I live down south where the current snowy conditions have not reached. A hailstorm yesterday followed by a sudden drop below freezing has covered the ground with a sheet of thick ice, making the roads a bit nasty. The main roads are clear, so it would be pretty safe to drive except for all the other road users.
I am sure people who own four wheel drives go out in the snow just because they can. I have never seen so many, but this is not my complaint for the day.
Madness in the snow
The side roads around me are just sheets of ice, but these are perfectly safe to drive upon as long as you drive as though you are driving on a sheet of ice. ie slowly with no sudden movements. The problem is that everyone else drives as though its a normal sunny day. I went on a ten minute drive and on three occasions had people on the side road ignoring the icy conditions.
The first was someone who had stopped but then instead of waiting for a large gap to appear in the main road traffic, they decided to shoot out as fast as they could and push in. This resulted in them remaining stationary whilst their tyres spun.
Further along my journey, I saw another car approaching from a side road. Rather than waiting for me to pass, I was now on a minor road with no traffic behind me, this person just drove out in front of me. I had to lift my foot of the accelerator pedal otherwise I would have gone into the back of him. Again, this person was ignoring the ice. The road was icy enough for him to get into trouble, and I would not have been able to stop. Surely it would have been sensible for him to let me pass and then come out onto an empty road?
The final car incident, again on a side road, all I saw was this car sliding on the ice towards the junction. They had slid a long way, but luckily came to a halt before they slid onto the main road. Again, they would have been going to fast for the conditions, and applied too much brake as they approached the junction.
Pedestrians too
Finally, pedestrians take no account of the icy conditions. I have seen them walking in the road because the pavement is icy, but they ignore the fact there are cars also on the road, skidding about.
On the same journey as above, I had someone going to get into his car. Rather than waiting for me to pass, he goes to his car door, and then squeezes himself up against it as I drive by. Once again, luck meant that there was no other oncoming traffic and the moment passed without incident, but any unexpected event could have caused me to skid into him!
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