I remember when I was in Elementary school the county didn't cancel school and we had a snowstorm coming. My Mom just kept me home and I am glad she did. The kids got stuck in school because the buses couldn't make it through the snowstorm!

I hate, hate, hate to drive on ice. Very few can do it well, especially in the warmer climates where you might only get any practice on it once or twice a year. Between those that drive or brake too fast and those that creep along so slow, it's just plain dangerous. I hate to see those that get impatient with the creepers and try to pull out from behind them into another lane, stopping that lane of traffic and make up time then by going too fast and then come to another creeper and off they go again. On a long, 4 or 5 lane highway, a whole lot of this is going on until somebody skids or can't stop in time. Then nobody moves for a long, long, long time. And by the time you do get into work, you're cramped and spent from the drive and so is everybody else who made it in! Hate driving on ice.

What drives me NUTS about that is if you want to creep, thats fine... creep in the TRAVEL lane!!!! There are 2+ lanes on every highway. People use the passing lane (fast lane) to travel and it makes me mental. I'm from New England, been here my WHOLE life, drive in more weather than most people do because I worked for a newspaper, there is not 1 day of the year they are not open. 1, 2, 3 feet of snow, you must go to work! State of emergency, they don't care, they are open. Ive driven in 2 foot storms, 38 miles each way. In all my years Ive never seen a crazy accident, Ive seen foolish things that people do and one of those things is travel in the passing lane. MOVE OVER!!!! LOL Oh it gets me fired up. If someone wants to go quicker, then who is the person who thinks they own the road to travel in the passing lane, slowing everyone down? Thats when things get heated and people do stupid things. I see it all the time. :( I drive a little BMW with All wheel drive, let me by. If I want to take my life into my own hands, then get out of my way and let me... better than me weaving on more crowded, bad roads, to try to get ahead of you creeping along in the passing lane blocking those who want to GO!

Wow.... sorry for the rant!!! LOL

I know! The creepers get in both lanes to creep! Between them and the over-confident zipper, who kind of zip past you, comparitively speaking, as if they can't ever possibly skid or need to stop fast, no wonder we have gridlock in bad winter weather. When the lane-changer behind the creeper can't stand it any more and pulls out into the other lane suddenly and the zipper can't stop in time, boom! Everybody in line behind them just had their day go to pot! Between the overly-cautious and the overly-confident, driving in winter weather is a PITB.

[QUOTE=celstu1;4116460]What drives me NUTS about that is if you want to creep, thats fine... creep in the TRAVEL lane!!!! There are 2+ lanes on every highway. People use the passing lane (fast lane) to travel and it makes me mental. I'm from New England, been here my WHOLE life, drive in more weather than most people do because I worked for a newspaper, there is not 1 day of the year they are not open. 1, 2, 3 feet of snow, you must go to work! State of emergency, they don't care, they are open. Ive driven in 2 foot storms, 38 miles each way. In all my years Ive never seen a crazy accident, Ive seen foolish things that people do and one of those things is travel in the passing lane. MOVE OVER!!!! LOL Oh it gets me fired up. If someone wants to go quicker, then who is the person who thinks they own the road to travel in the passing lane, slowing everyone down? Thats when things get heated and people do stupid things. I see it all the time. :( I drive a little BMW with All wheel drive, let me by. If I want to take my life into my own hands, then get out of my way and let me... better than me weaving on more crowded, bad roads, to try to get ahead of you creeping along in the passing lane blocking those who want to GO!

I understand your frustration about slow drivers in the fast lanes....and the bolded sentence above looks great in theory, but since there is usually more than just you on the road, when you hit that patch of whatever, regardless of your expertise, and go sliding sideways, you are going to take out some poor soul that is driving in the slow lane, at a "MANAGABLE FOR THE CONDITIONS" speed....that is what the highway patrol officer told my cousin who was an "expert snow/ice driver", and he flew along, in the fast lane, going the posted speed limit.....then he hit that black ice, went cattywompus all over 4 lanes of traffic, and took out 5 other drivers....HE got the ticket and the lawsuits because even tho he was doing the posted speed limit, that was for when the weather was good...."drivers are to adjust their speed down to managable for the conditions....". I personally know my limitations...and when I back out of my garage, and my vehicle SLIDES SIDEWAYS ON THE ICE IN MY STEEP INCLINE DRIVEWAY, all the way out into the street, THAT is above my pay grade...I park that sucker in front of my house, and call in. I leave the icy freeways to all you experts, going 70 mph on ice and snow!

I don't care who you are, no one can drive on ice. The ice here didn't start until 9 or 10 and ir has already melted, so schools probably would have been fine here...not saying the same for on the mountain, tho. Breaks my heart about the trooper.

[quote=Yorkiemom1;4116486]Oh you, you misunderstand... I would never drive 70, 60, 50 mph on ice... no way! I mean those people that go 15mph in the passing lane the whole way up the highway. I may be able to do 25 or 30, but never more than that. I'm seasoned, but no one is a pro driving in ice. Every tire has the capability of sliding, spinning out and not making contact with the pavement.

There is a difference between being cautious and being overly cautious. If you are overly cautious you really can cause danger to others on the road as well as those that are careless. I am never careless. I hate people who weave and go faster than they should be. Most highways here post different speed limits for winter weather. I stay within those limits for sure, better safe than sorry.... but man ... at 15 mph, take the back roads, its safer for you and for those on the roads with you. :)

[quote=celstu1;4116548]:thumbup::thumbup:
I apologize....you are SO right....I had visions of you tearing down the road at 70, or there abouts,....I had visions of the IDIOT that was FLYING down the freeway, at WELL over 50 mph, in the FOG this am on the way into work.....WE HAD ZERO VISIBILITY!!!! You could NOT see a car length in front of you and these people were FLYING!!!! And then you have these 50+ car pileups, and these people are stunned and amazed!!! I sincerely do apologize to you for assuming you were also "flying" in unsuitable weather!

That's me! I'm the one creeping along at the top speed of 15mph :D. I drive a Mustang and it's just not made for winter Michigan driving.

I have stainless steel letter inserts in my bumper that spell out MUSTANG, so even in poor visablity the headlights of the car behind me reflect off the shiny metal & they can see what I'm driving & know why I'm going so darn slow....still doesn't stop them from flipping me off as they pass me though :eek:

I live in Knoxville, TN. We had a lot of ice here the last 2 days. My dh works at the university and they cancelled classes. Many years ago, they did not cancel classes in a big storm and some kid throwing snowballs was killed by an angry driver. Sarasota Journal - Google News Archive Search
Now they close classes more than before that. It is also due to insurance policies.
The local schools close more because we have so many back, winding roads. One year the cops closed the road our lane is off of, due to ice and snow. No one could get out of the road.
Because we do not have many of these winter storms, when it does happen, panic sets in. If we lived somewhere it happens more, we would not panic as much.
Our schools get money if kids are there so long a day. If they wait to call off school and then parents have to come get kids, people get mad. If they call it off early, people get mad if nothing happens. They can not win.