Post # 92
Member
3764 posts
Honey bee
Scares the heck outta me. In SA, the whole city shuts down if there is ice on the road. Good thing, too, because no one knows that the heck to do. Last time there was ice on the road I went to work 3 hours late and avoided at least two accidents on my way there. I had to take back roads since the highway was still closed due to the ice.
DH is talking about moving up north for a job and honestly I am petrified of driving in ice, let alone lots of snow!
Post # 93
Member
639 posts
Busy bee
I’m more scared of other drivers being morons than I am of driving in snow/sleet/rain. I live in the Southeast US, so there’s not much snow here…but when there is, everyone forgets how to properly drive an automobile.
Post # 94
Member
1150 posts
Bumble bee
Nope, I learned to drive in Vermont and I drive a Subaru with good snow tires.
I live in Boston now though and I don’t trust drivers around here for one second though. For some reason people freak the F out when it starts snowing. I mean, come on, it’s New England, it snows a lot.
Investing in good snow tires, slowing down (just not too slow), and remaining calm is the way to deal with driving in bad weather.
Post # 95
Member
4697 posts
Honey bee
Its alarming how many people are afraid of driving in bad weather. The only thing I have issue with when the weather’s bad is how everyone freezes up and loses all of their skills.
Post # 96
Member
9948 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
Another Canadian here … Eastern Ontario
Winter Driving doesn’t bother me too much… all our vehicles are AWD or 4×4
Altho we see a lot more snow than those of you Bees from Southern Ontario and what us here in Eastern Ontario affectionately call “the Banana Belt”.
You guys just don’t get snow like we do. And in reality, 90% of the issue in the GTA / Golden Horseshoe when it comes to the snow you do get is that it is hard to manage effective removal in such a densely populated area (so it is a good thing you don’t get more snow)
In Eastern Ontario we get TONS of Snow (altho we got more in Rural Quebec where I grew up and learned to drive… the Quebec SNOW BELT)
Whereas Toronto gets on average about 115 cm (45 Inches = under 4 Feet Annually)… Eastern Ontario more like twice that amount (we are more like 8+ Feet Annually)
And we usually see several Blizzards a year, where more than a foot of snow will fall in less than 24 Hours !!
I don’t worry too much about getting around in the snow… I do worry however about some other nut not knowing what they are doing… that bothers me quite a bit. Which is why I try to avoid going out during the first snowfall (we had that last week) because SOME HOW people seem to forget how to drive in Winter Weather from one year to the next ???
Takes a week or so for people to get their heads around it again.
I don’t like Freezing Rain or Black Ice Conditions though… both of those scare me. So if the weatherman predicts either, I am more likely to just not go out unless absolutely necessary
Infact that is my rule of thumb… if it is really sucky out, I just stay home. There are very few things that would make me go out and drive around in the worst of the weather.
Post # 97
Member
10450 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
I enjoy driving in general, so winter driving doesn’t scare me at all. Unless it’s an absolutely awful blizzard with freezing rain all over or something. But general winter driving doesn’t bother me. And I drive a Mustang! I do have really good winter tires on it though.
Post # 98
Member
2490 posts
Buzzing bee
I have a 400hp RWD car and I do just fine. I do have winter tires though because my summer ones definitely would not be safe. I live in Canada and we have snow/ice from October-March so I’m pretty used to winter driving.
The people who are scared of winter driving make me nervous though!
Post # 99
Member
177 posts
Blushing bee
I’ve lived in the Midwest all my life and we are no stranger to snow, but I still get a little anxious driving in it. It’s odd because I took my driving test in a snowstorm and had no problems. I got in a minor accident a couple years ago because of black ice and earlier this year, I had to drive back from Peoria in a snowstorm- my car was sliding all over the place and I was sure I was going to end up in a ditch like a lot of other people I saw. Luckily, I didn’t, but driving in snow/ice definitely makes me a little nervous.
Post # 100
Member
1230 posts
Bumble bee
I am with you 100% Absolutely hate it!
Post # 101
Member
1332 posts
Bumble bee
I learned how to drive in the snow and took my drivers test after 2 feet of snow fell and I love driving in it. I don’t freak out and have never lost control of the car, but I scare the crap out of my husband when I drive in the winter, which is funny because he scares the crap out of me in the summer, fall and spring.
Post # 102
Member
534 posts
Busy bee
@sweetchiquita12: She got bitch slapped by the airbag and bruised her arm deeply but she’s perfectly fine. Her car looked awful so it’s lucky she walked away relatively unharmed.
Post # 103
Member
194 posts
Blushing bee
@This Time Round: Ah, Eastern Ontario. That trumps GTA. We are about to get our first snow either tonight/tomorrow – I suspect you’ve already had snow!
Freezing rain and black ice are the worst. Last year, I was working at a spot literally five minutes from my house. It had been freezing rain all morning and there was an inch thick sheet of ice covering my windshield. Any thicker and I think I would have just walked home!
Post # 104
Member
5285 posts
Bee Keeper
@This Time Round: I’m so glad I dont live where you do!!!! I couldnt deal with all that snow!!! It’s true that the snow cleaning here is terrible because of all the congestion and that fact that peoples winter driving skiils just fly out the window on the first snowfall
Post # 105
Member
2478 posts
Buzzing bee
I’m not bothered by driving in winter conditions (I’ve done plenty of it in the Alps) but I am bothered by the complete eejits that it makes of so many people. Very few people know how to drive in it so the default position tends to be panic.
Unfortunately, because we get such very variable amounts of snow here in South East England – and in feeble quantities that would have you Ontario bees laughing hysterically at the pathetic amount of snowfall we experience! – people are always taken by surprise when it snows.
So far as driving in this neck of the woods is concerned, nobody has proper winter tyres, let alone snow chains (one of the major bus companies has only just invested in chains) and many people have no idea how to drive in snow.
2 inches of of the white stuff results in utter carnage. Cars slide around and roads get blocked, trains stop running, airports close and many are the news reports of drivers forced to spend the night in their cars – in fact, the whole country grinds to a complete halt! All you bees across the Atlantic would be astonished to see how very little snow can cause so much havoc!
Post # 106
Member
2890 posts
Sugar bee
@sweetchiquita12: Not really. I live in a rural area near Québec city, but thankfully the main road (from my house to the Québec bridge) is okay, and so is the highway. The problem is, the roads in-between, when it’s windy we litterally cannot see the road anymore. But I don’t go out when the weather is that bad, or I stick to the main road and do not try to get to the highway. It’s a longer trip, but I feel safer. What makes me feel insecure though, are people behind you who just can’t seem to break a little ahead at an intersection. Ever heard of black ice ?? I don’t want your big SUV to crash the back of my car just because you think it’s appropriate to break at the last minute, grrr !!
By the way, I’m surprised winter tires are not an obligation in Ontario. What do you put on your car, 4-seasons tires ? It was allowed until recently in Québec. Winter tires do make a huge difference though. But what I find ridiculous is that you have until December 15th to get your winter tires. December 15th, are you kidding me ? We already had 5 days of snow since October and every year, there are huge accidents during the first snow storm in November, because people do not have proper tires and they crash into each other’s cars, or get off the road because of black ice. o_O
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