Posted on 02/11/2021 10:33:07 AM PST by sodpoodle
If you think drivers don’t deal with ice up north, only snow, then I’d like to invite you to see the roads in Madison, Wisconsin today. It ain’t easy and you can’t rush it.
I hear it’s a bad road.
Usually perpetually under construction, too.
Ugh. Got a kid that may be moving there.
Being Texas im sure there was a couple of manuals
We used to sand. TXDOT switched to a brine solution a couple years ago. I Dottie very far from this accident. Video is awful
We could get these conditions in a few days down here in Houston, with a predicted low of 15 degrees.
There was one ice storm here 9 years ago, and I still had to go to the plant in Deer Park. I had to wait things out to get home, since 225 was shut down. I wound up using the surface streets as soon as the bridge over 225 opened to get back to Houston. Houston didn’t have sand, but someone dumped some gravel on the bridges going over the bayous.
It’s the bridges and elevated roadways that can get treacherous here. BTW, I used to live up north, and am familiar with “black ice”. It’s hard to see, and can form quickly - just about instantly.
They’ve been out treating the past week, but it’s never enough. We usually have transitions from rain to sleet to snow, so most pre-treatments get washed away anyway.
People from outside the state have to realize that the DFW metroplex is larger than Chicago and it simply doesn’t make economic sense to maintain hundreds or thousands of trucks and depots for de-icer for the couple of ice events we get yearly. The flip side is, those of us that live here need to chill out a bit and exercise more caution.
Agreed—there is no “safe” way to drive on ice.
Been there, done that—slid off the road at _five_ miles per hour....
Global Warming Alert!
Local news station there was showing “live” footage from a chopper...unreal . it must span a half mile of highway. Prayers for those who have passed or are injured. I resided in Maine for 10 years and the snow is nothing compared to black ice which is more than likely what these drivers came across...the section is also a raised bridge over a culvert...first to freeze...very sad.
I don’t leave the house when it gets icy. I made the mistake a couple times. I used to work for a company housed at Texas Motor Speedway, I live near North Tarrant Parkway. Took 3 hours to get home.
The weather people I follow have been talking icy conditions occurring last night through this morning, not people don’t pay attention.
This is literally 1/8 mile from my house and at my exit to I35. Exasperating to read all the stereotyping of Texas drivers and redneck shaming.
There is an exit from the express lanes of the interstate merging in with the regular 3 lanes at this crash scene so you had huge trucks merging in and the roads were icy. Yes. TX and Ft Worth uses sand when icy. But the rain came around 4:00 pm and when the sun sets it is icy real quick. I think the wrecks were around 6:00 pm. Get off their ass about not having it done in time.
I came around a wide, sweeping turn and saw something obstructing the road in the far distance. I tapped the breaks and immediately started to skid. Foot off break; steer out of the skid; lightly tap break; immediately start to skid; foot off break; steer ... repeat; repeat; repeat. Bottom line. You. Could. Not. Stop. Period, and the entire road was blocked from shoulder to shoulder with cars in the ditch on both sides, so there was no way to sneak around. The only thing to do was coast to a stop before you hit, or pick a friendly looking spot in the ditch.
I almost made it. By the time I rolled close to the edge of the crash, I couldn't have been going more than 5 mph. I tapped the brake again and immediately started to skid and immediately corrected. I still might've slowed to a stop before impact but some guy ahead of me had gotten clipped, had spun 180 degrees, and was skidding back towards me with his wheels cut hard the wrong way and his tires spinning like crazy. He had obviously missed the "how to handle a skid" day in drivers' ed.
I haven't had much use for ice since then.
Fortunately there were no serious injuries. People could see the pileup from quite far away; they just couldn't stop. Another dozen cars hit after me. This wasn't a LA freeway where something happens and 150 cars crash in three seconds; this was a road with light traffic moving slowly. It took time to play out. By the time it ended, there was quite an army of spectators at a safe distance off the road, and some of them had walked way back up the highway with flares to give people more warning.
I live close as well. People here DO drive like crap. Just last weekend there was minor slowdown and yet I almost got hit by jerks going the wrong way on the entrance ramp. The feeder was full too so that didn’t work well for them. Too many people are willing to sacrifice the safety of others to potentially (and often unsuccessfullY) save a few minutes.
"Texas doesn’t salt or sand"
Best taken care of roads and highways than any state I’ve traveled in.
It depends on where you are. They let I-35 between Dallas and Austin get in really bad shape when Rick and Ric were trying to do the deal with the foreigners for the toll road network. When that blew up, they finally started working on re-building the Interstate. The parts they have gotten to are nice, but the construction is a mess. And the road through Austin will continue to be nasty, as they did get the toll bypass done, and they don't want to siphon traffic away from that.
The Republican areas tend to keep up with the local streets, the Democrat controlled areas are more selective as to who gets the good streets.
One thing that is terrible is the lane marking. They either use buttons with inadequate adhesive, or paint that quickly wears off. Don't bother with lane assist; you need visible lane markers for that to work.
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