Jed said: > So much for the notion that people in Russia know how to drive in the snow.
I wasn't even aware of the notion that people in Russia know how to drive.. : ( Seriously, there are quite a few reasons it is difficult to drive well in conditions like these (Atlanta, GA). (I think) I can tell from Terry's dashcam video that the road temperature is below freezing, and the snow seems pretty dry (well below freezing, with little water content). These by themselves are "the good news", they don't affect driving much. If, however, there is a lot of moisture in the air (not to mention Freezing Rain) and the road is subzero (is that term known to Fahrenheiters? I mean below freezing), it will slowly be creating an extremely slippery ice+water surface. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezing_rain. I should point out that in Sweden (where I live), there is quite some variation in what "winter conditions" mean. In the North, where they ALWAYS have snow in winter, the snow tends to be dry and packed (not terribly slippery). In the South, they USUALLY have snow at winter, and the temperature is always oscillating at, or slightly below, the freezing point. Treacherous. Oh, here's a reading suggestion : ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Smilla%27s_Feeling_for_Snow I lived for a couple of years in south-east England, UK just a few years ago, and clearly noticed the collective behaviour that helps create this type of traffic jams. At work, people would sit up in shock and stare at the large snowflakes falling, and then after 5 seconds thought (or maybe 5 minutes) scram for their cars. (The 5 minutes pause was probably the process of coming to the conclusion that it was in fact "late enough in the afternoon" to leave work.) So definitely, the relatively smooth, flat departure-time bell-shape has become much more pointed (higher). That's no good. In the UK, I realized, tyres are no big deal. Just stick'em on and forget about them (I'm exaggerating I know). The effects being that a lot of people are driving with pretty worn out tyres, not to mention pretty OLD tyres (aging makes the rubber harder). That's no good. In Sweden, people change tyres twice a year. (At least those who use studded tyres, which means most cars, but it's coming out of fashion..) These people will actually be _looking_ at their tyres properly twice a year, make sure they are properly inflated at least twice a year, and will generally be quite aware of how old they are. (Then there are year-round M+S tyres of course. (Mud+Snow.) But that's a different story ; ) Then there's culture. Despite being quite close, geographically and culturally, people in the UK and Sweden drive quite differently, especially when it comes to speed. I noticed that the English may be more gentlemanly in traffic, but they sure drive much more aggressively (fast). Not that they are breaking the speed limits all the time, but it is generally accepted behaviour to travel at a higher speed on a given type of road. I could often tell where roads were narrow, winding, and generally "dangerous", but people around me were driving as if they were any straight, ordinary roads. That's no good. Definite culture difference. If you haven't already seen this viral one-minute masterpiece, checkout https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvLaTupw-hk Safe driving, folks. Be humble. /Sunil From: jedrothw...@gmail.com Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 22:55:55 -0500 Subject: Re: [Vo]:OFF TOPIC Atlanta frozen again To: vortex-l@eskimo.com Here is why Russians have dash-cams. I think these are mainly Russian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqktzCeFcbI So much for the notion that people in Russia know how to drive in the snow. Two final notes. A friend of mine who is a pharmacist at the hospital says that essential staff was ordered to stay there yesterday and today. She and doctors slept in empty patient beds. Fortunately, there was not a single traffic fatality in Atlanta yesterday or today. More than a thousand accidents but no one killed. - Jed
