There are HOW MANY accidents in Anchorage the first day there is ice on the roads?
Sure, after that we are pretty safe, but that first day we have all forgotten (mumble mumble I may have hit a pole one year on the first day with ice myself mumble).
As a Masshole I can confirm that plenty of my other fellow Massholes do NOT retain knowledge of snowy weather driving from year to year. At best most of them figure it out again just in time for the thaw and then forget it all over again. Particularly my own relatives who I’ve ever had the displeasure of being in a car with.
HELL YES. Nobody remembers how to drive on snow/ice/slush/rain. Yes, I included rain. No, I’m not kidding.
At least that’s not as bad as it is in Texas though. On the rare occasion that it snows even a LITTLE bit (i.e. maybe an eighth of an inch, except it melts the moment it hits the ground and thus could be considered rain for all intents and purposes) everyone COMPLETELY forgets how to drive.
As a California native, I fully agree with the rain addition. If it so much as lightly mists in Southern California everyone panics and forgets how to drive. It’s kind of sad, really.
It really depends on where you are. In western Washington, even the most inexperienced student driver can handle rain just fine, but when the roads ice up, people slide all over the place.
I actually disagree with that. I only moved from the Puget Sound region last year, after decades there, and I spent over twenty years cursing the fact that most of the time people are okay but given a couple months’ sunshine the rain would start in the fall and suddenly everyone’s all “ZOMG rain on the road! How do I drive in this?” again. Insane.
The funniest part of all of this: I lived in northern Virginia (most years, we’d have at least one occasion where 12 inches or more accumulated); my parents learned to drive in southern California (San Diego County – what is this ‘snow’ of which you speak?); every winter people would drive like they’d never seen snow while my parents would take it nice and calmly, carefully dodging all the idiots that wound up parked the wrong way on the road.
Yeah, people in Califrisky are all, “Wow, I’ve lost 70 percent of my traction in this rain — I’d better speed up!” But don’t laugh too hard — I went to Sweden one year to pick up a car. End of May, just after everyone had put their summer tires back on. Next morning, it had snowed, and you wouldn’t believe how many cars (and even semi trucks) there were cheerfully sticking out of ditches. Looks like this really might be an international problem….
New Yorkers don’t know how to drive. Well, some of them do, but then the ones who don’t get in their way and it all becomes a big mess. And in New Jersey, they don’t know how to build roads. A New Yorker in New Jersey is a very dangerous thing
That’s supposed to be a viking? Vikings never had horns in their helmets, that’s a misconception which came from how afraid people were of them. Don’t know about the Gaels though, i’ve heard they had horns, but havn’t checked it
My theory is intelligence and driving skills are both water soluble.
We have real winters every year (Greatest Snow on Earth), and the first snowstorm always brings massive road carnage. Some winters it seems like they even forget between storms.
In the states that expect to get ice and snow, we do remember how to drive on them.
*mumbles* and provences
yeah that’s not always so true
I can testify to that… I’m a bus driver for the city of Montreal, and boy are some of those drivers dangerous, out there…
Bullsh*t
There are HOW MANY accidents in Anchorage the first day there is ice on the roads?
Sure, after that we are pretty safe, but that first day we have all forgotten (mumble mumble I may have hit a pole one year on the first day with ice myself mumble).
As a Masshole I can confirm that plenty of my other fellow Massholes do NOT retain knowledge of snowy weather driving from year to year. At best most of them figure it out again just in time for the thaw and then forget it all over again. Particularly my own relatives who I’ve ever had the displeasure of being in a car with.
Okay, it takes a snowfall or two. But it comes back. Soon. -ish.
Is that a broken femur in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?
HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! 😀
We never get icy roads where I live.
Same here, except in the winter…
Over summer most drivers manages to forget about that white stuff that comes from the sky…
HELL YES. Nobody remembers how to drive on snow/ice/slush/rain. Yes, I included rain. No, I’m not kidding.
At least that’s not as bad as it is in Texas though. On the rare occasion that it snows even a LITTLE bit (i.e. maybe an eighth of an inch, except it melts the moment it hits the ground and thus could be considered rain for all intents and purposes) everyone COMPLETELY forgets how to drive.
As a California native, I fully agree with the rain addition. If it so much as lightly mists in Southern California everyone panics and forgets how to drive. It’s kind of sad, really.
It really depends on where you are. In western Washington, even the most inexperienced student driver can handle rain just fine, but when the roads ice up, people slide all over the place.
I actually disagree with that. I only moved from the Puget Sound region last year, after decades there, and I spent over twenty years cursing the fact that most of the time people are okay but given a couple months’ sunshine the rain would start in the fall and suddenly everyone’s all “ZOMG rain on the road! How do I drive in this?” again. Insane.
The funniest part of all of this: I lived in northern Virginia (most years, we’d have at least one occasion where 12 inches or more accumulated); my parents learned to drive in southern California (San Diego County – what is this ‘snow’ of which you speak?); every winter people would drive like they’d never seen snow while my parents would take it nice and calmly, carefully dodging all the idiots that wound up parked the wrong way on the road.
Yeah, people in Califrisky are all, “Wow, I’ve lost 70 percent of my traction in this rain — I’d better speed up!” But don’t laugh too hard — I went to Sweden one year to pick up a car. End of May, just after everyone had put their summer tires back on. Next morning, it had snowed, and you wouldn’t believe how many cars (and even semi trucks) there were cheerfully sticking out of ditches. Looks like this really might be an international problem….
After an early snowfall or icy conditions, I like to find a nice big spot to do a bit of skidding and recovery. Rebuild the muscle memory, you know.
New Yorkers don’t know how to drive. Well, some of them do, but then the ones who don’t get in their way and it all becomes a big mess. And in New Jersey, they don’t know how to build roads. A New Yorker in New Jersey is a very dangerous thing
Based on my time in both state I would say massachusetts is worse than New Jersey.
I have Swedish ancestors via Minnesota. This cracks me up!
That’s supposed to be a viking? Vikings never had horns in their helmets, that’s a misconception which came from how afraid people were of them. Don’t know about the Gaels though, i’ve heard they had horns, but havn’t checked it
You would think that Seattle drivers would remember how to drive in the rain.
You would be wrong.
My theory is intelligence and driving skills are both water soluble.
We have real winters every year (Greatest Snow on Earth), and the first snowstorm always brings massive road carnage. Some winters it seems like they even forget between storms.
And as they are water soluble just wait until the weather gets freezing and watch the chaos on the roads.
It’s like elections, people forget everything by the time the next one comes around.
That’s probably a good thing, and we just don’t realize it.
Small blessings.