[N/A] I Did It Again...

SkyChaser

SkyChaser

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Display name:
SkyChaser
...alternately titled, I Guess I'm a Bad Driver After All, or, I Think It's Time to Move South.
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6:25AM. Pitch black. Temps between -8 to -11, windchill to -26. Hit black ice when I had my brakes on to slow down for the exit and hello, concrete barrier. Happy Monday! :mad: It was a very nerve-wracking 25 minutes waiting for the police, watching commuters disregarding the fact that my car blocked most of the road by driving up on the shoulder behind it. I spent most of it praying no one would hit my car while it still might be salvageable. I'm fine, as evidenced by the lack of trauma to the passenger compartment, but boy, was it cold waiting outside!

This one should be reasonably fixable. I'm going to talk to my mechanic later today and hopefully he's got the estimate ready, but it looks to my untrained eye to be almost entirely "cosmetic". The bumper is shot, and the passenger side headlight, but the inside of the engine compartment looks okay and it wasn't dripping. So I have hope.

For four years, I thought I was a pretty good driver. After the last couple months, I think I was wrong. Also, I'm beginning to think driving to work is possibly the riskiest thing a person can do. :p
 
SkyChaser said:
For four years, I thought I was a pretty good driver. After the last couple months, I think I was wrong. Also, I'm beginning to think driving to work is possibly the riskiest thing a person can do. :p
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90% of people think they are better than average drivers. In reality, 90% are worse than average (not directed at you, just an observation).
 
I used to do insane things on snow and ice when I was younger. Definitely had an angel on my shoulder. I once spun on black ice in an extended work van with 10 people in it a full 540 and hit square on the rear bumper in the ditch on an insterstate in OH at around 60 mph. No damage, no injuries. Pulled back onto the road and drove the rest of the trip a bit slower.

glad you made it through ok.
 
You need to slow down. Cold weather plus wet roads are bad news. Glad you are ok. Keep this in mind when you get your pilot's license, as you gain experience you get cocky, that can get you in trouble.

Really though, you have to slow down for crappy weather. Oh, and cold plus wet roads, test for ice. Gently brake, if you skid you know, do this while going slow. And one section of road can be good, the next not so much.

Don't be pressured by the jackass behind you, you'll pass them a mile up the road when they spin out.

You are probably a good driver, ice and snow are a different skill.

Glad you are ok.
 
I lived outside of Cleveland Ohio for a few years. I'm done with living in the cold & snow ...
 
asicer said:
Understanding the difference between mean, median and mode is a prerequisite.
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Please, do go on...
I'm in learning mode. ;)
 
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Sac Arrow said:
I hatred the cold.
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Me too.

Daleandee said:
I lived outside of Cleveland Ohio for a few years. I'm done with living in the cold & snow ...
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I wish. -27F at my home airport this morning.
And to think I used to be a West coast boy growing moss on my north facing surface at this time of year...
 
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Was it not drivable due to damage.??

Did the airbag(s) activate.??

Cars can be replaced, folks not so much. Happy to hear no injuries.

Personally, I am tired of living in the high desert with comfortable, humid free summers and cold, dry winters. I'll be heading north this year. Not AK north, just Wyoming or Montana. We get snow here in the desert since I am at 6500 feet, but not much ice. Snow gets packed on the roads and turns into ice. One year the NMDOT used beet juice to de-ice the roads. It worked well but vehicles turned red.
 
Pi1otguy said:
Socal. If we go near Big Bear during winter snow it might be required.

Some Socal folks just don't adjust to any precipitation on the roads.
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Used to live in Big Bear as a kid. My dad bragged about going up the Lucerne Valley way without chains with everyone else on the side of the road unable to go up.

Glad I'm nowhere near that stupid today!
 
The car was mostly like drivable if I had finished removing the bumper...except, of course, I was missing my headlight. ;) But I was going too slow to hit with enough force to deploy the airbags. I'm getting really good at no airbag, no injury, one vehicle collisions. :p
 
SkyChaser said:
The car was mostly like drivable if I had finished removing the bumper...except, of course, I was missing my headlight. ;) But I was going too slow to hit with enough force to deploy the airbags. I'm getting really good at no airbag, no injury, one vehicle collisions. :p
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You should become a pilot. There's just far fewer things to run into up there. ;) :D
 
PaulS said:
You need to slow down. Cold weather plus wet roads are bad news. Glad you are ok. Keep this in mind when you get your pilot's license, as you gain experience you get cocky, that can get you in trouble.

Really though, you have to slow down for crappy weather. Oh, and cold plus wet roads, test for ice. Gently brake, if you skid you know, do this while going slow. And one section of road can be good, the next not so much.

Don't be pressured by the jackass behind you, you'll pass them a mile up the road when they spin out.

You are probably a good driver, ice and snow are a different skill.

Glad you are ok.
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Just remember that if you get ice in a plane, go faster, not slower.
 
GRG55 said:
Please, do go on...
I'm in learning mode. ;)
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A moose wanders into a mountain curve. 9 other drivers in that scenario smack the moose, each incurring $1000 of damage. I induce drop-throttle oversteer, apply some opposite lock and do a lurid power slide around the moose for the slo-mo camera (thumping soundtrack to be added in post-production). Average amount of damage is $900. 90% of drivers do worse than average. :)
 
Glad you’re ok. Personally, I like driving in snow. Especially in my rwd. Of course for the past few winters I’ve had winter tires on and we hardly had any snow. This year I stayed on summer tires and we’re having snow every 3 days. But I don’t really have to drive anywhere now. Still summer tires in snow is ... entertaining
 
PaulS said:
And push the button that puts all that gooey stuff all over the airframe.
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Eww! Goo!

I would push the buttons that would cause lights to turn on claiming something would happen as a result involving ice removal, but that rarely ever worked as advertised. Maybe goo was a better idea.
 
Wife slid down/off the driveway this morning in the Excursion. Luckily it stopped before the drainage ditch and brick mailbox. I was able to get it out into the street so she could get to work, but that could have been ugly had she sent it into the ditch. Had the 2-yr old in the vehicle with her, too. Nothing like risking thousands in vehicle damage in order to go make a few hundred for a day at work, lol.
 
Black ice will do it, unfortunately. I live on a mountain and remember a few years ago we had a respectable snow storm come through SE Tennessee. I was trying to get down from the neighborhood onto the main road and I encountered a good bit of black ice that made me slide for 100ft or so and that was frightening. I remember barely missing a few mailboxes before the curb caught me and I could regain control. Even though I was just putting along at a walking pace beforehand, the ice made me lose braking power entirely. Scary stuff!

Glad you’re okay!
 
Did you have snow tires? They make a huge difference and are a great investment if you drive in the northern climate. I got some Hakkapeliitta’s on my bimmer and I can drive full speed in all conditions. Sadly the other people on the road can’t.
 
Groundpounder said:
Did you have snow tires? They make a huge difference and are a great investment if you drive in the northern climate. I got some Hakkapeliitta’s on my bimmer and I can drive full speed in all conditions. Sadly the other people on the road can’t.
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I have the all-season tires it came with still on it and they're getting close to the replacement point, which was part of the problem. I should replace the tires with some good winter ones, but I'd rather invest in a southern apartment. I think I'm getting old because I'm getting really tired of negative temps. LOL
 
SkyChaser said:
I have the all-season tires it came with still on it and they're getting close to the replacement point, which was part of the problem. I should replace the tires with some good winter ones, but I'd rather invest in a southern apartment. I think I'm getting old because I'm getting really tired of negative temps. LOL
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Buy two sets of wheels, and have some nice summer tires on one set, and good winters on the other. All seasons aren't good at either season.
 
SkyChaser said:
I have the all-season tires it came with still on it and they're getting close to the replacement point, which was part of the problem. I should replace the tires with some good winter ones, but I'd rather invest in a southern apartment. I think I'm getting old because I'm getting really tired of negative temps. LOL
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Given that you're younger than that car of yours, you ain't old, kid. ;)

Best solution I had was my 3000GT VR-4. All wheel drive, and I had a second set of wheels that I put studded snow tires on. Fantastic investment for where I lived at the time (Pennsylvania).
 
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