Snow Advisory

[CYVADER]

I know for a fact I have more than half a brain. I don't think I have to get to places as fast as I can but I do have confidence in my driving so I feel safe and confident I can still do the speed limit when there is a little snow outside.

Its pretty simple really, don't go changing lanes abruptly, don't go slamming your brakes, drive smooth and you won't be sliding around.

agreed. i tend to think that the ones who drive 55 in a 65 are more likely to cause the accidents, but that's just me. slow drivers make me nervous because you can tell they don't have confidence in what they are doing and you never know what the hell they are going to do next; like drive right on somebodys *** for 10 miles and then right before you are right next to them in the passing lane, they think it is a great time to jump over in front of you and go around the other driver. slow drivers just **** me off generally speaking, especially when they are driving side by side with another car and you can't go anywhere.

 

[Chad]

At the risk of sounding rude, the media doesn't issue the advisories, warnings and watches, they report them. So if you want to complain about the national weather service trying to increase their ratings, feel free.

You can probably get a LIVE, in person, weather update whenever you want - or at the very least keep her on speed dial!:cute:

 

[Cyclonesrule91]

I know for a fact I have more than half a brain. I don't think I have to get to places as fast as I can but I do have confidence in my driving so I feel safe and confident I can still do the speed limit when there is a little snow outside.

Its pretty simple really, don't go changing lanes abruptly, don't go slamming your brakes, drive smooth and you won't be sliding around.

Amen brother. Driving smart is the way to go. The idiots that are going the speed limit on the roads and then they hit a patch of snow and hit the brakes hard till they are going 10 mph are the ones I'd like to punt.

 

[cstrunk]

The National Weather Service issues watches, warnings, and advisories to give people a head's up on what kind of weather they are going to encounter if they decided to venture out on the roads. If a snow advisory is issued, you should know to expect a couple of inches of snow and the roads could be slick. You would be suprised how many people don't know how to drive at all in slick conditions. Like others have said, most of the time you aren't going to have to worry about how you are driving, but you have to constantly drive defensively in order to worry about how OTHERS are driving in all kinds of conditions - good or bad.

 

[jumbopackage]

agreed. i tend to think that the ones who drive 55 in a 65 are more likely to cause the accidents, but that's just me. slow drivers make me nervous because you can tell they don't have confidence in what they are doing and you never know what the hell they are going to do next

That's BS. I drive slow when the conditions warrant, even though I have complete confidence it what I'm doing. It's just plain safer. You drive for the conditions, and that includes drivers around you. If you're in a traffic jam, you don't try and do the speed limit, you slow down or stop just like everyone else.

It doesn't have to look slick to be slick. You don't have to be the one who loses control to be involved in an accident where someone is injured or killed. Not only can your vehicle not react as fast, but other people's vehicles can't react as fast when the roads are garbage.

Driving slow when the roads stink might take you an extra 5 minutes, but it might save your life, or someone else's. Unless you're driving an ambulance and someone is flat lining in the back, nobody's life depends on you getting where you're going 5 minutes faster.

 

[DaddyMac]

I agree that the local channels do not issue the advisories, but they do make a big deal out of things. They cut into the regular programming on tv and ramble on and on.

I get a kick out of all the live remotes they do during storms. Some poor schmuck out on a bridge overpass while it's snowing. Not sure why - but they insist upon doing it. On a side note - I also like the live shots in front of the state capitol on the 10:00 news.

"reporting live from the capitol - for no apparent reason...":skeptical:

As I was driving this morning to get to work, this two 4WD vehicles split off to ditches right in front of me, and they were doing the limit on a day like this. You just can't warn people enough to slow down - there will still be cars in the ditches. I think this kind of advisories help reduce the number of cars in the ditches by tons. So in the flip side, more warnings are really to help people avoid injuries and accidents.

And I also find it funny how it seems an inordinate number of SUVs and 4WD vehicles are the ones in the ditches. It's as if in their supreme confidence, they seem to think that that 4WD some how helps them STOP better.... :no:

 

[Wx4Cy]

You can probably get a LIVE, in person, weather update whenever you want - or at the very least keep her on speed dial!:cute:

Usually yes...

 

[CYVADER]

That's BS. I drive slow when the conditions warrant, even though I have complete confidence it what I'm doing. It's just plain safer. You drive for the conditions, and that includes drivers around you. If you're in a traffic jam, you don't try and do the speed limit, you slow down or stop just like everyone else.

It doesn't have to look slick to be slick. You don't have to be the one who loses control to be involved in an accident where someone is injured or killed. Not only can your vehicle not react as fast, but other people's vehicles can't react as fast when the roads are garbage.

Driving slow when the roads stink might take you an extra 5 minutes, but it might save your life, or someone else's. Unless you're driving an ambulance and someone is flat lining in the back, nobody's life depends on you getting where you're going 5 minutes faster.

it's not about time for me, its about what feels right, and if it feels right to go 70, i am going to go 70. also, it's not bs, because as i stated in my previous post, that is how I feel. everyone has different feelings about how to drive in different conditions, but i feel confident that my 4 wheel drive allows me to drive certain speeds-it has for years without causing an accident.

 

[CYVADER]

And I also find it funny how it seems an inordinate number of SUVs and 4WD vehicles are the ones in the ditches. It's as if in their supreme confidence, they seem to think that that 4WD some how helps them STOP better.... :no:

right-everyones brakes are the same-you can't slam them on when the roads are bad and expect to keep control. you also can't expect to keep control if you are constantly slowing down and then accelerating or accelerating to get up a hill-the sudden change in tire speed will cause you to spin out. nice and steady will get you where you need to go, it doesn't have to be nice and slow.

 

[HILLCYD]

it's not about time for me, its about what feels right, and if it feels right to go 70, i am going to go 70. also, it's not bs, because as i stated in my previous post, that is how I feel. everyone has different feelings about how to drive in different conditions, but i feel confident that my 4 wheel drive allows me to drive certain speeds-it has for years without causing an accident.

It is about YOU until you lose it driving like an over-confident idiot and run into someone else. I have been driving for quite a few years in bad weather and I used to have your same attitude. You will grow out of it.

 

[Broodwich]

Since Katrina there has been an overly cautious attitude about natural phenomena and foul weather, in fact it has been a running joke amongst my colleagues and I. Some of it is attributable to the sentimentality a-la Bill Cosby's "I walked up hill to school. Both ways," but a lot of this stuff is insane. It's Iowa. It snows here. It isn't an emergency situation every time that we get precipitation.

 

[SuperCy]

I get a kick out of all the live remotes they do during storms. Some poor schmuck out on a bridge overpass while it's snowing. Not sure why - but they insist upon doing it. On a side note - I also like the live shots in front of the state capitol on the 10:00 news.

"reporting live from the capitol - for no apparent reason...":skeptical:



And I also find it funny how it seems an inordinate number of SUVs and 4WD vehicles are the ones in the ditches. It's as if in their supreme confidence, they seem to think that that 4WD some how helps them STOP better.... :no:

I never understood why they think that they need to stand outside to tell us that it's raining/snowing/whatever. I can look out my window and figure that out.

Still one of my favorites.

ROKER FALLS Video

 

[DaddyMac]

right-everyones brakes are the same-you can't slam them on when the roads are bad and expect to keep control. you also can't expect to keep control if you are constantly slowing down and then accelerating or accelerating to get up a hill-the sudden change in tire speed will cause you to spin out. nice and steady will get you where you need to go, it doesn't have to be nice and slow.

Right - which is what drives me nuts about these characters charging around in these conditions at 70. If something unforeseen happens up in front of you - guess what? You ain't stopping.

Smooth and steady (and spaced and slower) is the way to go. I just get ticked at these yahoos who charge around with 4WD ignoring those 4 S's. And being rather un-christian, am all too happy to just keep driving when they ditch out.

 

[Chad]

The distance which it takes the average car to stop increases significantly in snowy conditions. For instance, on a clean, dry city street, the average car during hard braking will travel 32 ft stopping from 25 mph to 0. That same car will travel 70 ft braking on a snow covered road. That’s an increase of 38 ft. Now if the car were to slow down even 5 mph, it would travel 44 ft while stopping from 20 mph on a snow covered street. So by slowing down that 5 mph it shaves 26 feet off its stopping distance.

 

[cyclonekj]

I don't understand why so many seem to be shocked by the appearance of snow and ice EVERY WINTER in Iowa. The non-stop warnings just make us ignore them when they are actually warranted.

What about made me fall out of my chair this morning is that our governor is requesting federal emergency assistance for 1/3 of Iowa for the snow and ice storms earlier in December.

State of Iowa — Governor Chet Culver & Lt. Governor Patty Judge

 

[HILLCYD]

I don't understand why so many seem to be shocked by the appearance of snow and ice EVERY WINTER in Iowa. The non-stop warnings just make us ignore them when they are actually warranted.

What about made me fall out of my chair this morning is that our governor is requesting federal emergency assistance for 1/3 of Iowa for the snow and ice storms earlier in December.

State of Iowa — Governor Chet Culver & Lt. Governor Patty Judge

Ice storms can be extremely devastating. My dad works for a utility company and during ice storms over the years has worked 22+ hours a day for a weeks at a time after those storms. The damage to infrastructure costs millions and millions of dollars.

 

[jumbopackage]

it's not about time for me, its about what feels right, and if it feels right to go 70, i am going to go 70. also, it's not bs, because as i stated in my previous post, that is how I feel. everyone has different feelings about how to drive in different conditions, but i feel confident that my 4 wheel drive allows me to drive certain speeds-it has for years without causing an accident.

So it's ok for me to drive 100 in a 55 because it "feels" right? Driving 70 when the roads are not in good condition is illegal. It's just as illegal as driving 100 in a 55. Not only is it inconsiderate to those around you, it's dangerous. It isn't about YOU losing control, it's about someone around you. While you might be able to go "better" in a 4x4, you sure can't stop any better, and that heavy vehicle now has a lot more energy stored up in it as well that will do a lot more damage to whatever it hits.

In my 15 years of driving, I've never had a 4x4. I've never been in a ditch. I've been hit from behind twice by people in 4x4s who couldn't stop, when I was able to, once at a T intersection, and once in the middle of the road after I had stopped for another out of control driver. I've also been sideswiped by someone going around a curve too fast. So pardon me if I "feel" that you should drive for the conditions instead of how you "feel".

 

[cj0227]

I have also never had a 4 wheel drive vehicle and it's amazing to me that people buy them and think that they can just run out and go as fast as they can in any weather situation. They don't even take the time to understand that it may react a little different then that cavalier they just traded in.

Just between here and KC a couple of Saturdays ago I saw 3 of them go in the ditch while I tooled along around 50-55 in the interstate in my Impala.

Speed limits are LIMITS. They are not suggestions. With that in mind I drive well over 40K miles each year for work and when conditions are clear I do go over that limit. When conditions are bad and stopping distances are longer people need to pay attention. Animals, patches of hidden ice, other drivers, it doesn't matter that you think you can control your vehicle because you are comfortable you can't control the entire environment.

On a side note for me the longest drive ever was 8 1/2 hours from Minneapolis to Des Moines in a snow storm. We left MSP during rush hour in a blizzard on a Friday after a meeting hell bent on getting home that night. On the way down the roads were so icy that a sand truck actually slid sideways off of the road on an incline.

 

[cyclonekj]

Ice storms can be extremely devastating. My dad works for a utility company and during ice storms over the years has worked 22+ hours a day for a weeks at a time after those storms. The damage to infrastructure costs millions and millions of dollars.

I agree it's costly. But why should federal emergency monies be used to cover something that occurs every winter in Iowa?

Shouldn't measures be taken to avoid the damage or insure against it? Using your example of utilities, moving more lines underground and using strain-relief devices are a couple of examples that come to mind.

 

[CYVADER]

So it's ok for me to drive 100 in a 55 because it "feels" right? Driving 70 when the roads are not in good condition is illegal. It's just as illegal as driving 100 in a 55. Not only is it inconsiderate to those around you, it's dangerous. It isn't about YOU losing control, it's about someone around you. While you might be able to go "better" in a 4x4, you sure can't stop any better, and that heavy vehicle now has a lot more energy stored up in it as well that will do a lot more damage to whatever it hits.

In my 15 years of driving, I've never had a 4x4. I've never been in a ditch. I've been hit from behind twice by people in 4x4s who couldn't stop, when I was able to, once at a T intersection, and once in the middle of the road after I had stopped for another out of control driver. I've also been sideswiped by someone going around a curve too fast. So pardon me if I "feel" that you should drive for the conditions instead of how you "feel".

i am done with this conversation.