Can you drive in snow? Where I live nearly all can't.
I live in northern California in the foothills of the Sierra Mnts. at about 1700 feet in elevation. We occasionally get snow. Normally we get the threat of snow without any snow. Last Friday we got snow. This one was at least 6 inches deep. And it was cold. A typical winter night here floats around 40 degrees give or take a couple degrees. This storm brought us nights in the upper teens and low 20's.
I also live on a private road with three switchbacks on the road which goes up at a pretty significant incline. I'm lucky because I grew up in Denver and learned how to drive on ice and snow. My poor neighbors are all Californians and don't know how to drive on ice and snow.
This morning I drove smileycreek up to the top of the road past the switchbacks covered in ice and snow. At the top of the road it was easy going. She took the wheel and then proceeded to drive to work while I walked back home.
During the day I watched three of my neighbors attempt to leave...all failed. Each was driving a 4-wheel drive vehicle, two of them lost control terribly and nearly went off the side of the road which would have meant going down a very steep hill for a couple hundred feet. They would have rolled their vehicles had that happened. It would have been ugly. Even if you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, if you can't drive in snow you still can't drive in snow. Don't let 4-wheel drive fool you in thinking you can drive in ice and snow if you don't know how to drive in ice and snow.
Everyone knows you "turn into a slide." But I watched my neighbors who have heard that do the opposite. It is kinda fun to watch a huge diesel powered 4-wheel drive truck spin wildly out of control as the driver does exactly the wrong thing. Actually, it's amazing to see how fast doing the exact wrong thing caused total out of control driving. Then I watched a second neighbor really loose it in his 4-wheel drive Chevy Blazer. I watched a third neighbor in a smaller 4-wheel drive truck simply spin his wheel on the ice. He knew what he was doing since he'd lived at Lake Tahoe for one winter. But he was defeated by the ice patch and went back home.
Here's the deal for my California neighbors---> when you are turning left around a corner and you start sliding, you are sliding towards your right. I don't care if you car's front, back or entire thing starts to slide...you are sliding right...so you turn right!!! If you turn left your vehicle will very quickly spin around out of control. It spins around the "anchor" of weight which is the engine. And it spins out fast. Now you're spinning in circles while still sliding even faster in the same direction you started sliding...you are really screwed.
If you are driving and hit a patch of ice...stop giving it any gas...don't brake...just let your car move through the ice until you hit a dry patch of pavement again.
If you use your brakes you must lightly tap them over and over very lightly to stand a chance of slowing down without going out of control. Even if you have anti-lock brakes! Actually anti-lock brakes will really screw you up in ice and snow because you think you can just hit the brakes and the car will go straight...nope!
NOW, if you get a chance to practice in ice and snow GO DO IT. Find a nice empty parking lot and go out of control so you can then learn how to gain control again. Go forwards and backwards. Then once you know how to actually use your brakes properly on ice and snow and have learned how to turn into a slide, you are ready to graduate to really fun stuff.
The Power Spin. This is when you need to get your car to loop around another person who is out of control in front of you and is sliding backwards into you. I've only had to do this twice in my life...both times it worked! What you do is aim towards the car coming back at you. You decide if they are sliding more towards the right or left. If they are sliding back into you and towards the right you turn your wheels to the left and hit the brakes to initiate a slide towards the right (what?)...then you turn your wheels to the right and hit the gas. This will cause your car to spin out to the left (clockwise)around the heaviest part of your car, which is the engine.
If you do this right, you will loop around the car careening towards you as it is sliding back towards you and to the right some. This isn't a maneuver you ever need try expect in an emergency. What you are attempting to do is loop around the car sliding back into you just as it is about to hit you. You car will spin around the engine in a clockwise direction. Let up on the brakes and the gas is it starts to spin and you may just succeed in executing a Power Spin to avoid the car sliding back into you.
OK, enough of that. Here are some pictures of the rare snow we get around here that is anything other than a dusting. In 23 years of living here, we've only had a snow of 6 inches a grand total of four times.
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