People in states other than Georgia have some trouble driving on icy roads...

[Phentex]

From the AJC:

NEW YORK — Rain "flash-freezing" on roads and sidewalks left an icy glaze under feet and tires across much of the northeast on Sunday, causing crashes that claimed at least five lives.

A crash involving 30 to 50 vehicles on Interstate 76 outside Philadelphia killed one person, and two others died in a crash involving multiple vehicles on nearby Interstate 476, police said. In northeastern Pennsylvania, a man was killed after his car overturned on an icy road and he was thrown from it and hit by a commercial vehicle. In Connecticut, police cited slippery conditions in a crash that killed an 88-year-old woman who struck a utility pole in New Haven.

"This is the worst type of winter precipitation to combat, because it can freeze instantly and it doesn't need to be the whole pavement for vehicles crossing it to have problems," Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Eugene Blaum said.

The National Weather Service warned Sunday night that temperatures were expected to drop below freezing in areas from northern Maryland into Philadelphia and up through northern New Jersey. Any remaining moisture on roadways and sidewalks could re-freeze, and drivers were urged to use caution until conditions improve. Temperatures were expected to hit the 40s by midday Monday in the area.


More:

http://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/washington/freezing-rain-makes-northeast-roads-slick-at-least/njq8J/

[HappyMe]

1. Yup.

It was an ice nightmare here yesterday. It still is.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

2. most of the people who complain about our

snow driving skills don't realize... we don't drive in the snow... we drive in freezing rain and ice (most of the time).

sP

[Phentex]

3. I wouldn't say complain as much as advise us on their expert skills

and techniques for dealing with such events that we get here on rare occasion.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

4. indeed...point taken! :-) n/t

[MANative]

5. With better than 40 years' experience driving in the snow, it took my husband...

almost three hours to drive thirty miles to work yesterday. He said he saw no fewer than three dozen accidents along that stretch. Not much scares him (twelve years as a cop and a big old beast of a man), but he said he was shaking like a leaf when he finally reached his destination.

[Phentex]

6. It's got to be stressful...

for no matter how careful you are, you never know if someone else is going to slide into you!

[MANative]

7. Exactly! He said that there weren't a lot of cars on the road, but everyone was...

sliding all over hell. He stopped at one of the accidents to render aid (once a cop, always a cop), but they thankfully had only minor injuries, and a trooper pulled up right after. One of the things his department trained on was how to drive in extreme conditions, including ice, high winds, etc. Said that old training sure came in handy yesterday!

[pipi_k]

9. I couldn't believe

the fools speeding down the hills yesterday.

Mr Pipi and I went to breakfast about 8 miles from home yesterday. No weather going on when we left the house, but it started to mist a bit while we were out. The air was warm enough but the roads were very cold, and the mist froze immediately on the roads. We had to go uphill almost 800 feet elevation for about half of that distance and the hills were terrifying enough without people coming down in the other direction not even slowing down. I seriously thought we would be hit head on.

You can be careful, but you can't account for the idiocy of others.

[Hestia]

8. Here, there are some bridges paved with some sort of special concrete that keeps the ice from

sticking (at least, that is what I have been told) and helps tires grip the concrete. In the last couple of years, we, as a state, have finally purchased salt and sand trucks for icy roads. Problem here is when we get ice storms, when it warms the ice turns to rain, which washes the salt from the roads, then ices us again when the temperature drops.

I know we are under a huge Creativity Crisis* as far as new ideas, but when we start pouring money into infrastructure (we will), surely we can come up with a better way to pave roads with inclement weather in mind.

* http://qideas.org/articles/the-creativity-crisis/

https://hbr.org/2004/10/americas-looming-creativity-crisis

[2naSalit]

10. As a retired driver of over twenty years

one of the things I feel the need to tell people who seem oblivious of driving conditions is this,

"Just because you have a nice newer vehicle does not automatically mean that your driving skills have improved." It is a problem, has been for a long time now, that people feel invincible when they are in their cars. Inattentiveness and plain old willful ignorance or arrogance rule these days... and the inability to recognize conditions as a danger is no reason (to these bad drivers) to slow down.

Many insist upon passing everyone in sight and endangering everyone in their path just to be the first one at the stop light.