Wintery Mix
Last night I had fun driving home from my weekly get-together in Minneapolis. It's about a 30 minute drive, and to make things interesting, I took the navigation suggested route, which gets you off the highway and puts you on back roads and county roads for the last several miles.
This route was made interesting because it was snowing and raining (sleeting), and had been raining a little earlier (to give a nice little layer of ice below the snow). Add to that the fact that the plows weren't out yet on these roads, and you've got a messy driving situation.
I had a couple of close calls where I got into the deeper bits of slushy snow with a couple of wheels, which dramatically increases the drag on that side and pulls the car in that direction. The steering wheel has no effect at this point, but you turn it anyway in the hope that when it starts working again you'll still have time to avoid the mailbox/tree/ditch. Gets the adrenaline pumping, that's for sure.
I watched the compact truck in front of me slide off the road about 50' before a 4 way stop. I think he got caught out in some slush that dragged his light back end out into the center of the road, pointing him at the ditch, and when he got traction there was nowhere to go but down. Unfortunately, he slid into a ditch basically sideways. Add to that the fact that it's been quite warm in the preceding days, and he ended up in a few inches of mud, sitting on a 20 degree angle slope. I suggested that he might be able to drive along the bank, up to the intersection and up the other side, but he decided that discretion was the better part of valor and he was going to call a tow truck. Probably a good idea because if he slid into the corn field, he would probably be instantly up to his axles in mud, and there was no guarantee he would be able to drive up the ditch since the approach angle was steep and he wasn't in a 4x4.
One more attempt by my car to throw itself off the road was averted, and I decided that 40mph in a 55mph zone was the best I was going to be able to do.
Oh yeah, and I'm going to be getting new brake pads soon. The SVT pads work fine when wet, work OK when cold, but absolutely don't work worth a damn when cold AND wet. It's like you have no brakes at all, which is very disconcerting when sliding down a hill towards an intersection where you're the only one with the stop sign.
This route was made interesting because it was snowing and raining (sleeting), and had been raining a little earlier (to give a nice little layer of ice below the snow). Add to that the fact that the plows weren't out yet on these roads, and you've got a messy driving situation.
I had a couple of close calls where I got into the deeper bits of slushy snow with a couple of wheels, which dramatically increases the drag on that side and pulls the car in that direction. The steering wheel has no effect at this point, but you turn it anyway in the hope that when it starts working again you'll still have time to avoid the mailbox/tree/ditch. Gets the adrenaline pumping, that's for sure.
I watched the compact truck in front of me slide off the road about 50' before a 4 way stop. I think he got caught out in some slush that dragged his light back end out into the center of the road, pointing him at the ditch, and when he got traction there was nowhere to go but down. Unfortunately, he slid into a ditch basically sideways. Add to that the fact that it's been quite warm in the preceding days, and he ended up in a few inches of mud, sitting on a 20 degree angle slope. I suggested that he might be able to drive along the bank, up to the intersection and up the other side, but he decided that discretion was the better part of valor and he was going to call a tow truck. Probably a good idea because if he slid into the corn field, he would probably be instantly up to his axles in mud, and there was no guarantee he would be able to drive up the ditch since the approach angle was steep and he wasn't in a 4x4.
One more attempt by my car to throw itself off the road was averted, and I decided that 40mph in a 55mph zone was the best I was going to be able to do.
Oh yeah, and I'm going to be getting new brake pads soon. The SVT pads work fine when wet, work OK when cold, but absolutely don't work worth a damn when cold AND wet. It's like you have no brakes at all, which is very disconcerting when sliding down a hill towards an intersection where you're the only one with the stop sign.
posted by Mark at 3:30 PM
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