Whats your limit for driving to work in inclement weather?
- Thread starter glocke12
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QuarterSwede
macrumors G4
Living in Colorado that's my rule. If my car gets stuck in the neighborhood or is sliding around because of ice I'm not going in. Otherwise I can pretty much drive in anything.
I remember one year in Virginia my father got to the end of the street, tried to turn the corner and got stuck in 3 ft. He called the office (45 min drive in good weather with no traffic) to call off and they told him he had to come in. His response, "My car is STUCK in the snow. How do you propose I get there? If you want me to come in then send someone to pick me up." Yeah, that didn't happen.
I actually like the policy my wife's work has towards snow conditions. She's an RN and if someone can't drive to work because of the weather then they call those with 4 wheel drive to come pick you up. Unfortunately for her she drives a Jeep so she gets called to help.
notjustjay
macrumors 603
One of my friends drives a Nissan XTerra with a lift kit and huge tires. He LIVES for snow days. He'll drive all over the place just looking for excuses to play with his toys and help other people out of ditches and snowbanks.
QuarterSwede
macrumors G4
Oh I love it too. Drifting on city streets is so much fun.
* I only do that when there's no one around.
Yeah, I'm the guy with the 4 wheel drive Tercel. Except it has real snowtires and someone who learned how to drive in Canada (the snowy bit, not the bit I'm in now). I'm the guy who passes you guys when you slide into the ditch. Oh, I'll check to make sure you're OK, but I can't pull you out. Mud tires are not the same as snow tires. And those mods are only good for getting going, not controlling, steering, or stopping. I drive slow and steady, and I give people lots of room. [clarification added]
When it snows, I still take out - no problems. And I wave at the kids drifting along in their trucks, and enjoying the sight of the tow truck winching the kids who drifted their trucks into the ditch.
Where I live now it doesn't snow often, but when it does it can easily drop 30 to 60 cm in storm (1 to 2 ft).
And when it rains.... well you Socal-ers would never get out. Easily 2cm to 5cm in a weekend (1-2 inches). Every weekend. For months at a time.
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Rodimus Prime
macrumors G4
depends on the company. Most just write the day off as they know most of their salary employees work plenty of extra hours over all.
glocke12
macrumors 6502a
Im a salaried employee. I dont know why they didnt do it this year, but in years past when there is severe weather the close the site. If you are able to do so you are expected to work from home on those days.
Yesterday we had 15-18" of snow and they opened up two hours late. Most of the roads were not even plowed by that time. Even with my 4runner it took me a good 4 hours to get out of my driveway..Most people stayed home, and are expected to use a vacation day for that.
Rodimus Prime
macrumors G4
that is kind of what happen where I worked for us salary guys. We left earily the day before and took home what work we could to do at home and if we could we would come in the next day.
I took home some paper work that I needed to get done and then was the only person to come in the next day and I even went in after I ate lunch because that was when I was physically able to get into my car. My doors were frozen shut. The roads at that point were clear enough to drive in but even then it was slow going. No one else was really able to get in. I was only able to get in because I lived in the city so everything was clear.
S.B.G
Moderator emeritus
I don't have a limit, I go to work regardless of the road conditions. I have 4-wheel drive, snow tires and steel studs for ice. My truck goes through all kinds. I once drove with the snow up to the frame and the axle pigs gouging the snow. It never slowed me down at all.
I need to measure snow not in inches, but in feet before I start having a problem.
I need to measure snow not in inches, but in feet before I start having a problem.
Sounds like a kid I was talking to a few months ago. He kept saying "Yeah man, it doesn't matter to me how much snow or ice is on the ground...I still drive the same speed...it doesn't slow ME down. *I* know how to drive in that." Let's be serious...when there's enough ice on the road, there is pretty much no awesome method of driving that some enlightened person has figured out.
Take THIS ROAD for example...that's solid ice. To go out and drive on that for any reason is just dumb.
And a lot of people think that some cities are just so unprepared and don't know how to handle snowy, icy roads. Well, yeah...when it snows once every few years, why would a city own a bunch of snow removal equipment? That's just foolish...like someone from South Florida thinking it's stupid for someone in Antarctica not to have air conditioning.
Oh...and I can't really contribute to the discussion as I'm a freelancer and don't really have a normal commute.
jknight8907
macrumors 6502a
I have a Subaru and my co-workers know this. So if work is open, I'm here.
I've seen a lot of people in the ditch because they thought that. AWD does nothing to help you stop.
Don't panic
macrumors 603
it depends on what I have to do that day at work.
Rodimus Prime
macrumors G4
I am glad I was not the only one thinking that when I read his post.
I have seen the results many times over of people who do not slow down for weather. Hell I have had some close calls and I was going slower because of the road conditions and that was just from rain. Ice and snow I have also seen the results of idiots who did not slow down and understand that on ice and snow you need to go slower and all your movements need to be deliberate and slowly done as you need time to correct for any sliding.
Worse day I had was agaist my better judgetment I had to drive to school and I was having trouble starting my car moving in 4th gear. 1-3 were pretty much worthless as the car drive whiles would just spin. 4th gear I was still fighting to keep it from breaking free. It was get the car moving then shift down the 3rd but from a dead stop had to start in 4th.
Now on other times I had to drive up they had sanded the road so I was starting in 2nd gear but still required a lot of nursing to get moving. Just that 4th gear nursing start was unnerving.
OutThere
macrumors 603
Where I live we're setting records for the most snow ever in a month this January, and we usually get a good amount of snow. My drive is only ten minutes and I've been driving in snow since my first few times behind the wheel, but I have missed one day of work. A few weeks ago we'd had two feet of snow and my boss called in a snow day. I went and did donuts in a parking lot until security yelled at me.
My limit for making the drive is pretty high, last week the snow was deeper than the bottom of my car but I just kind of plowed it away with my front bumper.
My limit for making the drive is pretty high, last week the snow was deeper than the bottom of my car but I just kind of plowed it away with my front bumper.
notjustjay
macrumors 603
The bad drivers need to realize that Newton's First Law has two parts to it.
The first part is that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. Everyone experiences this when they're trying to get their car to move from park or at a stop light and the wheels are slipping in the ice. The folks with the four wheel drive love this part because they're able to overcome this problem a lot quicker than everyone else.
Then they get their car moving and they're happily driving at 30, 40, 50 mph. And they're thinking "Haha! I love my SUV! I have this snow driving thing licked!"
But they forget about the second part. Which is: A body in motion tends to stay in motion. So sure, as long as you're driving in a relative straight line, you're not going to deviate too much from your course, and you think it's all fine. Even if you hit a small patch of ice, your car's forward momentum might just be enough to keep you going forward in a straight line. You think you've got it all under control.
Until you try to navigate that sharp turn, or suddenly slam on the brakes to slow down, or swerve around an obstacle. Then you become intimately familiar with that second part.
Newton's Laws apply to everyone, whether or not you have four wheel drive.
The first part is that a body at rest tends to stay at rest. Everyone experiences this when they're trying to get their car to move from park or at a stop light and the wheels are slipping in the ice. The folks with the four wheel drive love this part because they're able to overcome this problem a lot quicker than everyone else.
Then they get their car moving and they're happily driving at 30, 40, 50 mph. And they're thinking "Haha! I love my SUV! I have this snow driving thing licked!"
But they forget about the second part. Which is: A body in motion tends to stay in motion. So sure, as long as you're driving in a relative straight line, you're not going to deviate too much from your course, and you think it's all fine. Even if you hit a small patch of ice, your car's forward momentum might just be enough to keep you going forward in a straight line. You think you've got it all under control.
Until you try to navigate that sharp turn, or suddenly slam on the brakes to slow down, or swerve around an obstacle. Then you become intimately familiar with that second part.
Newton's Laws apply to everyone, whether or not you have four wheel drive.
Sorry, I should have been clear that I'm going slow and steady, and giving people room, and letting the SUVs pass me.
I'm passing them only after they've overdriven the conditions and ended up in the ditch.
This.
People with big SUVs and 4WD think they're invincible to the snow - they're not. They have an advantage over those of us in a FWD car (and if you're RWD, you're screwed), but they are not invincible and they don't realize that. Last week I was driving home and was caught in some bad snow, and SUVs were sliding around and getting stuck too. I nearly slid into an SUV at an intersection, and would have slid had he not slid and gotten out of my way.
Gregg2
macrumors 604
Right. Plus you have the equipment to handle it.
Melrose
Suspended
I have a Subaru and my co-workers know this. So if work is open, I'm here.
I have a friend who thinks he can go anywhere in his Subie.. it's comical, in a way.
A funny story from a friend a few days ago...
A few weeks ago, Atlanta got blanketed with several inches of snow, followed by a few inches of rain/slush, followed by overnight freezing temperatures turning it all into a solid block of ice. The roads in most places were solid ice. The cit was pretty much shut down in all directions...there was nowhere to go.
So this friend is watching out of her window and sees a neighbor pull out of his driveway in his Mustang and attempt to go up the hill out of their neighborhood. He gets nowhere after several minutes of trying. So he pulls back in to his house. A few minutes later, he returns with an SUV, again attempting to get out. After several attempts, he makes it up the hill and out of view.
15 minutes later, she sees him walking back home...no car.
A few weeks ago, Atlanta got blanketed with several inches of snow, followed by a few inches of rain/slush, followed by overnight freezing temperatures turning it all into a solid block of ice. The roads in most places were solid ice. The cit was pretty much shut down in all directions...there was nowhere to go.
So this friend is watching out of her window and sees a neighbor pull out of his driveway in his Mustang and attempt to go up the hill out of their neighborhood. He gets nowhere after several minutes of trying. So he pulls back in to his house. A few minutes later, he returns with an SUV, again attempting to get out. After several attempts, he makes it up the hill and out of view.
15 minutes later, she sees him walking back home...no car.