An inch of snow, icy roads unleash 9 hours of traffic chaos across D.C. region

[brooklynite]

Source: Washington Post

From every corner of the region and into the wee hours of the morning, from every highway and byway, motorists vented their anger and frustration that they were still out there — at 1 a.m., then 2 a.m. and still at 3 a.m — because of ice and untreated roads, from a modest early-evening snowfall that came and went in a few hours.

As the beginning of the morning rush hour grew near, there were still reports of hazardous conditions and road blockages in many areas.

The detritus of the long commuting ordeal — scores of cars abandoned in and around the shoulders of highways — could complicate the drive to work, for those unfortunate enough to have to make it.

It was Washington’s familiar post-apocalypse look, minus any apocalypse, a bewildering sight to those accustomed to more frigid climes.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/21/an-inch-of-snow-icy-roads-unleash-9-hours-of-traffic-chaos-across-d-c-region/

---

One inch.

The weekend forecast is 8-12...

[Roland99]

1. Just like Atlanta a couple years ago

all in the timing.

[yeoman6987]

26. The mayor is getting big time negative from this. Holy cow!

The mayor even apologized and still many are upset.

[gwheezie]

2. I live in central va

I was driving and I thought it was rain but it was ice, o hit a patch of it and almost went off the road

[elleng]

21. Glad you're here to tell the story, gwheezie!

[mountain grammy]

3. Awwws, it's the big weekend for the anti choice bunch..

big demo planned at the Supreme Court. Bundle up, haters.

[MiniMe]

7. They are going to get snowed out

We are expecting a blizzard this weekend

[mountain grammy]

9. They claim they will march regardless of weather..

they have their god to take care of them.. and you better believe or else

[MiniMe]

11. Yeah, good luck with that

[notadmblnd]

16. Tell them to bring their snow shovels with them

They might as well do some good by clearing sidewalks while they're marching.

[47of74]

24. That would be doing good for other people.

That's a bit too much to ask for these clowns.

[notadmblnd]

25. I know that's right.

nt

[yeoman6987]

28. They won't. They won't be allowed. State of emergency will not allow it

They will postpone or cancel it.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

36. I am certain demonstrators will be out.

Last edited Thu Jan 21, 2016, 04:56 PM - Edit history (1)

Maybe not as many, but someone will be there. I have never known a little cold weather to stop people from attending this annual demonstration. Do not dismiss their dedication.

As for a state of emergency declaration, the First Amendment guarantees five freedoms in particular:

Congress (and by extension other government actors) cannot:

1) require you to observe a religion,
2) prevent you from observing a religion,
3) silence the press or you (with some restrictions; i.e., shouting "fire" in a crowded theater),
4) prevent you and your like-minded cohorts from assembling, and
5) prevent you from petitioning for a redress of your grievances.

First Amendment >>> emergency declaration. Slam-dunk for the ACLU.

[Cassiopeia]

40. Did they need a permit for the event?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

41. I'm no expert.

I'm not a participant, so I can't say. I can check YouTube, but I think that in previous years, they have marched down the middle of Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues. They start near the Newseum and head east up Jenkins Hill (aka Capitol Hill) on Constitution Avenue. Once past the Capitol, they hang a right and head for the front of the Supreme Court.

Surely a march up the middle of the road requires a permit. If they stay on the sidewalk, which would be possible with a diminished crowd, they would just be pedestrians and therefore not in need of a permit.

The ACLU would take a dim view, and rightly so, were they to be told that a snow emergency overrides their First Amendment rights.

[Cassiopeia]

42. I ask about the permit

because that would be easily revoked under a snow emergency. Then the crime would be marching without a permit etc, not a revocation of their 1A rights.

I think it's a moot point. Nobody is even going to be able to get to the march even if they still wanted to. The area simply does not have enough equipment to handle the weather they're about to have.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

43. I (think I) know there's a distinction between a parade and a demonstration.

A parade requires a permit, and the organizers get to determine who is in the parade. A demonstration requires no permit, but anyone can show up who wants.

jberryhill, did I get that right?

If everyone who walked along a sidewalk with a sign were arrested in DC,... Well, I can't even think of an end to that sentence.

Full disclosure: don't take legal advice from me.

[Cassiopeia]

44. I found this info

When do you need a permit? Protests of 25 people or more on the National Mall or other National Park Service operated spaces in DC require a permit (click here to see a listing of those spaces) require a permit, as does any event that requires streets to be closed. The Metropolitan Police, because they lost an important court case, are required to allow permit-less marches in the street as long as they stay within a single lane. Demonstrations on public sidewalks are legally permissable without a permit so long as they don't block the walkway and fewer than 100 people are expected.

http://washingtonpeacecenter.org/permitprocess

So I imagine permits were issued for this event.

Anyway, I still doubt it will happen. A few people that live in the area might hike in by foot to make a show of it, but that will be about all is my guess.

[elleng]

20. RIGHT, January 22,

my daughter's birthday (I recall being in hospital, in labor, watching + hearing news about demonstrations!)

[yeoman6987]

27. That will be cancelled or postponed. Nothing will happen this weekend in DC.

[LiberalEsto]

4. My daughter had to drive from Virginia to Maryland last night, doing 10 mph

She said there were overturned cars everywhere. She was terified but made it home safely, though very late.

[elleng]

19. Oh GEE, LibEst.

GLAD she made it!

[47of74]

32. I've had drives like that before

I live near Dubuque, Iowa. I used to travel back and forth between there and the Quad Cities for work - about 75 miles. If it got really bad I'd just stay down there but there were a couple times when I thought it'd be fine and I'd get up north a ways and it'd be an adventure getting home. One time I couldn't even see out past the headlights for a few minutes. I somehow still made it home that night.

I remember one time I was driving home the morning after a snowstorm. I got to Maquoketa - which is about the 1/2 way point and there were a whole bunch of vehicles in ditches or overturned. I remember thinking to myself geezus looks like someone bombed a drive in.

[pinboy3niner]

5. Been there, done that

My normal half-hour drive home from work in D.C. to McLean VA took 5 hours in the snow on the same day in 1982 when an Air Florida flight crashed in the Potomac AND we had a fatal Metro accident in a subway tunnel.

[Skittles]

46. I remember that day

I was TDY, watching the river rescue on TV

[RoccoR5955]

6. I live in the Hudson Valley in NY

To us this is laughable. If there is one lousy inch of snow, I don't even shovel out my driveway! They may salt the major roads, but my road still has snow on it. Not to mention, we drive with all season tires when snow is this light.

[MiniMe]

8. They ignored this one because we are getting a blizzard this weekend

The extended cold is unusual here

[JudyM]

12. I'm a great snowy road driver and here to say it wasn't the snow, it was the frozen road. Even with

good tires I was sliding off course at 10mph on what looked to be just a little snow on the road.

A native new englander, i can drive through any weather as well as the best of em. I trained my snow/ice reactions years ago by practicing in a big empty icy lot, accelerating and slamming on the brakes to force a spin, then rapidly coming out of it.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

15. Yeah, one inch of snow is nothing. But add the ICE ...

That makes for some bad driving. Four-wheel-drive becomes more dangerous than two, because you can have all four wheels sliding any which way. Stopping is impossible, steering is a joke, and any grade will stop everything.

Ice is not fun.

[notadmblnd]

17. There are always those that think they can drive through anything.

Even here in Mich where we are all seasoned winter weather drivers. They are the ones that usually cause the accidents and keep on going after they cut off someone or blow past them in their 4wd suvs.

One of the things I was taught (especially when driving on ice) is to put your car in a lower gear when starting and stopping. Putting your car in first gear then easing into second when starting off from a light will help to reduce the slide and provide a little more traction. Pulling down into second, then first gear while gently breaking will help to slow the car and limit sliding when stopping. Of course you don't want to be driving at top speeds under icy conditions.

If one is driving on bald tires- well good luck with that- its one of the more dangerous things that I think people can do and even if one is an experienced winter driver, I recommend just staying put til the roads are cleared.

[KittyWampus]

33. Preach it and AMEN! It's most often the idiots who think their 4 wheel drive means

they can do stupid, risky things in bad conditions.

[hedgehog]

10. This is what you get with low, low taxes.

Upstate New Yorker driving clean, snow free roads here.

[yeoman6987]

30. DC and Maryland don't have low taxes.

[s-cubed]

13. 1 inch, but extremely slippery. nt

[bigworld]

14. Some observations

The government here:
- does not have any sort of annual car inspection, and there are loads of bald tires are on the road
- does not have near enough skilled plowers or equipment

and I have to add

People here:
- cannot drive in the snow, and one accident backs up everything.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

29. "The government here ... does not have any sort of annual car inspection...."

To clarify, where is "here"? There are several jurisdictions in the vicinity of DC.

AFAIK, DC has an annual a biennial safety inspection.

ETA: for most people, it's every 2 years.

DC Department of Motor Vehicles

I am certain that Virginia has an annual safety inspection. Until the early 1980s, the safety inspections were made every 6 months.

Virginia State Police Vehicle Safety Inspection Frequently Asked Questions

[CharlotteVale]

31. Virginia does have an annual safety inspection.

[bigworld]

38. Nope -- MD has nothing

except when for when you buy your car.

And DC has a biennial inspection for commercial vehicles, not personal ones. Mayor Fenty ended that because it saved $400,000.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/28/AR2009122802074.html

There are a lot of unsafe vehicles out there.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

39. DC and Maryland: You're right.

A coworker who lives in DC says that, despite what the website says, the inspection is for emissions only. Perhaps someone in the DC government reading this can update the page, since the statement hasn't been true for the last 6 years.

Maryland: also true. The safety inspection is upon transfer of title. My understanding is that the coppers are supposed to keep an eye peeled for defects and issue tickets upon finding any. I do not drive much in Maryland, so I wouldn't know.

Those are, for me however, not "here." In the Commonwealth of Virginia, we do have annual safety inspections. I take those seriously. I don't take a car in for a safety inspection unless it has passed my inspection first.

I agree that there are a lot of unsafe vehicles out there. Many of them have Virginia plates.

So some governments in or near DC do not have regular vehicle safety inspections. One, though, does.

Don't get out on the roads if you don't have to.

Best wishes.

[bigworld]

45. Stay safe, friend!

[elleng]

18. Inadequate forecast communication, lack of road crew readiness lead to commuting nightmare.

'A mere dusting of two inches of fluffy snow Wednesday evening brought traffic to a standstill. Some commuters were stuck in traffic for more than six hours, well past midnight, on major roads throughout the region.

Ineffective weather forecast communication and lack of preparation by road crews converged to cause the nightmare.'>>>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/01/21/poor-forecast-communication-lack-of-road-crew-readiness-lead-to-commuting-nightmare/?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_blame-1150am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

[47of74]

22. Yeah ice is always bad news.

Being up here in Iowa an inch of snow isn't so bad.

But if you throw ice into the mix forget it.

[liberal N proud]

23. Traffic is always chaos in DC

We were traveling through the DC area last May and sat for 2 hours on 95 approaching the Beltway. It was the middle of the day. It's insane.

[KittyWampus]

34. sometimes there's a point where cold rain turns into light snow… and the roads get icy.

[Nay]

35. Well, to be fair, DC is used to a couple of inches of snow. Last night it was the

extremely icy conditions, rather than just the presence of snow, that made this mess.

Having said that, I've just come from the grocery store, where things are going swimmingly for the grocery business. Luckily, around here they know to put on twice as many cashiers before a snowmaggedon. I got out of there in no time, and there was still plenty of milk and bread left. LOL.

[scscholar]

37. If so many people didn't insist on having one of those damn things...

there wouldn't be bad traffic. Wouldn't be bad traffic.

[CommonSenseDemocrat]

47. Actually, more like 24