Clueless drivers = tons of sand

[DAC17]

Not directly on point with this board, but pretty close. I don't know if it's just me, but....have you noticed a tremendous increase in the use of sand and salt on New England roads over the past several years? I live in CT, and it seems like each year thee is more and more sand used on roads that don't really need to be treated nearly as much. You know, 1/2 inch of snow = 1/2 inch of sand.

I have concluded that the reason for this is the number of clueless drivers on the road that will sue municipalities at the drop of a hat for not having enough crap on the roads when they trash their cars while driving too fast for conditions or, more appropriately (but not politically correct) for their skill level.

What is the outcome to us, Autopians? Our cars take more of a pounding each year. More sand/salt/crud build-up on our cars, more chipped winshields and paint, more wear on suspension parts, etc.

Thanks for the opportunity to vent to like-minded folks!

[Jngrbrdman]

Man, I hear ya. I live in the city of salt.... LITERALY! Salt Lake City uses more salt on the roads than they really need. The roads are usually whiter from the salt than they are from the snow. There have been times when the salt drifts across the streets in the breeze. Its just insane. If you ever buy a car from this part of the country then make sure you check that it wasn't ever registered in Utah. It just chews up the cars around here.

[ema]

Actually, I was thinking about that this week.

In the past two weeks, we've had two dustings of snow in NJ. The snow probably didn't accumulate to more than 1", but there was literally 1" of salt/sand sprayed on the roads. I think part of it had to do with the low temperatures + the city/state not wanting the roads to ice/freeze. And of course, there is always the liability issue. Drivers around here tend to fly off the roads the minute there is a dusting of snow on the ground.

As for CT, I could swear the state uses gravel at times. A couple years ago, I was driving on I-84 by the Mass Pike intersection and heard gravel pinging off the bodywork of my car. About 1/4 mile ahead was a convoy of sand/salt/gravel sprayers...

-ema