Winter Cycling - Paranoid about other drivers during snow?

Is anyone else really paranoid about getting hit by an out of control car when it is snowy outside?

I biked to work today in some slushy snow. It wasn't too bad for biking, but it was pretty slippery. I got a ride home because we got about 6 inches of snow between 11am and 3pm. I wasn't worried about biking through it, I was worried about getting hit by some guy going too fast and losing control...

I used to be, until I got a mirror. Just be ready to make a dive for it. Depending on certain conditions, I also choose the sidewalk on occasion.

Last night in Madison we got the same snow and once I got really nervous. There was a guy in a pickup that was fishtailing all around me, I didn't see him until he was right next to me but he was going uphill sideways! He almost took out a city bus. On the side streets I was okay but just walked the bike on the sidewalk of the busier streets. Then when I got to the bike path, it was totally clear! that's what I love about Madison, the bike paths get cleared, then the streets!

I'm not paranoid about it. That's how I want to go when my time comes. On a bike. Whether it's a cager that takes me out, a lightning strike, or die-in-the-saddle.

If I'm gonna die on a bike, it better be of old age.

Whoa. Today I was out with the dog on a back street and there was a car 10 feet behind me before I heard it! Maybe it's time for a mirror. At night at least you see the lights.

I'm so paranoid about other drivers that I don't even like to drive when it's snowy & icy out! I've got snow tires on the car, but they won't save me from some idiot on balding all-seasons.

I've actually walked to work when the weather's too crappy specifically because I didn't want to deal with other cars.

A little paranoia is a good thing and when it gets really bad I will ride on the sidewalks to avoid traffic.

That does scare me too. A tonne of metal driven by some idiot with no concept of physics is something you should be paranoid about.

That is my only worry about winter riding.

sidewalks are horrid... people are lazy and do a sloppy job of removing snow from their sidewalk... Some parts are well plowed, then the next house over you hit a wall of 10cm deep powder snow...

There was so much snow here... not many people were up for driving it seems.

sidewalks are horrid... people are lazy and do a sloppy job of removing snow from their sidewalk... Some parts are well plowed, then the next house over you hit a wall of 10cm deep powder snow...

There was so much snow here... not many people were up for driving it seems.

Can honestly say NO.

I refuse to go much of anywhere the very first day of real snowfall that sticks for that reason and I used to take a certain short route in my car out to 16th Avenue (because I was born in the old hospital there maybe)?

It would be among the last areas in Nampa to get plowed or sanded often so if it got to be too much I turned around and went back to my folks. THAT'S how I learned winter driving and I already knew how to drive defensively and maneuver correctly as I've lived around here nearly all my life.

My mother and Grandma learned to drive trucks on a farm and seem to have a lick o' sense...I learned to cook from them too! Maybe there is a connection?

Heh, during the first snowy or icy days here we ALWAYS get a lot of minor car accidents, and that's with the mandatory winter tyre rule. Winter always seems to catch drivers by surprise. After the first day it gets better as everyone goes into "winter mode" and drives more carefully.

--J

I'm not paranoid about it. That's how I want to go when my time comes. On a bike. Whether it's a cager that takes me out, a lightning strike, or die-in-the-saddle.

If I gotta go young, I'd rather it be while doing something like inventory! I'll do ANYTHING to get out of doing inventory!:crash:

When it comes to cars sliding into me I have little chance of that happening because its almost all uphill to my job. By the time I leave work it's after Midnight, the main drag is clear, and it's all downhill to home!
The only real concern is of the drivers that refuse to give me some space when the snow builds up on the side of the road

Personally, I'm more worried about drivers following me at a normal distance during snowstorms on poorly plowed or unplowed roads. I find my rear wheel slipping frequently, my front occasionally, barely keeping the rubber side down and some J.A.M. 20 feet behind me. I know that if I go down, he will hit the brakes and slide right over me. The road is too narrow for cars to pass and I'm not so much taking the lane as riding where I can, the rest of the road being impassable to me. If I can I get off the road to allow them to pass, but often there is no easy place to do this.
Rant, rant, whine, whine.