just read an article about a family in an SUV (Jeep Grand Cherokee) that lost control on a local road in Maine during their first winter storm & crashed into a dump truck. the father riding as passenger up front died unfortunately. everyone else survived but with lots of injuries, including 3 little girls. anyway, the reason I'm sharing this - because we might be in control on the side with our studded tires, hi-vis jackets, goggles & strobes, etc but when a car or truck collide thru no fault of OURs we might also be involved in a disaster such as this. my 2 cents: listen to our intuition. if it's not our day to ride - just stay home or take the car. if it's a new storm, wait it out. ride tomorrow instead. faithful or not, may God bless us on our travels

Also, first few snowfalls of the year, drivers -- and riders -- are getting their 'snow feet' back under them and adjusting their driving to winter conditions again. Be wary.

Mainers tend to be, like, "Lolz, southerners got 1/2" snow and are panicking!", but first snow with accumulation, and there were a dozen cars off the highway and byways, that I saw, during a 40mi commute.

It was a reminder to have the studded snow tires swapped out on the car...

As much as we like to make fun of drivers spinning out on the first new snowfall, it's not entirely a lack of skill. The first few snowfalls ARE worse than the last few. The ground is still a bit warm and the snow tends to easily turn into ice covered with snow as a bit of heat comes up from underneath, and the sun and weather help.

There's nothing as treacherous as ice covered with snow or water. It's hard even to stand on.

Later in the season when it's colder, or in the late winter when the sun is coming down more straight and penetrating to the asphalt to help warm and melt the snow, things are not as bad.

Valuable post @rr6 about a winter-specific hazard. Add on also the narrowed roadways. I have mentioned it myself on other threads, as another reason to wear a rearview mirror. One must not only anticipate skidding cars behind, but also oncoming ones too.

My saving grace is that I reverse commute, and if I leave early enough, there is minimal traffic on my side of the road, On one occasion, I was able to climb a hill with my studded tires, leaving the cars stranded behind me.

When I drive icy roads and especially freeways, my watchword is avoid...stay away from everybody.

Thanks for the warning and the good word, rumr, we can't be reminded too many times. What you say about covered ice is true: I had to get off my bike (normal knobby tires) and lock it to a telephone pole cable yesterday and walk to work, during this same storm that we had in Maine. It was just too slippery, underneath.

Maybe if the father were on a bicycle, he might not have been killed. So your conclusion is flawed. In Washington DC, some of the worst snow drivers in the country, I always prefered cycling over being stuck in a car that was unlikely to be able to move out of the way of those bad snow drivers.

Studded snow tires on cars are illegal in many states. The reason is that it chews up the road when the driver is stopped and accelerates quickly spinning the tires. That's true of three states I lived in - WI, MI, and IL but they are legal in Maine from October thru April. I remember when they got banned in Illinois because it cost too much to repeatedly repair the pavement after it got damaged by the studs.

I keep watching the stories about multiple vehicle crashes due to snowy conditions and was astounded to hear the one person who was interviewed who said he was driving 60 mph on the interstate and all of a sudden there was a white out. Well, hell, what was he doing going that fast in a snow storm in the first place? We have a similar situation where I live with the first rain after a long dry period. The roads are horribly slick for about the first 15 minutes until the layer of oil and rubber that has built up over time dissipates. Few people slow down so there are many accidents.

None of this has hit us here yet, but it's a good reminder especially in that first icy storm. If and when it does happen here I'm following the lead of long-time natives and staying home. Or taking a bike through the back ways. Too many people are in it for the first time, and it's a madhouse.

Bet some are wishing we actually have man made global warming. Right now the sun is going into a lower output phase and it is only going to get colder over the next several years.

Then that should help to moderate the man-influenced climate change effects we ARE experiencing. The Arctic Circle hasn't seen open water in my lifetime, until a couple years ago. Nor has the central Pacific been as elevated, sourcing more potent El Nino and La Nina events.

Not taking your word over 97% of climate scientists.

Everyone should watch this. Years of living Dangerously.

Years Of Living Dangerously

Amazing how some folks derail a good positive thread.

The OP and article is about motorist crashing into each other with one of the ending up dead. You can find many articles about such crashes if you want to start many more positive threads.

Mod note: let's try and keep the thread on topic. When threads in this or any forum get into global warming and climate change, nothing good comes out. Thanks

Stan

And remember kids. Snow tires and manual transmissions beat AWD for vehicle control and cost. AWD is just a placebo to make you think you have more control.

Seems to me that the people in the story should have ridden bikes instead of driving that day. If I need to get someplace not too far away in winter weather, no way in Hell am I going to risk driving.

Especially around Washington DC. Those folks have no clue how to drive in snow.

Cycling home about noon time when all of the federal government shut down from the snow, going from the Pentagon to Columbia MD, I witnessed 3 serious collisions between motorist as they occurred and on Route 29, I was the only vehicle the Maryland State Troopers allowed through due to a multi-car crash including an overturned car. I beat everyone home that day, because of both the slow traffic and the Route 29 detour adding 1 to 2 hours for the motorist.

I ride my MTB with 2.125" big knobs on the tires throughout the winter because it's easier to ride than it is to walk especially trying to walk on sidewalks which haven't been shoveled or plowed. Those sidewalks are very treacherous with lots of mounds and indentations that can very easily twist an ankle or cause a fall. I don't use studs either but I dod drop the air pressure in my tires to around 15psi when riding on ice or that brown crap you get when roads are salted but not plowed. I just came home along a number of side roads that are hard pack snow, ice and loose brown crap all at once. It's challenging if your tires are 40 psi or more. Lowering the pressure to 15 - 20 psi gives a LOT better traction but does make riding slower/harder. It's a choice between speed or traction.

Cheers

take the car hahahahah and be stuck in traffic with them? no thanks

No bicycle or winter storm involved, but two cases of driver losing control while suffering medical emergency:

Dramatic moment Tennessee driver saved lives by using his tow truck as a shield to stop wrong-way driver in throes of diabetic attack

Biker captures footage of driver 'suffering stroke at the wheel' on a Florida motorway

cpl yrs ago, my elderly Mom had a mini stroke sitting in the passenger seat of my Dad's car while he went into the post office. she's OK, but if she were driving it would not have been OK

That tends to be my general theory of driving; can't hit anything you never get within a couple car lengths of. Unfortunately, the word of the century for a lot of (often very bad) drivers is apparently "snuggle." They just insist on being close to another car, even when it's the only other car within a mile on a 3-4 lane interstate.

Ideally, I like to find somebody going as fast as I'm willing to under the conditions, (usually 10-15 over on the straight rural highways) and stay about a half mile or more back from them. Plenty of room for any cop ahead to be fixated on them before I get there, and for me to see if they have any other trouble with lots of room to slow or stop before I get to it.

yeah my least favorites are those that will come up from behind & tailgate as if i was going too slow. then I'll let them by (by changing lanes) because they refuse to pass me. then they go up to the next car & tailgate them. like they don't know how to drive unless they are on someone's a*s. and I don't even think it's cuz they want to go fast, that's just the way they feel comfortable driving

Exceeding the speed limit increases risk of crash or near crash incident. You may wish to make a case that the risk may sometimes be small but it is there nonetheless.

Occasionally, I drive freeways late night/early morning when nearly deserted. I always feel more comfortable to see a pair of tailights ahead. The scariest possibility is to encounter a (likely drunk) wrong-way driver, especially with lights out.

A former sheriff once told me he never investigated a head-on collision in the far right lane. He presumed that a wrong-way impaired driver might have enough mindset to know they should be driving on what they consider “right” side of the road (your left side).

So his advice when driving on a multi-lane highway with no cars in sight, stay to the right.