.
And when you brake, don't slam the brakes. Use less brakes and slow the car evenly.

[a kennedy]

34. ditto, ditto, ditto, AND keep your d*mn distance.

[PatrynXX]

35. crazy how fast they were going right towards a wall

do'h... Homer Simpson might driver better than that...

[Scootaloo]

52. I know, right?

"Oh, it's snowing.. .Oh well, I guess I can still do 75, I have studs!"

[Le Taz Hot]

3. Fools do the same where I am

but in the fog. 0 feet visibility and these bozos are still trying to do 70 MPH. 'Course this year it hasn't been an issue since we're in a severe drought which means no fog so I suppose there is an upside.

[reddread]

4. missed that Selma pileup by minutes 20 years ago

On our way south we were pulled off for a short emergency service call near Ashlan and 99.
Once we got south of town a CHP came up from behind us and steered us onto an offramp.
Coming back after the long detour we could see Semi's on the road in front of us with their
step/bumper gaurds folded underneath them.
Hard to believe we could ever be luckier than to miss that mess.

[Le Taz Hot]

6. I remember that one.

iirc it was in 2006 or thereabouts. I was working for an insurance company at the time and one of the salespersons got caught up in it. He was alright but the company car was totaled.

[reddread]

17. no maam, this was closer to 94 and a good bit worse

a car full of nuns got flattened. not to be glib. it was truly a terrible incident. 50 cars or more. numerous deaths.

[Le Taz Hot]

21. Ah well,

the memory isn't what it used to be.

[reddread]

22. we sure havent had the fog issues we used to

I remember missing so many days of school they tacked them onto the next year.
bastards.

[IDemo]

30. Drought doesn't necessarily mean no fog

Our area is in severe drought conditions as well and we have had fog nonstop for several weeks due to a temperature inversion (warmer air on top trapping colder air below).

[Le Taz Hot]

37. Well, thank you, Mr. Technical.

[LuvNewcastle]

5. We had a little sleet and ice on I-10 last night and the highway patrol had to

close the bridge that takes people from Mississippi to Louisiana. People down here can't drive worth shit when there's any kind of ice around, and you know how bridges ice up worse than the roads. There were accidents on that MS/LA bridge and on several other roads around here. It's supposed to warm up today, so our problems should be over, at least until next week. We're supposed to have more of the same type of whether starting on Wednesday, I believe.

[NutmegYankee]

8. You may have that perspective because of where you live

As I live in Conn., which has trees right up to the edge of nearly every 2 lane curvy hilly back road, I tend to find the highways safer. There's little more dangerous to a car driver than a tree.

[LuvNewcastle]

10. We have trees growing close to the highway here in Miss. Of course,

we have trees everywhere here; it's like one big forest. Our road crews trim the trees back so much that the ones nearest the highway stop growing in that direction. When there's a hurricane or a tornado, the trees still fall down across the road, though.

[NutmegYankee]

12. Trimming isn't done well here.

I swear it feels that you are in constant shade in the summer on some roads because the trees canopy the road.

[LuvNewcastle]

14. Sounds beautiful, but it's not so good when those trees ice up and the limbs

fall off. I need to go up to New England one of these days. I've been to most of the regions in the U.S., but never New England. Anyway, hope y'all have a safe winter up there.

[NutmegYankee]

15. The Oct 29, 2011 snow storm was so bad just because of that.

The trees still had the leaves and the snow just brought branches down left and right. I lost power for 2 days after that.


"Over 700,000 of CLP's 1.2 million customers are without power (56%) Sunday, October 30"


Compare that to Super storm Sandy:

[loudsue]

43. New England is wicked beautiful any time of year.

Colder than hell in the wintertime, but way beautiful, nonetheless.

[madrchsod]

11. the interstate south of janesville is horrible

i gave up on that road and decided to take my luck with old rt51 to rt2 in illinois. so far it hasn't been bad.

i usually do not take the interstate in wisconsin because the state and county roads have better scenery and there`s better food along the way.

[One_Life_To_Give]

13. Just cause you can see your braking distance

doesn't mean people actually look.

[jimlup]

16. Was anyone seriously hurt?

In this video it seems that one lesson worth considering is this:

After a crash stay in your vehicle if you can and or until you are certain the egress is safe. Those people standing and watching dumbfounded appeared to be very vunerable.

[PeaceNikki]

25. Yes, one person was killed in that.

http://www.cbs58.com/news/local-news/VIDEO-Dozens-of-cars-collide-in-Hwy-4145-accident-235150171.html

[Lilyhoney]

26. A 63 year old man was killed in this accident. nt

[yourmovemonkey]

36. I'm glad someone else noticed that too

I was cringing as I watched those people in the initial accident walking on the highway while other cars were still coming. Maybe they thought they could help the other people, but it's just too dangerous. People should know to stay in their vehicles until emergency services arrive and close the area off.

[FourScore]

18. It's a tough call. Here in the northeast, the highways are the first to get plowed and salted.

The back roads tend to be plowed last, and there are winding, narrow, steep hills that can be lethal in icey, snowey weather -- especially for those without snow tires.

Like you, I tend to ride on the back roads because I have great snow tires, but even then I have seen myself and others lose control.

Speed is key. I keep my car in 1st or 2nd gear so I am not relying on the brakes. This should only be done, however, in cars with rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive cars can lose control more easily by doing that. Some people drive ridiculously fast in inclement weather conditions, but that's true on the windy narrow back roads and highways.

The best advice -- only go out if you absolutely have to.

[yourmovemonkey]

41. I agree

In upstate NY we have several bad storms every year, and the highways are always the first to be cleared. That makes them safer to drive on, but there can still be patches of ice, and the increased traffic on highways adds to the danger. People need to keep a safe distance from the cars in front of them. When I was learning to drive, the rule was 3 full car lengths of space between you and the person in front. There's always some yo-yo driving right on my bumper though.

The importance of good snow tires can't be emphasized enough either. It's not something to skimp on if you live where we do. Good tires can make a huge difference, and they're well worth any extra cost when weighed against the safety of you and your family.

[NutmegYankee]

49. I have a front wheel drive car.

I use the manual transmission all the time in the snow to slow down. It doesn't cause you to lose control at all. I've been driving that way for nearly 2 decades.

[Warpy]

19. All it takes is one jackass who thinks he can do the speed limit or above

The Interstates were usually closed in the high passes here and very sparsely traveled during snow storms. I'd hug that right lane muttering "I'm not going above 25 and you can't make me" because the roads here turn into black ice very quickly.

There was always some jackass roaring past me in a 4WD SUV, usually giving me the finger. I'd see him a mile later, after he'd done a few donuts and bounced off the guard rail, cops on their way.

At least with the passes closed, he didn't have a whole bunch of other people to take with him.

[PeaceNikki]

23. I was driving back from the Packer game that day. In fact, that was AT our exit.

In defense of some of the drivers, they were not going quite as fast as it appears. In addition, there's a hill leading up to this spot and traffic was very clear for miles leading up to it.

It was a mess.

[magical thyme]

27. I was in one of those pileups...

My car and I emerged unscathed, but a lot of cars didn't. Huge pileup on icy roads on a Massachusetts highway, back in the early 80s...I forget all the details, like where I was headed other than out of state...

[tblue37]

28. I am always amazed and *appalled* that people refuse to lower their speed to

handle nasty driving conditions.

I think that insistence on maintaining the normal road/highway speed--which is, of course, inevitably 5-10 miles above the posted speed limit-- is always worse on highways than on smaller roads, so trying to drive a highway in bad weather is probably even more dangerous rhan driving other roads, even though highways are more likely to have already received the road-clearing attentions of the city or state government.

In fact, because highways get cleared first, that probably means not only more drivers, but also more foolishly zooming drivers.

[tblue37]

29. I notice that the first hit was by a fast-moving car on one that was wisely moving at a much slower

speed. That would really make me mad if I were driving safely and some idiot hit me because of driving way too fast!

[abelenkpe]

31. Inclement weather? I don't drive if it rains!

Of course it's LA and no one here can drive in the rain. Snow or fog? Forget about it.

Pathetic I know....

[PasadenaTrudy]

40. Plus

we don't seem to get rain anymore

[abelenkpe]

44. I know! Hope we get a bunch soon

We drove up to SF to see relatives over the winter break and so many fields were unplanted with signs asking for more water. Until then I didn't realize how long it had been. We need rain!

But not like that year in the late 90s where it rained everyday for months...flooding everywhere...People being rescued when their cars were caught in fast moving water...it was so bad it was raining in our apartment in several rooms. And we were on the bottom floor back then. Upstairs they had huge buckets and trash cans all over the place just to catch the rain. Once the rain cleared up our landlord replaced the roof.

[dinger130]

33. This is one way

to increase new car production in the U.S.....fly like a bat on snowy heavily populated roads in the winter.

This video made my heart leap in my throat.

[barbtries]

38. wow.

so many people driving way too fast for the conditions. that was gnarly.

[PasadenaTrudy]

39. I am eternally grateful

that my dad moved the family to SoCal from Illinois way back in the '50s before I was born. I have never once driven in snow in all my 50 yrs. But don't get me started on L.A. freeways, which I avoid like the plague.

[FailureToCommunicate]

42. DON'T drive during worst of storm. If you HAVE to, SLOW DOWN. (Notice all the truckers were able to

slow and stop without jackknifing).
Get your car OUT of THE WAY, and get the heck OFF the roadway.
If you must, get out of your car and get away from the roadway.
And start calling 911 for help.
Pull out your travel first aid bag...and be ready to help, once crashes have stopped...

Having grown up in the midwest I know a bit about those kind of roads in winter conditions.

Thanks for posting Scuba.

[valerief]

45. Half the drivers don't drive safely. And if they do drive slow enough, they're

not watching the road, because they're busy texting.

America's highways are America's deathtraps. (Even moreso than the movie theaters, malls, churches, military bases, and schools deathtraps.)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

46. You might be more likely to go off the road if you are on a side road

because they don't get cleared as quickly, but chances are that the accident won't be as bad (unless you hit a tree) as if you got tangled up in something on an interstate. The main thing is that you can be the safest, smartest driver in the world but that won't help you much because there are such a lot of morons out there.

[maddiemom]

47. Very true. Another thing that really bothers me about drivers/inclement weather:

the fools who feel invulnerable in an SUV. As someone who's driven four wheel drive vehicles for long before they became the most popular thing on the road (and totally unnecessary for most drivers), I've cringed while commuting in bad weather when having them whiz by me at speed on icy roads. Even driving one that kicked in automatically when conditions got slippery, I've had some hairy experiences driving cautiously in bad conditions. I once did a complete 180 at 20 miles per hour on a local suburban road. All wheel drive does nothing for you on ice, despite advantages in deep snow or mud.

[NJCher]

50. lemmings

Is what I thought of when I watched it.

I also don't understand why the truckers even continued. I'd have pulled off to the side of the road or onto a travel stop if there was one.
Truckers have communication that most cars do not, so they should have known.

At one point it looked like it was almost getting cleaned up a bit but then it just got worse.

On a related topic, I've been following the I-94 pile-up that happened Thursday afternoon, Jan 23, after a lake effect storm. For those not familiar with the midwest, this is a stretch coming out of Chicago. It goes around the lake and it leads to I-80 and other heavy-traffic destinations. It interested me because I was on that road this summer and was quite impressed (not necessarily 100 per cent favorable) with I-80 across Indiana. That is some superhighway!

The chain-reaction collision near Michigan City was triggered by a sudden burst of heavy lake-effect snow that took drivers by surprise, said Indiana State Police Lt. Jerry Williams.

The result was 3 people killed and 20 injured, one seriously.

Here's a video which shows many pics of the pile-up:

Here are pics of the devastation, which went for a mile:

Slideshow at:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=A3&Date=20140124&Category=NEWS08&ArtNo=301240009&Ref=PH

Semis ran over cars. People were trapped in their cars and they had to literally dismantle or saw metal at the scene of the crash.

Some people posted what it was like inside the crash on social media. Here are some of their pics:

http://fox17online.com/2014/01/24/photos-reveal-what-it-looked-like-inside-i-94-pileup/#axzz2rS1NEgDu

Story and other pics:

http://fox17online.com/2014/01/24/photos-reveal-what-it-looked-like-inside-i-94-pileup/#axzz2rS1NEgDu

Personally, I will not travel under dangerous conditions. It simply is not worth it.



Cher

[liberal N proud]

51. Too many drivers don't realize how quickly it can all go wrong

and the don't have any respect for the power of their vehicle or the road conditions.

Macho gladiators!

[nilesobek]

53. Its definitely bad or inexperienced drivers.

My old, worn Korean War survival manual says this: "On good roads, when it is raining, reduce speed automatically 10mph. In fog, reduce speed an additional 20mph. If there is snow and ice, reduce speed an additional 35mph."

It also gives a stern warning in hilly country that jackknifed trucks and disabled cars can be in the middle of the road, just over the apex of a hill.

Its the rat race life style that promotes this. The "get to work or else," mentality raging down the road at 75mph in ice and snow because they were able to afford a shift-on-the-fly 4x4 SUV. The kind I always see in the ditch as I slide by at 20 in my Corolla.