The comments on this post started to veer into the area of one of my pet peeves: people complaining about how other people (typically, northerners complaining about southerners) don't know how to drive in snow/ice.
* The infrastructure for dealing with snow is pretty minimal in southern states. This includes both city resources like plows as well as individual resources - people in the south do not buy vehicles with an eye toward how it will function in snow and ice nor do they change out their tires.
* It snows too infrequently to actually learn how to do it very well.
Whenever I hear one of the "those people don't know how to drive in snow" scoffing comments, I always want to say, "Oh, so I take it you know how to drive a four-in-hand." Because really, in someplace like Austin, TX, you're about as likely to need to know how to solo drive a horse-drawn carriage as know how to drive a car in snow.
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5 comments:
I've (almost) always been a Northern guy.
I think that there is no such thing as "knowing how to drive on snow"...it's mostly a bit of patience and willingness to accept less control - something that I think Northerners and Southerners are equally bad at.
Such sneering comments are only a product of bitterness brought on by too many short winter days.
Better just to ignore them.
Lee, nice perspective. I'm happy to attribute the comments to winter grumpiness.
When I moved to Colorado from Texas, I had a huge amount of trouble driving on snowy roads. A coworker told me that she didn't mind driving in snow, but hated driving in a heavy rain. At the time, I didn't understand how you could mind driving in rain -- I didn't even really change my driving style for rain. But now it's years later, and when I find myself driving in a heavy rain (usually on vacation in Texas), I do find it really troubling, while snow mostly doesn't phase me. Go figure.
Whenever it rains here, things get chaotic, as if everyone forgot how to drive on wet road conditions after many months of dry weather. I.e., realizing that you will not be able to drive 85 mph on potentially flooded highways, and that yes, you do still need to abide by traffic lights. Of course, when dealing with snow or ice, I think one rule of thumb is not to assume cross-traffic *can* stop, even if they want to.
I'm just happy that this week I'm not expecting to drive in rain or ice or snow, though the 50 mph wind gusts this afternoon had my ears aching. I also had the weirdest experience trying to get my car door opened until I realized it was frozen. Hmmm. I just keep reminding myself how much I will like *not* having to rely on my "I can walk miles in 105 degree heat carrying a full backpack" studliness this summer.
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