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It snowed today...

B

bcubed

CEG'er
Joined
Dec 30, 2007
Messages
32
Took the '98 Zetec from Pittsburgh to State College PA today, in about 5" of snow that caught the snow-removers flat-footed.

1. REALLY impressed with handling. Only problem was traction uphill when some dumass (more anon) failed to anticipate and keep up the momentum on the dwonhill beforehand. That's more to the cheapskate owner (me) who wouldn't spring for snow tires than the car, obv. Braking and cornering was light-years ahead of my old '95 Sentra SE-R, which always wanted to swap ends.

2. Rant #1 of 2: why is it any time a motorist is clueless (failing to anticipate, always "behind the car," etc) it's invairiably someone in an SUV? I welcome other theories; mine is that bad drivers, mostly on a subconscious level, REALIZE that they suck and figure, "Since I know I can't drive my way out of trouble, I better get as much metal around me as I can!"

3. Rant #2 of 2: I had the misfortune of driving PA-422 to State College, the type of road built before anyone cared about things like gradients and such. I followed a DOUBLE semi--until he got stuck (surprise!) and stopped traffic for an hour. If certain truckers lack whatever anatomical accessories are required to tell dispatch "NO, I'm not driving today, YES company's picking up the hotel, and IF you give me any flack, I'm expensing the porn!" then why doesn't the state close roads over a certain gradient to trucks when sonw covered? Unless they're hauling transplant organs:shrug: being a day late won't be anything other than an inconveineince...

[/rant]
 
um being a day late can F a lot of stuff up, thats why they don't close down roads. trust me I drive for ups and they make us work no matter what, if we try to tell them where not working due to the weather they will laugh at us and fire us.
 
I don't understand what you mean by SUV drivers "failing to anticipate." I've never driven 4WD but I have done AWD in storms since getting my license. When you're driving a car like that you don't realize at all what the conditions are like outside. I can be *stopped* on a hill and start up perfectly fine without any sliding. It is possible that these people are not realizing how their actions affect the lesser-equipped drivers around them.

As for the Contour, my old SE is still the best FWD car I have driven in storms.
 
it's easy to forget how bad the weather is when you're driving a truck. going fast isn't the problem, but people who drive trucks often forget the part about needing to be able to stop too.

hell, i was even getting a little overzealous in the R with our most recent snow storm.
 
ronssvt, that's too bad that truckers feel compelled to operate in adverse conditions. I know when I was flying commuter, if the Captian didn't like the weather, equipment, or anything else, that plane SAT 'till the CA was happy. As for the passengers, "So sorry 'bout your bad luck..."

rouar, I didn't just mean in snow. Anytime someone (for instance) makes a quick left in front of me (particularly when I'm on two wheels), fails to show "courtesy" measures such as getting in the left lane to facilitate a tricky merge, or attempts to ride forever on cruise in my blind spot, it's disproporionately likely to be an SUV driver. Not so much hostile actions, but SUV drivers, as a class, seem to "react," not "anticipate." I really think it's because SUVs self-select drivers who, on some level, don't put much faith in their "active accident avoidance" capabilitites.
 
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