4x4 Drivers Have Death Wishes!!!

ajbarnes · 02-12-06, 06:54

Majority of the northeastern section of the US just got hit with a snow storm. I go out this morning to pick my wife up (she works graveyard), and there were several knuckleheads in pickups and SUV's (4x4) driving and speeding....with the roads not being plowed yet....and I'm talking about 7-8 inches on the ground and about 2-4+ inches on the road!! I have a chevy tracker 4x4, and my jeep can truck right through the snow with very little problems, but that doesn't mean I am going to drive like a moron. If the roads are extremely bad, I think it is common sense to drive with caution, not just for your sake, but also for the drivers around you. Does that mean drive 1 mile an hour, no, but it does mean to slow down and leave a large space between you and other drivers.

You know what made it even worse? I had to drive on one of the worst highways in the US...the 12 lane death trap Roosevelt Blvd....with it not being plowed yet!!

Sorry for the rant, I know you guys are good drivers.

truzoom · 02-12-06, 07:12

I understand you fully. Oklahoma got hit with a bad storm late last year and it's like nobody realizes that snow and ice can really screw up your 'intended direction of travel'. I had people constantly tailgating me because I was going slow (2wd truck, no traction, in need of new tires), and then there were these yuppie idiots in their expensive suvs flying around.

Corey Bit Spank · 02-12-06, 07:17

2-4 inches on the ground is nothing!

flatstick · 02-12-06, 08:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajbarnes

Majority of the northeastern section of the US just got hit with a snow storm. I go out this morning to pick my wife up (she works graveyard), and there were several knuckleheads in pickups and SUV's (4x4) driving and speeding....with the roads not being plowed yet....and I'm talking about 7-8 inches on the ground and about 2-4+ inches on the road!! I have a chevy tracker 4x4, and my jeep can truck right through the snow with very little problems, but that doesn't mean I am going to drive like a moron. If the roads are extremely bad, I think it is common sense to drive with caution, not just for your sake, but also for the drivers around you. Does that mean drive 1 mile an hour, no, but it does mean to slow down and leave a large space between you and other drivers.

You know what made it even worse? I had to drive on one of the worst highways in the US...the 12 lane death trap Roosevelt Blvd....with it not being plowed yet!!

Sorry for the rant, I know you guys are good drivers.

I hear what you are saying. all of my trucks are 4x4 and I have had people going 60 when I feel that the correct speed should be around 35 or 40 .these people are fine..... until they need to stop

I had a lady blow by me a couple of weeks ago when we had some rain and sleet mixed in, turns out I passed her 2 miles up the road as she slid into a bridge and smashed up her car

Arved · 02-12-06, 08:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajbarnes

Majority of the northeastern section of the US just got hit with a snow storm. I go out this morning to pick my wife up (she works graveyard), and there were several knuckleheads in pickups and SUV's (4x4) driving and speeding....with the roads not being plowed yet....and I'm talking about 7-8 inches on the ground and about 2-4+ inches on the road!! I have a chevy tracker 4x4, and my jeep can truck right through the snow with very little problems, but that doesn't mean I am going to drive like a moron. If the roads are extremely bad, I think it is common sense to drive with caution, not just for your sake, but also for the drivers around you. Does that mean drive 1 mile an hour, no, but it does mean to slow down and leave a large space between you and other drivers.

You know what made it even worse? I had to drive on one of the worst highways in the US...the 12 lane death trap Roosevelt Blvd....with it not being plowed yet!!

Sorry for the rant, I know you guys are good drivers.

There you go. "Common sense" has been an oxymoron now for many, many years.

What's common doesn't make sense, and what's sensible is no longer common.

http://infohost.nmt.edu/~armiller/commonsen.htm

Here in Florida, we don't get snow but once every 20-30 years. Our problem is rain, compounded by a topography that's so flat, there's no where for the water to go. Flooding is a major concern.

So do people slow down when it rains? Nope! One guy I used to work with was an engineer. Should be a reasonably bright fellow, right? His theory? He drove a FWD car, so if the speed was too high, the drive wheels would hydroplane, keeping him from going any faster. Therefore, the car was self-limiting itself to safe speeds.

The fact that if his tires were at their friction limit propelling him down the road, he had no traction left for emergency maneuvering didn't seem to register.

Makes you wish stupidity was painful, doesn't it? At some point, we're going to have to stop protecting these fools from themselves, and let Darwinism thin the herd a bit.

Accumulator · 02-12-06, 08:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajbarnes

..Sorry for the rant, I know you guys are good drivers.

Why SUUUURE, we're all 10 feet tall and bulletproof too

I gotta admit that sometimes I'll go play in the snow, but you gotta pick your circumstances and use common sense.

We had a light snowfall and sure enough, there was a 4X4 plowed deep into the grounds of a local cemetery

Nothing but straight road for a good ways in either direction either. Considering where he ended up, maybe the truck was trying to tell the driver something about survival of the fittest being good for the gene pool

velobard · 02-12-06, 11:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corey Bit Spank

2-4 inches on the ground is nothing!

No, not as far as getting through it, but it doesn't even take that much to make the roads slick as snot, especially if it's packed down and the weather is borderline freezing.

White95Max · 02-12-06, 12:25

Even around here where snow is common for 4 months of the year, people drive on crappy tires all the time, and don't change their driving habits one bit when the snow falls.

I like to have fun in the snow, but not when it puts my car or anyone else's in danger.

Spilchy · 02-12-06, 01:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

I gotta admit that sometimes I'll go play in the snow, but you gotta pick your circumstances and use common sense.:

Ah, nothing beat a 1983 Buick Park Avenue rear wheel drive boat, an empty high school parking lot and a certain 17 year old behind the wheel back in the day

Arved · 02-12-06, 02:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by velobard

No, not as far as getting through it, but it doesn't even take that much to make the roads slick as snot, especially if it's packed down and the weather is borderline freezing.

Far too long ago, I had a business trip to Brunswick, ME in November. As I was leaving Portland International, there was about 2" ice packed down on the streets. At one intersection, I locked up the brakes 5 times in a futile attempt to stop. Thankfully, the person in front of me made his U-turn before I rear ended him.

I pulled over and looked - the rental agency hadn't even put M+S tires on the rental. I was fuming mad when I called up the rental agency. "Would you like to add collision protection now?" was thier only reply.

Accumulator · 02-12-06, 04:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spilchy

Ah, nothing beat a 1983 Buick Park Avenue rear wheel drive boat, an empty high school parking lot and a certain 17 year old behind the wheel back in the day

Sounds similar to a '70 Dodge Monaco (440, snows, and a limited slip diff

) and a certain 16 year old behind the wheel in a previous decade

I didn't use deserted parking lots though

Actually, such craziness was very good training if approached as a learning experience. Translated very well to skid-pad work.

pair of Blazers · 02-12-06, 05:07

I had the same trouble today also. got done blowing the front of the g/f house and driveway's , decided to take one of my trucks out to play and these people driving like F'in psycos out there

. I whent did a few donuts and 8's, got sideways in aplace where no one was around.
now I have two 4x4's do some off roading from time to time I don't need some moron in his $50k BMW thinking he actually does owns the road. sooner or later your going to have to stop. guys like this give the people who have respect for the conditions around us a bad rap.
rant off
oh and just for the record 25" in central park today. 20" at the g/f. wish my camera was working

would have had some cool pics.