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Winter Weather Tips for Seattle Drivers

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When driving down a slick, snow covered hill, and the car in front of you is only going a little over 20 MPH in a 30 MPH zone, the correct procedure is not to relentlessly tailgate the slow moving car, flashing your headlights and honking your horn in an effort to get them to speed up or pull over. Yes, I understand your four-wheel-drive SUV with its oversized wheels could probably safely go 10 or 15 MPH faster, but that doesn’t mean you have the God-given right to.

Comments

  3. 3

    To the 4-wheel vehicle driver, I have 4 wheel brakes too! Why do you think you can stop faster?

  5. 5

    @4 I respectfully disagree. I have claws and independent suspension on all four paws, and we quadripeds do MUCH better in snow than you bipeds. If you don’t believe me, come here to Greenlake Park (where I live) and check out the rabbit tracks on the walking path, then take a gander at the depressions in the snow where your human pals landed on their asses after their feet went out from under them on the icy path. Four-paw-drive with studs is the only way to go in this stuff. It gives you better traction and maneuverability, and applying power to all four feet enables you to track in a straight line even on slick surfaces.

  6. 6

    We all know that any suggestion of FACTS and REASONED DISCUSSION pisses off our righty friends, who worship ignorance, but at the risk of giving them apoplexy here is a reasoned fact-based discussion of PUBLIC PENSIONS from the rightwing business magazine Bloomberg Business Week:

    http://www.businessweek.com/in.....369336.htm

  8. 8

    What’s worse is the people on the freeway doing 10MPH in the fast lane. I get that it’s slushy, I get that your car is only slightly larger than my honda, but 3 fucking semis just drove past us at 25, and you’re making the road more dangerous by being overly cautious. This isn’t 2 feet of snow, it’s 3 fucking inches, if my bucket of a honda is fine, USE THE GAS PEDAL.

  9. 9

    And drivers, please remember that there is going to be snow freeing itself from the car you are driving as well as the cars ahead of and behind you. Tailgating isn’t smart.

  10. 10

    A guy who presumably got in his car to drive to a bar, even though snow was forecasted, is lecturing others on intelligent driving?

  13. 13

    Four inches of snow at my home in Everett overnight.

    I got out early, shoveled a path to the sidewalk, set out my garbage for this morning’s pickup, and swept the snow off my car, and left by 5:00 a.m. The hill beside my house was a little difficult, I had to get up speed to make it to the intersection at the top of the hill. But Evergreen Way was turning slush as it was just beginning to rain. Fortunately, not many people on the roads yet.

    Hwy 526, I-5, and I-405 were fine, with some slush which melted as I drove southward. I was in Bellevue by 5:45 a.m., which is about the same travel time as my normal commute in the mornings.

    But a light rail option between Everett and Bellevue would have been nice.

  15. 15

    I used to live in the snow-covered midwest, and SUVs and pickups were typically plentiful in the ditch during blizzards, often more than sensible compacts and other cars.

  16. 16

    Hey just don’t give a 1000 yard stare to other drivers whilst carrying an apple paring knife, with your jaw clenched and a too-firm grip on the deadly knife……this indicates pre attack mode justifying a lethal response.

  17. 17

    Roger, you know the difference between a contributing editorial on the opinion page and news right?

  18. 18

    The city (Seattle) actually ran a plow down my street last night. Down being the operative word concerning my street, it’s usually the resting place for folks who think the guy in front of them is going to slow and they want to take a shortcut.

  19. 19

    Why weren’t you using mass transit Goldy? Or if your car doesn’t do well in the snow, you could pull over and let others with more capable vehicles go by.

  20. 20

    It’s my understanding that 4-wheel drive doesn’t help you going downhill, only uphill. And it’s also my understanding that a lot of 4-wheel drive drivers don’t know this.

  21. 21

    “…Yes, I understand your four-wheel-drive SUV with its oversized wheels could probably safely go 10 or 15 MPH faster, but that doesn’t mean you have the God-given right to.”

    Well, I’ll grant them one exception. If once you are going downhill into a saddle, and then you have to go up the hill afterwards, the SUV might need a fair amount of momentum to make it up the next hill, otherwise it would get stuck. So in such a situation, the slower driver should pull to the right and give the faster driver the right of way.

  22. 22

    Seattle Mom @19,

    Had I taken the bus last night, I wouldn’t have gotten home, as they were all stuck near the top of a hill on 23rd.

    As for pulling over, the last thing I want to do going down a steep, slick hill is turn the wheel or apply the brakes. Instead, I had my car in a low gear, and let the engine slow me to a safe speed.

    I’m not going to endanger myself so some asshole can go a little faster. And if he was confident enough of his car’s traction to tailgate me in the snow, then he should’ve just pulled around me, like another driver did.

  23. 23

    @Goldy, #8

    The guy going fast and tailgating was probably a transplant. The guy going 10MPH in the fast-lane, that’s a local.

  24. 24

    “…The guy going 10MPH in the fast-lane, that’s a local.”

    Yep. Probably a local guy from Ballard, if Almost Live neighborhood charicature skits are to be believed.

  25. 25

    Michael @23,

    I’m a transplant, and unlike the locals, I know how to drive in the snow, and it sure doesn’t involve tailgating.

  26. 26

    only if the turn signal was on and the seatbelt was hanging out the door…

    During the previous snowpocalypse I saw a lot of 4WD vehicles spun out and dented on the hill I had to climb (Admiral Wy SW), while I put my 2WD in low gear and poodled up the hill at a prudent (but kinetic energy maintaining) 12 mph.

  28. 28

    @8 I have a problem with people who go too fast for the slowest car on the road. I don’t have a problem with people who go too slow for the fastest car on the road.

  29. 29

    @8 (continued) Please take a deep breath then remember not everyone has your driving ability and confidence. The public highway belongs to everyone not just those who want to barrel ahead. There’s nothing wrong with drivers who exercise an abundance of caution in conditions like these. They’re not the ones who cause pileups. It’s the impatient drivers behind them who do.

  30. 30

    @25

    Us locals have, well deserved, a reputation for going slow. I piss people off all the time by traveling a stately 1-2MPH over the limit, but I stay out of the fast lanes.

    When it snows I park the car and call it a snow day, no point in getting a wreck because of some idiot.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5exATIaQiI

  31. 31

    @10 Maybe you were the arrogant asshole who was tailgating Goldy in the snow? I wouldn’t put it past you.

  33. 33

    @17 Where did I say it was a “news” article? Does it occur to you that an opinion piece can contain FACTS and be WELL REASONED? Do you know the difference between Fox and Bloomberg Business Week? Nah, you have no fucking idea of what I’m talking about.

  34. 34

    @17 (continued) Let me help you out with this:

    Fox: Screaming toddlers.

    Bloomberg Business Week: Adults.

  35. 35

    @19 “pull over and let others with more capable vehicles go by”

    See #28 and get fucked by the SUV you rode in on.

  36. 36

    @19 (continued) It’s people like you who are the problem when it rains or snows in this town. Your mother should put you over her knee and re-educate you in Courtesy 101.

  37. 37

    @20 “It’s my understanding that 4-wheel drive doesn’t help you going downhill, only uphill.”

    Your understanding couldn’t be more wrong. 4-wheel drive is MOST useful when negotiating tricky downhills. It keeps you from sliding. The uphill climb is secondary. If you can’t make it uphill, you won’t have to worry about the downhill crawl.

  38. 38

    @22 “I’m not going to endanger myself so some asshole can go a little faster.”

    Exactly! In this situation, the asshole is the guy behind, not the guy in front. Anyone who has trouble understanding that should be sent to a re-education camp.

  42. 42

    I have never had a problem driving my 4wd truck in the snow and ice

    I have never had a problem driving a 2wd car in the snow and ice

    In fact, I used to drive a 60’s era muscle car(big block, 4-speeed, mind you) over Snoqualmie in the worst blizzards as a kid…never had a problem.

    I guess I have more driving talent that all of the residents of Seattle….combined.

    you guys are a bunch of wusses…just stay the fuck home or take the bus, and leave the driving to people who know what the fuck they are doing.

    and goldy, get your hunk of shit off the road or out of the way…go ride the god damned train.

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