Terrible scene. Atlanta snow then instant ice rink.

Appleseed wrote:

This is one of those things where you can't tell if the driver's skills are really good or really bad

lnlogauge wrote: northerner friends on facebook are pissing me off. mazdeuce said it exactly right. We dont have snow tires.

I'm a lazy berk, which means I rarely get around to changing the cars off the summer tires until the second or third snowstorm of the winter. This year I made it to work through 6" of snow in the E46 on summer-only DWs with very little issue. There was ice and packed snow under that, too. Admittedly my daughter's Impreza is AWD, but she did fine on Star Specs, for Bob's sake. The other cars don't even HAVE snow tires, just all-seasons.

I agree that y'all are unprepared because you don't get snow very often, and I sympathize. But we're not expecting superhuman driving ability or polar exploration equipment, either - just a small amount of common sense.

I'm a lazy berk, which means I rarely get around to changing the cars off the summer tires until the second or third snowstorm of the winter. This year I made it to work through 6" of snow in the E46 on summer-only DWs with very little issue. There was ice and packed snow under that, too. Admittedly my daughter's Impreza is AWD, but she did fine on Star Specs, for Bob's sake. The other cars don't even HAVE snow tires, just all-seasons. I agree that y'all are unprepared because you don't get snow very often, and I sympathize. But we're not expecting superhuman driving ability or polar exploration equipment, either - just a small amount of common sense.

Last time we had ice I was daily driving a bugeye WRX on RE01R's. At one point I got it stuck. Bad stuck. Got it out by putting it in first, letting the clutch out at idle, getting out of the car and pushing it, while all 4 tires turned on the ice at idle speed, then once it was going, hopping back in. When all 4 tires will spin at a few RPM at idle, I don't really think it's a common sense problem so much as a physics problem.

MCarp22 wrote:

ls1fiero wrote: No, you cannot drive on ice. Snow, yep. Ice, Nope.

You can drive on ice at reasonable speeds with modern winter tires.

even with modern winter tires, it will depend quite a bit on the terrain … enough hills and unless you've got chains or studs, you're going to be stuck … if for no other reason than all the stalled and sliding cars … the ones that got part way up the hill and started sliding back at you … if you have no way around them, you're just as stuck as they are

A co-worker made it home after an 8.5 hour commute. Parked her car in the driveway and went inside. 30 minutes later her son told her that the car was in the road. It had slowly slid down the driveway into the road.

They released us at 1:30 PM on Tuesday and I was lucky. It only took me 2.5 hours to get home but I live on the South side of Atlanta so it was not as bad as 75/85/285 above I-20. I have other co-workers who made it less than a mile from work in one hour and just decided to return to work and spend the night. Yeah, there were people who had no clue but most people I saw were driving with care. When you see cars sitting and spinning trying to accelerate from as stop, even at basically idle, it sucks.

Basically, the whole city tried to commute home at the same time. That would be gridlock on the best days. Throw in snow/ice and nothing moves.

If I can drive a C4 with a notchy TPS on summer tires home in an ice storm, these tards can handle it in Atlanta. They just refuse to adjust to the conditions.

You know I am 25 and I have driven in snow once in my life...

93EXCivic wrote: You know I am 25 and I have driven in snow once in my life...

I moved to Ohio at 37, from Australia.

all you guys that are able to get around on ice are actually incredibly gifted drivers … so good in fact that you put most, if not all, pro racing drivers to shame…

but most of your typical southern drivers don't have your mad skills, and even more have seldom/never had to develop those skills …

so it would be nice if you'd sorta tone down the condescending tone of the posts … realizing that most folk down here are more interested in making it home in less than 10 hrs, than hearing about how great a driver you are

mapper wrote: Basically, the whole city tried to commute home at the same time. That would be gridlock on the best days. Throw in snow/ice and nothing moves.

Yep. Some thing happened up here a few weeks ago when it snowed during the work day and everyone tried to leave early. Took over twice as long to get home.

I was stuck on I-78 in NJ back in 2002 after a 10" snow storm that wasn't expected. After the snow it warmed up a bit, but then as night fell everything froze. The entire hwy was a 2" sheet of ice. It took about 6 hrs just to get to the next exit a mile down the road so I could work my way home via back-roads. After an hour of literally not moving, people were getting out their cars... chatting... exchanging food... running up into the trees along the median to pee.

93EXCivic wrote: You know I am 25 and I have driven in snow once in my life...

And? That keeps you from driving slowly, carefully and aware how?

wbjones wrote: all you guys that are able to get around on ice are actually incredibly gifted drivers … so good in fact that you put most, if not all, pro racing drivers to shame… but most of your typical southern drivers don't have your mad skills, and even more have seldom/never had to develop those skills … so it would be nice if you'd sorta tone down the condescending tone of the posts … realizing that most folk down here are more interested in making it home in less than 10 hrs, than hearing about how great a driver you are

Then they should adjust their driving style. This ain't rocket surgery.

1) Idiots are everywhere. This isn't a southerner/Atlanta driver thing. People suck at driving in the snow/ice in the north too, they just have better prepared cities/roads and are probably slightly more likely to have better tires.

2) It doesn't matter if 80% of Atlanta drivers are berkeleying rally champions with mad ice-driving skills. The other 20% get stuck/in an accident and its instant grid-lock. Same thing happened in DC a couple years back (only snow, not ice). All it takes is a mildy under-prepared city (no road treatment/not enough plows) and a few bad drivers/people on summer tires/or a couple bad icy spots to create absolute chaos.

In reply to wbjones:

While this horrific snow and ice storm is a big deal to the South and the sky is falling, it's just another Wednesday up North.

We do this a lot and find it funny that the weather is so much tougher to deal with in the South.

Trust me, everything you guys are posting about, we see or do daily

This includes the guy with 10 year old tires who slides off and ruins the commute for everyone else

aussiesmg wrote: Trust me, everything you guys are posting about, we see or do daily

Trust me, no one down here berkeleying cares what you see or do daily.

I work downtown ATL and live in North burbs. Grew up in OH, love snow. Yesterday was a bad day. Thousands are still on the road trying to get home, 9am the following day.

I commute via train, went in early due to forecast for snow/ice. I left work shortly after noon and got very lucky. Picked kids up at 3 and made it home. Normal 45 minute commute was almost 3 hours. I was not real happy but in hindsight I was fortunate.

Fortunately, we made sure both cars were gassed up and had cell phone chargers in the vehicles. Also water, snacks. Common sense basically.

Wife works in a big hospital on Pill Hill. Super congested area on the best day. Left at 1:40 yesterday, then sat in the parking deck 90 minutes before exiting via the entrance. Then proceeded to creep north, spending many hours at a total standstill.. finally getting home safely at 11pm thanks largely to patience and a car with new tires and traction control. She saw school buses full of kids at 10pm.. People abandoning cars in place, walking away. Total Gridlock. Total clusterberkeley.

So we got some snow and GDOT has no equipment. Relatively warm earth hit by snow them a cold blast froze the surface really quickly. Old news.

The problem was compounded by the schools. Not wanting to cancel on a forecast.. All opened for the day then decided to close around noon (or later). Buses weren't there, many stuck on the roads.. and they basically said "come get your kids". Atlanta is very hilly, and the entire metro area was coated in ice by noon. People without latch-key kids who can walk home were hosed.

RWD cars with low profile tires are very common here (rightfully) and many spent the day spinning uncontrollably. There is also an "abundance" of mother berkeleyers driving on bald tires.

Same thing happened in Feb 2011.. Most didn't learn a thing. Lots of reports of accidents with no way for emergency response. You are truly on your own out there, even now. I imagine some people got shot in the last 24.

I feel for the families who haven't been able to communicate.. that's got to be really stressful.

aussiesmg wrote: We do this a lot and find it funny that the weather is so much tougher to deal with in the South. This includes the guy with 10 year old tires who slides off and ruins the commute for everyone else

It IS a lot tougher to deal with when it only snows once every several years, so your city has no means to clear the road.

Also, its not "the guy" with 10 yr old tires. Its 25,000 people sliding off the road, into each other, running out of fuel from sitting in traffic too long and otherwise jamming the roads for the other 5,000,000 people. Atlanta is a whole lot bigger and much more susceptible to traffic problems than bumble-berkeley Ohio.

Bobzilla wrote:

wbjones wrote: all you guys that are able to get around on ice are actually incredibly gifted drivers … so good in fact that you put most, if not all, pro racing drivers to shame… but most of your typical southern drivers don't have your mad skills, and even more have seldom/never had to develop those skills … so it would be nice if you'd sorta tone down the condescending tone of the posts … realizing that most folk down here are more interested in making it home in less than 10 hrs, than hearing about how great a driver you are

Then they should adjust their driving style. This ain't rocket surgery.

again with the condescending attitude … most of these folk can't adjust their driving style, because they have not a clue as to what needs to be done … they see the snow/freezing rain start and they panic …. gotta get home …. the schools call and say come get your kid….

as of late yesterday afternoon, there were literally thousands of kids either, spending the night at their school or stuck on the side of the road in wrecked school busses …

we get how great you are … how 'bout you accept the fact that others aren't that fantastic

aussiesmg wrote: In reply to wbjones: While this horrific snow and ice storm is a big deal to the South and the sky is falling, it's just another Wednesday up North. We do this a lot and find it funny that the weather is so much tougher to deal with in the South. Trust me, everything you guys are posting about, we see or do daily This includes the guy with 10 year old tires who slides off and ruins the commute for everyone else

yep … I understand the difference in the experiences of you northern drivers … here in the WNC mountains, we get enough snow that many know how to get around in the stuff, and some of us actually prepare for it … but places like Atlanta ???? it truly is panic city when this happens … and if it were just snow they would be in a lot better shape .. but the ice is a different story

I hate Atlanta. That being said, Knoxville had a rough time yesterday too. School buses full of kids sliding off th road and overturning, many many wrecks, interstates shut down. The thing that pisses me off the most is the city pre treats the roads when nothing is even forecast but they didn't even get the trucks out yesterday until it had already been coming down for two hours

This conversation is kinda funny. I need popcorn.

The situation is not funny.

Preperation is key. Hopefully people learn from this. Have your car gassed up, DONT drive if you don't NEED to, if you do need to drive, go SLOW!

I lived in SC for a few years about 10 years ago. When there was snow on the snow or ice on teh ground, I swear, people would call each other and decide what intersection they were all going to wreck in. I did see alot of dumb driving.

The problem is that not all of the people are dumb drivers. If you get 2 dumb drivers ont eh same road at the same time and they cause an accident, that can back up the entire system. This will lead to other accidents and constraints. Pretty soon, the system is entirely berkeleyed.

I think I may have poked too hard lol

We understand you are unprepared, why is that, you went through this a couple of years ago.

bumble-berkeley Ohio is prepared.

So who is bumble-berkeleyed now

wbjones wrote:

Bobzilla wrote:

wbjones wrote: all you guys that are able to get around on ice are actually incredibly gifted drivers … so good in fact that you put most, if not all, pro racing drivers to shame… but most of your typical southern drivers don't have your mad skills, and even more have seldom/never had to develop those skills … so it would be nice if you'd sorta tone down the condescending tone of the posts … realizing that most folk down here are more interested in making it home in less than 10 hrs, than hearing about how great a driver you are

Then they should adjust their driving style. This ain't rocket surgery.

again with the condescending attitude … most of these folk can't adjust their driving style, because they have not a clue as to what needs to be done … they see the snow/freezing rain start and they panic …. gotta get home …. the schools call and say come get your kid…. as of late yesterday afternoon, there were literally thousands of kids either, spending the night at their school or stuck on the side of the road in wrecked school busses … we get how great you are … how 'bout you accept the fact that others aren't that fantastic

And who's fault is it they're not prepared? They had a massive ice storm two years ago that was a "once in a generation" storm. Snow last year. Is it as frequent as the north? No. Does it happen there every year? Yes.

you don't get it do you ???? these folk can't prepare for something that they don't understand, have anyway to practice for, see every 3 - 4 YRS …

wvumtnbkr wrote: The problem is that not all of the people are dumb drivers. If you get 2 dumb drivers ont eh same road at the same time and they cause an accident, that can back up the entire system. This will lead to other accidents and constraints. Pretty soon, the system is entirely berkeleyed.

This is it. Bad and good drivers alike.. stuck in it.

Times like these are a reminder to be good to your neighbors. You may need them!