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Dec. 20th, 2004 09:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellyssianRescue Mission
Had to go out on and recover my wife and kids last night... they went to a gift exchange for the kids at her cousin's house, and she made it about a half mile from the house, before her cousin's husband had to come out, set road flares, and turn the car around. Apparently, she had stopped at the bottom of a hill because of an accident and ice combined with a slipping transmission prevented her from getting anywhere.
There was lots of ice - just a dusting of snow, but some wetter content hit the road and froze there. My drive down and back was pretty eventless, except for my fellow drivers. As usual, in the first "storm" of the season, everyone forgets what to do and how to drive on slippery roads.
At one point, I had Tweedledee two cars ahead of me, riding the brakes constantly, and sliding everywhere at 0.2 miles per hour. Naturally, Tweedledum was right behind him, revving his engine, and riding his brother's bumper. When Tweedledee pulled off the road to park in a driveway, Tweedledum floored it and was off like a rocket. I'm guessing he went off the road at some point, but it was past my destination, so it's only a guess.
Just in case it comes in handy, the proper way to drive down on icy roads:
1) Stay home.
2) If you must drive, put it in low gear and use your hazards/four-ways when going down hills.
3) Keep the brake handy - it's easier to keep it slow than to try to slow or stop suddenly. Riding the brake will most likely lock things up, so don't do it.
4) Give 2-3 times the amount of room you're supposed to between cars (note: this is quite a bit more than the amount you usually leave between cars! It's supposed to be one car length per 10 MPH.)
5) Don't rush pulling out into traffic. Just because you see a huge amount of space between two cars, doesn't mean you can fit there (read #4 again).
Bethlehem Roads
I drive through a number of one-horse townships (no offense), who keep their long winding roads through farm and forest relatively safe and clear. And then I come to Bethlehem, the Christmas City.
Really, I'm glad the homeowners in Bethlehem don't pay taxes, because if they did, they'd be getting ripped off. You can always tell where Bethlehem starts and ends in the winter - partly, there's all the "Christmas City" signage ("Follow the star to Bethlehem"), but for the most part it's that line of ice coating the roads.
They use cinders here. Dirty, dusty things that make the snow dirty, but don't do diddly for melting ice. By the end of the season, most roads are covered with an inch or two of relatively solid ice. Plowing is rare - when I lived close to downtown we often shoveled the street before the trucks came through (the only exception was the time the ambulance slid backward downhill and couldn't get to where it was going).
So if any Bethlehem road maintenance type folks read this:
1) Plow early. It's much easier to plow when the snow hasn't been packed into a new road surface.
2) Plow often. If it's still snowing, it probably should be plowed more than once.
3) Use salt. I know, salt is bad for the road. Use sand, then - at least it works better than those cinders.
Had to go out on and recover my wife and kids last night... they went to a gift exchange for the kids at her cousin's house, and she made it about a half mile from the house, before her cousin's husband had to come out, set road flares, and turn the car around. Apparently, she had stopped at the bottom of a hill because of an accident and ice combined with a slipping transmission prevented her from getting anywhere.
There was lots of ice - just a dusting of snow, but some wetter content hit the road and froze there. My drive down and back was pretty eventless, except for my fellow drivers. As usual, in the first "storm" of the season, everyone forgets what to do and how to drive on slippery roads.
At one point, I had Tweedledee two cars ahead of me, riding the brakes constantly, and sliding everywhere at 0.2 miles per hour. Naturally, Tweedledum was right behind him, revving his engine, and riding his brother's bumper. When Tweedledee pulled off the road to park in a driveway, Tweedledum floored it and was off like a rocket. I'm guessing he went off the road at some point, but it was past my destination, so it's only a guess.
Just in case it comes in handy, the proper way to drive down on icy roads:
1) Stay home.
2) If you must drive, put it in low gear and use your hazards/four-ways when going down hills.
3) Keep the brake handy - it's easier to keep it slow than to try to slow or stop suddenly. Riding the brake will most likely lock things up, so don't do it.
4) Give 2-3 times the amount of room you're supposed to between cars (note: this is quite a bit more than the amount you usually leave between cars! It's supposed to be one car length per 10 MPH.)
5) Don't rush pulling out into traffic. Just because you see a huge amount of space between two cars, doesn't mean you can fit there (read #4 again).
Bethlehem Roads
I drive through a number of one-horse townships (no offense), who keep their long winding roads through farm and forest relatively safe and clear. And then I come to Bethlehem, the Christmas City.
Really, I'm glad the homeowners in Bethlehem don't pay taxes, because if they did, they'd be getting ripped off. You can always tell where Bethlehem starts and ends in the winter - partly, there's all the "Christmas City" signage ("Follow the star to Bethlehem"), but for the most part it's that line of ice coating the roads.
They use cinders here. Dirty, dusty things that make the snow dirty, but don't do diddly for melting ice. By the end of the season, most roads are covered with an inch or two of relatively solid ice. Plowing is rare - when I lived close to downtown we often shoveled the street before the trucks came through (the only exception was the time the ambulance slid backward downhill and couldn't get to where it was going).
So if any Bethlehem road maintenance type folks read this:
1) Plow early. It's much easier to plow when the snow hasn't been packed into a new road surface.
2) Plow often. If it's still snowing, it probably should be plowed more than once.
3) Use salt. I know, salt is bad for the road. Use sand, then - at least it works better than those cinders.