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How is it that DC area drivers cannot handle snow?
I'm from New Jersey. We're not exactly Montana or even Buffalo, NY. No one owns tire chains, and I'm sure we look like idiots to people who deal with real snow. But we're a head and shoulders above our neighbors here, a mere 150 miles south.
It's not that different from hard rain or fog. Visibility is decreased and the road may be slippery. So you slow down a bit, always use your signals, turn on headlights, and take it easy. (Ice, for the record, is another matter entirely. Ice screws you up, unless you are one bad-assed winter driver.)
But not around here. Here, there are two ways to deal with snow: pretend it doesn't exist, or tremble before its fluffy majesty. So you get people doing 20mph up the highway, which irritates the people trying to do 80mph like they always do, so they start to weave in and out of traffic and inevitably cut someone off; someone brakes too hard, there's a slip and a slide and an accident, you betcha.
Knowing this, and hearing the forecast, I have to ask myself: should I burn the leave time and get out of here around noon, before the heavier snow starts? Because there's a 100% chance of increased roadway idiocy once it gets past the "flurry" stage.
I'm from New Jersey. We're not exactly Montana or even Buffalo, NY. No one owns tire chains, and I'm sure we look like idiots to people who deal with real snow. But we're a head and shoulders above our neighbors here, a mere 150 miles south.
It's not that different from hard rain or fog. Visibility is decreased and the road may be slippery. So you slow down a bit, always use your signals, turn on headlights, and take it easy. (Ice, for the record, is another matter entirely. Ice screws you up, unless you are one bad-assed winter driver.)
But not around here. Here, there are two ways to deal with snow: pretend it doesn't exist, or tremble before its fluffy majesty. So you get people doing 20mph up the highway, which irritates the people trying to do 80mph like they always do, so they start to weave in and out of traffic and inevitably cut someone off; someone brakes too hard, there's a slip and a slide and an accident, you betcha.
Knowing this, and hearing the forecast, I have to ask myself: should I burn the leave time and get out of here around noon, before the heavier snow starts? Because there's a 100% chance of increased roadway idiocy once it gets past the "flurry" stage.
