Worst day ever in the Leaf

[donald]

Sorry to hear of the medical concerns. Very glad you made it back. I've not suffered as you have described, but I sure know about recovering from a depressed core temperature.

The comment I just wanted to make was that with trying to get up a slope with FWD. If you can'd do it because of loss of traction and you really do want to get up that slope, try reversing up the slope instead. It might still not help, but the traction is then at the rear which will increase the load normal to the road on that axle as you go to apply traction. With FWD it is 'exactly the wrong way around' to get this benefit.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I'm surprised that no one has written this yet:

If you can't even walk on ice, then you can't drive on it.

If you can't stop a car from sliding down a street, then you can't drive back up it.

I learned about ice when I was 18: I was out in the family station wagon and it was cold, and raining lightly. Going home over the local river bridge, I discovered that the bridge (and only the bridge) was iced over. I was going the speed limit (30MPH) but a woman ahead of me was creeping along ahead of me at 10MPH in her VW Beetle. I could barely even slow, much less stop. I didn't want to plow into her, so I nosed the car into one of the bridge supports. She was spared, but the rear of the family car swung out into the other lane and was struck by a third car. The woman then proceeded to get out of her car and scream at me about how fast I was going... our car was nearly totaled. Hers was undamaged.

 

[Levenkay]

I'm surprised that no one has written this yet:

If you can't even walk on ice, then you can't drive on it.



My first exposure to the delightful phenomenon of "freezing rain" came during my return from a Thanksgiving visit to my parents, beginning about 30 miles north of Portland. I'd never seen freezing rain before, but all the cars strewn off on the shoulder made it apparent that the road was slick. I slowed way down along with the other survivors, and white-knuckled it the rest of the way to my apartment in Beaverton. I had one noticeable sliding/unable to stop episode at the bottom of an off-ramp, but made it home OK. The instant I got out of the car, though (once I pushed hard enough on the door with my feet to break the half-inch coating of ice), I promptly went base-over-apex and wound up having to haul myself up by the car's door handle, during which activity the car visibly slid sideways a bit. I remain amazed to this day that the car ('64 Comet 289) managed to drive pretty much incident-free over stuff I couldn't stand up on.

 

[realmac]

I can relate. Worked from home Friday, Saturday I barely left the house. Everything in our suburb was covered in a sheet of ice. Took my Altima out Sunday to Lewisville and it was bouncing over solid chunks.
What's important is you're okay though. Scary though about your vision getting all crazy. Just make sure you don't have a concussion.

 

[theresiahallmark]

That does sound like a very bad day. I guess it all depends on how hilly your neighborhood is. I made a roundtrip from Arlington to Grapevine Thursday, Friday, and Saturday without incident. I even got great mileage despite the cold because my speed never went over 30 mph! I was very proud to tell my co-workers how great the leaf drove over the ice. It was even better when I was able to turn on my defroster from my phone about 15 minutes before I was ready to leave work. The ice came off my windows so easily.

My chargeport, on the other hand, was covered under a couple of inches of solid ice. That took some work! But I'm sure many people had similar problems with their gas tank.

 

[donald]

I'm surprised that no one has written this yet:

If you can't even walk on ice, then you can't drive on it.

Not sure that's entirely true. Bipedal motion is wholly asymmetric and unbalanced. Cars tend not to 'fall over' when they start slipping a little. I've driven, albeit not without difficulty but still successfully, up slopes that I would have considered generally impassable on foot in regular footwear.

 

[RonDawg]

I'm surprised that no one has written this yet:

If you can't even walk on ice, then you can't drive on it.

Not sure that's entirely true. Bipedal motion is wholly asymmetric and unbalanced. Cars tend not to 'fall over' when they start slipping a little. I've driven, albeit not without difficulty but still successfully, up slopes that I would have considered generally impassable on foot in regular footwear.

But LeftieBiker's statement still has a ring of truth to it: should you be out driving when it's so slick out you can barely stay standing?

Cars may not have the inherent tendency to fall over, but they are capable of much greater speed than humans, and combined with their mass are capable of much more destruction.

 

[donald]

But LeftieBiker's statement still has a ring of truth to it: should you be out driving when it's so slick out you can barely stay standing?

Agreed. My observation was more directed to the case if you got caught out by it and were in 'emergency' mode. Better to avoid an emergency than be good at handling emergencies...!?

 

[UBUYGAS]

Glad you're doing ok.

Here in NJ we don't have to worry about snow or freezing because they plow and salt. But we all know that if there is ice then you stay home. Sorry you had to learn the hard way.

Sal

Well, here I am this morning and feeling quite sore, but haven't had any other neurological issues. The firemen thought surely I must have hit my head, but I'm quite sure I did not. I had no pain or bruising on the back of my head. After doing some research online I think a drop in blood-pressure is likely to blame due to overstimulating the vagus nerve. But I guess I'll never know for sure.

 

[Nubo]

My first exposure to the delightful phenomenon of "freezing rain" came during my return from a Thanksgiving visit to my parents, beginning about 30 miles north of Portland. I'd never seen freezing rain before, but all the cars strewn off on the shoulder made it apparent that the road was slick. I slowed way down along with the other survivors, and white-knuckled it the rest of the way to my apartment in Beaverton. I had one noticeable sliding/unable to stop episode at the bottom of an off-ramp, but made it home OK. The instant I got out of the car, though (once I pushed hard enough on the door with my feet to break the half-inch coating of ice), I promptly went base-over-apex and wound up having to haul myself up by the car's door handle, during which activity the car visibly slid sideways a bit. I remain amazed to this day that the car ('64 Comet 289) managed to drive pretty much incident-free over stuff I couldn't stand up on.

In favorite recollection of freezing rain, I was returning to Cleveland from Dayton. It was raining and the temperature was dropping as it got dark. I started seeing cars up ahead sliding around so I began slowing down, very gently. When I reached that spot, the car to my left slid off and down an embankment steep enough that I lost sight of it. There was probably a foot of soggy snow on the slope. I was starting to think I should stop and investigate, when lo and behold, that wayward car returned to view, and somehow climbed back onto the icy roadway. I still remember noticing it was a priest driving the car, as he glanced over and smiled. I'll never know how he managed to not get stuck down that slope.