Snow driving...

[bullmoose88]

Many of us have lived through blizzards and have been smart enough to stay home (when possible), but at what point do you say, this is too much snow to drive through?

I've lived in Upstate NY and have driven 4 feet behind a plow in a blizzard...last year, I missed one day of work due to the mega snows we got, and only after I turned around halfway (the easy halfway).

So what's your limit?

[Indy Texas]

I live in Houston. We stay home if there are a couple of patches of ice on the ground.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I live in Houston the Midlands. We stay home if there are a couple of patches of ice on the ground.

[bullmoose88]

Wimps!

[MaxQue]

Wimps!

I don't think they are wimps. If anything, it's dangerous because of the other drivers which can't drive on ice/snow. It takes practice and they don't have it.

[Adam Griffin]

I don't mind driving in snow and ice, and consider myself quite a skilled driver in the terrain given how rarely I see it. But yes, it's very hard to trust the other people who inhabit the road with me at any given time.

[Flake]

Wimps!

I don't think they are wimps. If anything, it's dangerous because of the other drivers which can't drive on ice/snow. It takes practice and they don't have it.

Yeah, I have no idea how to operate a car on a road with snow on it.

[morgieb]

I live in Sydney. What is snow?

[Tender Branson]

I'm generally a really good driver, even among snow and ice.

But sometimes there are snowstorms here that dump 2 or 3 feet of snow even down in the valley.

Usually, the snow plows are driving the whole night to clear the main roads and spray salt onto the street so that the snow more or less vanishes & the street does not get icy.

Which means, as long as you drive on the main roads, you are pretty safe even if it snowed 2-3 feet overnight. Of course, winter tires are mandatory so that the car does not go off the street.

But, if you get off the main roads and drive up some mountain road - this can get really tricky:

After I got my driving license, I once went up a mountain/foresty road after it snowed through during the night. The plows had cleared the fallen snow, but a layer of snow remained. And that layer was slippery and hard as sh*t. So, you are driving up and at some point your wheels are spinning through because of no grip, you brake but it doesn't help because your whole car is slipping backwards, down the slippery road. At some point, my car was in the middle of the road, but not up and down, but left and right ! My rear-end was in some snow-pile.

I did some trick and accelerated fast and turned over the steering wheel, to bring the front of my car back to face the downhill side.



Since then, I only use snow chains for mountain roads.

[dead0man]

As an old that has spent most of his driving years in snowy places of course I can drive in the snow.  The trick (it's not really a trick) is to approach stops and sharp turns SLOWLY.  A good snow vehicle helps.  4wd or AWD is the best, skinny tires and lightweight vehicle help too.  I like driving in the snow.  I haven't owned a RWD car in years so snow is the only time I ever get to slide my ass around.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I pretty much drive in the snow until they tell you to stay off the roads so they can clear them.  I'm not going out to the local pub with 6" on the ground, but work, yeah.

The only time I don't drive is in freezing rain/sleet/ice.........no, just no.  We have more bridges and overpasses in Pittsburgh than any other city in the world, except Venice Italy.  You do not tempt fate on ice around here.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

I try to not drive in snow unless I absolutely have to.  It's just miserable. 

[Hatman 🍁]

No limits. I've biked in blizzards.

[Smash255]

I missed one day of work last year because of snow/ice.  The only reason I missed it was the night before I got hit by a wrong way driver and renting a car in an ice storm would have been a pain in the ass so I waited the extra day.

[AndrewTX]

Wimps!

Coming from someone who lived in New England for almost 30 years, I would have thought the same toning. But living here in Houston I've learned that so many highways run so far above ground that they freeze like nothing. I still drive on it because I know how to, but understand why so many places shut down. Plus we don't have he equipment or recourses to deal with icy highways all over the city

[Bigby]

If even one inch of snow falls upon Atlanta, the whole city will shut down.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Its a fact of life here from November to April.  Usually the warning shot comes unexpectedly during October and everyone gets into winter driving mode quickly.

Slow and steady is the best.  Especially at intersections and corners.  Be alert and anticipate at least 2 steps ahead at all times.

[angus]

Snow driving...

Usually we hear those words in the opposite order:  driving snow.

I generally avoid driving in the snow whenever possible.  Sometimes they don't cancel on bad days, so I deal with it.  One time a colleague had a big party planned on a day in December when it started snowing badly.  I ended up staying home and drinking the bottle of tequila that I had bought to bring to her party.  I offered my apologies and brought to her office on the following day a different, but very nice, bottle of tequila and some limes to go with it.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

My limit is when the roads are so filled I can't get my car out.

[dead0man]

If even one inch of snow falls upon Atlanta, the whole city will shut down.

I was visiting my son in Atlanta a few years ago and it snowed...maybe 1.5" and the place does shut down.  We drove around for 2 hours looking for a place to eat....in the early evening on a Saturday night.  Finally found a Burger King in Marietta.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

My daughter lives in NOLA and there's a freeze warning down there......even with no ice it will probably quiet things down a bit.  Ugh.

[Boston Bread]

With blowing snow and -19C (-4F) wind chills at noon today everything's all business as usual here.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Our cars run on snow up here.

[Hatman 🍁]

With blowing snow and -19C (-4F) wind chills at noon today everything's all business as usual here.

Jesus, where are you?

It was damn cold this morning here (10F) with wind gusts in my face at 30m/h, but I still biked to work!

[Mr. Illini]

Literally no limits for me, unless it is so bad that my car cannot move.

I drove in the Great Chicago Blizzard of 2011 (pictured below), although I had to wait until the first round of plows went through and until after the white out conditions were over. Still got stuck a few times. Probably not the greatest idea we ever had, but what can I say, we have fun.