So some tips for driving in the snow... well really this isn't the first time I've driven in snow, but it is the first time I've driven in deep snow. My previous experiences with driving in snow have been in either light falling snow or driving fast trying to stay ahead of the snow. Before last night my worst 'snow' experience was driving through Grand Escalante Caynons in a 4x4 Jeep as the sun start to set and the snow started to come down... (that is great story, but unfortunately before blogging came around). So yesterday was the worst snow storm I can remember being in. And worse yet, I had to drive in it, and not as it was falling but after the snow had blanketed the place.
Lauren was in Boston for work this past week and was scheduled to fly back Saturday afternoon... well that didn't happen, her first flight was cancelled... she got confirmed on a second, but before that flight was cancelled we decided that she should jump on the train, and good thing, her 2nd flight was cancelled shortly before her train departed. So taking the train meant that she would be coming in late at night (around 11pm) and would be coming into Union Station in downtown DC. What this meant was that I was going to have to drive, and not just that, drive over the bridge to get into DC.
All day I flipped back and forth between the news and other stuff on TV and I heard a number of cars get stuck outside my building on the street (mostly SUVs and minivans). So right away the 'carefree' thought of driving was gone. I also was watching the traffic cameras (TrafficLand has a great camera/map mashup) and saw a number of cars and even emergency vehicles struggling on the roads I'd eventually have to take. So I decided to do some research and found this site: http://www.weather.com/activities/driving/drivingsafety/drivingsafetytips/snow.html
And I have to agree with tip 1... if you don't have to drive in it DON'T. The only other part I really paid attention to was the "If you get stuck..." part. Some simple tips, and basically the same for if you get stuck in sand, mud, and other terrain you probably shouldn't be driving in. I've been stuck in sand before in my truck (Lauren has some great photos and a great laugh about it), and I wasn't looking forward to getting stuck in snow. Also to top it off I wouldn't be driving my truck, I'd be in Lauren's Sentra (besides, my truck isn't a 4x4) which meant I'd have significantly less clearance.
Good news is that I only got 'stuck' once and it was leaving my parking lot and wasn't that bad... just took a bit of tire wiggling (not spinning) and a few iterations of forward and reverse till my tires got over the snow and back on the road. Really the roads weren't that bad especially considering it had been snowing for almost 24hrs which amounted to over a foot according to the NWS. VA and DC (don't know about MD, haven't checked it out yet), did an amazing job keeping the major thorough fairs passable. US-1/110 and I-395 were pretty decent as long as you were careful and the streets in DC were actually fairly clean (well at least the route from I-395 to Union Station). There some questionable spots, but all manageable. Bottom line was that if you drove slow and careful, you had a fair chance to getting where you were going safely. This meant that what would take my 15 minute in great conditions with not traffic and 30 minutes with traffic took me almost an hour. The part that amazed me the most were the number of small cars driving to fast. I understand the 4x4 drivers driving like idiots thinking they can do anything... but the 2-wheel drive cars????
Well so much for tips on driving in snow... the link above does a better job that I could... but again... if you don't have to drive in it: DON'T.
Here are some photos I took... I'll add more as we go around today.
No comments:
Post a Comment