Last night, I encountered the worst patch of black ice on a city street in years, possibly my lifetime. I barely averted rearending a stopped car by managing to hop the curb and nearly missing a tree. Anti locks were useless, and the car behind me also took evasive action. Nothing was damaged. Does anyone else have winter stories to share?
A car didn't have enough time to cross the intersection and forced us to brake. Which caused my car to do a 180 into the other lane and back into mine. Then we ended up on the side of the road. Luckily there was no oncoming traffic or anyone behind us. I was so scared I started to cry. I'm glad my husband was the one driving. I think that was worse than the time we went off the road and had to get towed out. The snow had stopped us from flipping over.
My dad while plowing our driveway with a ditch on each side went right into it. He had to get towed out. Later that same day it happened again. He called someone else to get him out the second time so they didn't laugh at him again lol.
One time we owned a one ton dually that wouldn't budge on the ice. A 4wheeler towed us out.
I had to be to work for 6am and we had so much snow the night before. Our driveway was very long and I had a little neon. My husband thought it would be a good idea to have our neighbors use their SUV to push me down the driveway. Of course, I got blocked in and she ended up having to go out the other end. When our plow guy finally showed up 4 hours later he was towing me out but the door wouldn't shut and almost got torn off in the process. I had a crimp in my door for the remaining 3 years as a reminder.
Those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more.
I am pretty sure the "black ice" term do not come from Africa... 'Sorry, couldn't helped, that kind of Morning!!!! In 3 days... 5 months without touching alcohol. I did 5 years without alcohol once in this century.
@F-IM-Forty I lived two years in Bavaria, Germany. You can have all four seasons in one day over there... Ridiculous... my butt still hurt of all my slips in the sidewalks.
@F-IM-Forty USA military didn't wanted to leave after WW2... I believe 300,000 stationed around Stuttgart 13 military bases during the Cold War Peak. There was that phrase among american military... "No Bigger Than Stuttgart".
@F-IM-Forty Thank You for your Service and Sacrifice.
I was driving in north Texas years ago, doing 65 on a dry highway, no snow, when I hit black ice and started sliding. There was an oncoming car in the other lane and one on the side of the road, so I tried to slide it toward the parked car. As I got near the parked car, he pulled out on the road and I stopped right where he had been sitting. I was very lucky. The road looked exactly the same where the black ice began. Black ice is some bad shit!
I was in the worst ice/snow storm that hit Atlanta...people in the South just don't have enough experience to drive in the stuff...it took me nearly 11 hours to get home when the normal commute was only about an hour...why? I had to keep finding alternate roads because people stopped and just abandoned their cars or slipped down hills, etc.
I ended up driving on the sidewalks in some places It was like playing some horrible pinball game with my car as the ball...but, I did it...
Most stressful commute ever...
My worst experience on ice was, as a teen, I was driving down an icy residential street, lined with parked cars, went over a hill, then did perfect doughnuts all the way to the bottom, WITHOUT hitting any of the parked cars alongside me.That was an eye-opening experience!
That happened to me one year on an overpass. What made it worse was other cars skidding all over and stopped everywhere. It was like bumper cars. I hit the concrete barrier and my car was drivable, but barely. I stopped well past the area and then watched. Every car than came past slid all over everywhere banging into everything. It took them quite awhile to close it off. I was planning on passing that car down to my daughter. It was sad to say goodbye.
Seemingly too many to count Pulling into college and hit black ice, heading for a curb, I at least straightened the front wheels out on my VW Bug. Banged right up it. Rear engine weight allowed me to get off the grass ..but every time I ‘made a left,’ my horn went off!
Drove to the schools automotive dept., giving permission (and all day) to ‘the students’ to do what they could… Got it back with the wires to the horn clipped - but no horn.
Watched the wildest debate from afar last year as Oregonians fought over ‘salting their roads.’ I’m the only one in my new neighborhood with a vehicle of it’s vintage without major rust damage, as it’s never felt salt.. Oregon decided to ‘test salt’ the most dangerous on-ramps … while Virginia continue to salt ..everything
On the central reservations of motorways (freeways to you). You may find a large amount of scurvy grass. This used to be quite a rare plant that only lived by the sea. It is rich in vitamin C and sailors used to collect it for long voyages hence its name. It has a very high tolerance to salt and thrives on the verges. Propagating its seeds up to 100 yards away every time a car speeds past.
@273kelvin I’ve wondered what micro-climates might develop after years of such salting? I know the state of Oregon was most concerned about it’s inland fisheries with regard to road salt runoff. But with such an influx of ‘outsiders,’ most from ..the ‘rust belt,’ and the prevalence of ice storms in the largest city (Portland), they’ve decided to try some.
Hello fellow Minnesotan! I’m in Mankato now (a big city for me!) so the roads generally aren’t too bad. However I grew up in a town of about 2,000 in central MN. My first car was rear wheel drive so my dad put salt bags in the truck every winter to help with traction. Actually, I almost feel like I knew how that car would do in the snow and ice better than any of my front wheel drives.
Oh gosh, now I’m nostalgic for my Thunderbird and country roads.....