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DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
Dreading snow in the UK, the normal suspects of driving an igloo around, instantly dropping to a crawl at the first flake, or thinking that the solution to no traction is just to gun it harder are bad enough, but where I live has a LOT of 4x4's that are only used for dropping the kids off at school, and every time we have snow they seem to think that 4 wheel drive makes them immune to everything, and decide to drive as they would without snow on the ground to prove it, only to find out that 4x no grip has much the same effect as 2x no grip, and plough through a red light like they were on skis, or drift themselves into peoples gardens because slowing down for corners in snow is for chumps.

Bonus UK snow video

DesperateDan fucked around with this message at 09:38 on Nov 14, 2013

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Edmund Honda
Sep 27, 2003

DesperateDan posted:

Dreading snow in the UK



The number of people that think having 4wd (or an SUV that's styled like it could go off road) magically makes their car safer and easier to drive on snow is terrifying.

TheFrailNinja
Jun 28, 2008
CAN'T SEE SCHOOL BUS, INSISTS HE'S AN EXCELLENT DRIVER

GET OFF THE ROAD SON

APPARENTLY SUCKS AT POSTING TOO

ExplodingSims posted:

Ask me about almost wrecking a car yesterday because the reverse gear barely worked and and I had to give it some gas, only to find the brakes barely worked.

And as far as dirty cars go, yeah, you see some poo poo working valet, the worst I've even encountered was a guy who had a small chicken graveyard under his seats. Ugh, how, how do you just throw your bones down like that? I don't always keep my car the cleanest, after working some of my shifts I love to empty out my car. I'm also thankful my car is old enough to have ashtrays in it. They make for the perfect place to throw away receipts, straw wrappers, etc. until I can really clean out my car.

The worst by far is a smoker's car though. Yeah, I know some people like to smoke with the windows down or whatever, but some people man. Nothing better than getting into a customers car and finding ash covering every possible surface, and having all the cheap, cheap plastic be sticky with tar. Oh, and of course the mandatory cup/ashtray in the center console overflowing with ash and butts. I mean, I get smokers get desensitized to the smell of cigarette smoke, but good God, how do you let your car turn into a volcanic wasteland like that? Even the dankest of weedcars I've valeted are still pretty clean.

There was this one lady whose car I parked who I noticed was definitely not all there as I handed her her valet claim check. I hopped into her Mercury Sable or whatever dogshit sedan she was driving and one of my coworkers glanced into the backseat and made a disgusted/amazed face. I turned around to see the backseat covered in McDonald's bags, all the way up from the floor, flowing up over the back seat. The most amazing part was that they were all varying shades of yellow from age. It's interesting getting to look at some people's unique brand of insanity. The company I work for is mostly subcontracted by hospitals, and we happen to have a 2-3 man account at an ER in a kind of ghetto part of the city (or what used to be ghetto before the hospital started expanding) and we see a lot of weird poo poo up there. One morning I was there at 8am and one of the security officers came out to tell me and the other guy there that we had just missed some 10-person melee down on the street a couple hundred feet from the valet area. I guess the families of two guys that wound up in the hospital had some beef with one another and it was brewing all night and finally in the morning they ended up duking it out. A bunch of cop cars rolled in and had to break it up. At like 7AM. In October.

trouser chili
Mar 27, 2002

Unnngggggghhhhh

bandman posted:

We actually turned away a car one time because the occupants were hot boxing it as they pulled up. No poo poo, the smoke came pouring out when the driver opened the door.

I just replaced a radiator on a Subaru that was like that. You could smell this car with the windows closed and the doors shut. I refused to test-drive it after I was done, St. Louis city might be somewhat OK, but in the county where I live, no-way I wanted to deal with that had I got pulled over. Unfortunately this bit me in the rear end as the car slipped the lower hose clamp on the radiator just a few miles away and dumped all it's coolant. So I had to go out and fix it, refill it and whatnot. No biggie I guess, but it something I would have likely caught on a test drive.

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
Something just sparked my memory of my morning commute. I got cut off by some retard in a beat up rav4 with FL handicap plates (in MA - danger sign!) moving 20mph slower than I was. Why? They had limo tint on everything and the windshield tint (:wtc: I don't want to live on this planet anymore) was so dark I couldn't tell if there was anyone in the drivers seat at all. Protip: windows were installed so you could look out of your loving car, dimwit.

Oh, and you have mirrors for a reason. Assuming you can even see them.

Geoj
May 28, 2008

BITTER POOR PERSON

Out of control bus at 3:15 :stonklol:

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

I think Seattle is just about the worst city for winter driving in north america.. it's rarely just snow. It's usually bookended by rain or sleet which means once it gets dark and the temperature drops, everything turns into solid ice. To cap it off, the whole area is either a hill or a cliff.

The only upside is that snow like that is pretty rare. But when it does show up the entire city is paralyzed.

The other sneaky problem is that because the snow is so wet, heavy accumulation has a habit of caving in the roofs of houses.

Solar Coaster
Sep 2, 2009

xzzy posted:

I think Seattle is just about the worst city for winter driving in north america.. it's rarely just snow. It's usually bookended by rain or sleet which means once it gets dark and the temperature drops, everything turns into solid ice. To cap it off, the whole area is either a hill or a cliff.

The only upside is that snow like that is pretty rare. But when it does show up the entire city is paralyzed.

The other sneaky problem is that because the snow is so wet, heavy accumulation has a habit of caving in the roofs of houses.

This, and the fact that 67% of people living in Seattle are not from here. Most come from the south like California so are not sure what to do in colder weather, or wet weather.

Michael Scott
Jan 3, 2010

by zen death robot

Murphys Law posted:

Even worse are the assholes who won't bother to brush however many inches of snow off their car after a heavier snow storm. They just clear their windows, sometimes not even completely, then hit the roads and highways still covered in a thick layer of snow. gently caress these lazy assholes.

Why is this a problem? I'm not going to meticulously clear off my car after a significant snowstorm. I clear the windows, lights, license plate, brush off the hood and the roof a bit, that's it.


:wtf:

Michael Scott fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Nov 14, 2013

Solar Coaster
Sep 2, 2009

Michael Scott posted:

Why is this a problem? I'm not going to meticulously clear off my car after a significant snowstorm. I clear the windows, lights, license plate, that's it.

It's because if you do that; and then drive down the road at any speed; you risk the chance of having a chunk of snow fly off the roof/hood/windows off your car into the car behind you. That could cause a wreck.

Or, be considerate of others around you and clean your car so you are not a mobile hazard.

InitialDave
Jun 14, 2007

I Want To Believe.
If he does what he says and gets it off the windows and lights, as well as the majority of the roof/bonnet stuff, I'm not really seeing why it would be an issue.

Snowdens Secret
Dec 29, 2008
Someone got you a obnoxiously racist av.
Also it's good odds that any snow left on your hood will blow right up on your windshield, or when you hit the brakes any on the roof will slide down, and now you're in the street blind.

Galler
Jan 28, 2008


InitialDave posted:

If he does what he says and gets it off the windows and lights, as well as the majority of the roof/bonnet stuff, I'm not really seeing why it would be an issue.
Well he specifically said he only cleans the windows, lights, and license plate so I'm guessing the roof/bonnet remain covered.

e: welp, he edited the post. So I guess he just missed the entire conversation V:shobon:V

Galler fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Nov 15, 2013

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

InitialDave posted:

If he does what he says and gets it off the windows and lights, as well as the majority of the roof/bonnet stuff, I'm not really seeing why it would be an issue.

It's not, but the main discussion was talking about the tank commanders who leave several inches of untouched powder all over the car so I'm not sure why he even bothered to ask.

Snowdens Secret
Dec 29, 2008
Someone got you a obnoxiously racist av.
That roof/ bonnet bit got edited in :v:

I'll be honest, I don't always clear all the snow off on mine, but my commute is 2 miles at 25MPH and like 3 turns. It already takes me a lot longer to clear all the glass on the wagon than it does to get home.

goobernoodles
May 28, 2011

Wayne Leonard Kirby.

Orioles Magician.
Haha that was a month after I moved from Pittsburgh to Seattle. It started snowing right at rush hour, just as the sun was setting and temperatures were dropping. It was an complete poo poo show. My buddy still had summer tires on his Viggen so I trudged through the city-wide stop-and-go traffic to go pick him up. On my way there, a loving brodozer drove up the shoulder of 509 and 10 minutes or so later, I saw the truck in a ditch *on fire*. I have no idea how you manage to catch a truck on fire driving up a shoulder, but that moron somehow managed it.

e: As far as cleaning snow off of vehicles, I could have sworn I read a news article a few years back about a guy getting killed from a slab of ice that flew off the top of a semi and busted through his windshield. I personally love driving on the highway behind people that don't clean off fresh powder and leave a snow cloud behind their car.

goobernoodles fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Nov 15, 2013

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.

Michael Scott posted:

Why is this a problem? I'm not going to meticulously clear off my car after a significant snowstorm. I clear the windows, lights, license plate, brush off the hood and the roof a bit, that's it.

I had a 2x4 foot 2-3 inch thick slab of ice fly off a minivan in the next lane over and smash my windshield, bend my wiper linkages, and dent the hood. If I had been a mere 3-4 feet further along the road when it landed I probably would have ended up in the loving hospital after they pried me out from under a broken windshield and a giant slab of ice.

gently caress everyone who doesn't clean their roof off, I hope they die of cancer. Oh and mass plate 736 SRJ (I still have that poo poo memorized, along with the slo-mo memory of watching 200lbs of ice pinwheel toward me and slam the gently caress into my car) I hope you spin out and go over a bridge abutment one day.

Seriously, clean the snow and ice off your goddamn car. I don't care that it takes you another 5 minutes. This goes for everyone, not just you, I'm quoting you because you happened to bring it up this time.

kastein fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Nov 15, 2013

Das Volk
Nov 19, 2002

by Cyrano4747
My wife tells me I keep my car "weirdly clean" on the inside. For one thing, it reduces the risk someone will break into your car if they see there's nothing in it, and as others have mentioned I don't like having crap flying around in the car. The car is not a dumpster and it really bothers me when people treat them as such, especially when it's so bad I'd rather take a cab home than ride in my friend's trash-filled shitbox.

Queen_Combat
Jan 15, 2011
659-SVJ is the license plate of the fucker that tried (honestly tried) to kill me while I was on my motorcycle a few weeks ago. Never forget

Michael Scott
Jan 3, 2010

by zen death robot

Geirskogul posted:

659-SVJ is the license plate of the fucker that tried (honestly tried) to kill me while I was on my motorcycle a few weeks ago. Never forget

I gotta say that story from pages ago was really harrowing man, well-written too. Glad you're okay, that guy was terrible.

kastein posted:

gently caress everyone who doesn't clean their roof off, I hope they die of cancer.

There's a relatively high chance they will. :unsmith: I will take more time doing this in the future.

Michael Scott fucked around with this message at 05:51 on Nov 15, 2013

Cage
Jul 17, 2003
www.revivethedrive.org
I am a jerk that only cleans the windshield and windows because I get a weird pleasure from watching the snow blow off. Although I have a 1/4 mile thruway entrance 30 seconds from my house so I usually just clear the rest off with the gas pedal. Hope I don't get cancer!

ijustam
Jun 20, 2005

Getting behind semis in winter is pretty scary. They really have no way to get on top of the trailer so you wind up with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIOo9BEou1Y

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

I've never seen a truck with anywhere near that much snow on it.

Usually they don't accumulate anything because they're always moving. Parking on a slant in the sun or using a truck wash seems like it would take care of situations where snow does build up.

Failing that, a ladder and a snow rake should be sufficient right?

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
I see that all the time, usually near the truck stops. They're just parking in a giant parking lot so snow has plenty of time to fall and they don't necessarily take the time to clean it off.

What's really bad are the daycabbers who show up for work and then don't do the same, and especially the dump truck operators who neither secure their loads nor clear snow and ice.

It's one of those things I think where if more people lived here, someone would have developed a piece of standard equipment to fix it by now.

xzzy
Mar 5, 2009

Seat Safety Switch posted:

It's one of those things I think where if more people lived here, someone would have developed a piece of standard equipment to fix it by now.

Curious, I googled it.

http://www.scrapersystems.com/

:v:

0rganDonor
Jan 19, 2007

ijustam posted:

Getting behind semis in winter is pretty scary. They really have no way to get on top of the trailer so you wind up with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIOo9BEou1Y

A few places up north have sort of a v-plough on risers to clear trailers but yeah, normally I just don't care. Also, the snow makes a splendid anti-tailgating device.

ijustam
Jun 20, 2005

I've thought about having a tarp sort of thing that goes over the roof of the trailer (put on before snow fall) and has heating elements, much like the rear defroster in your car so the snow can just sorta melt and fall off while you're pre-tripping and warming the truck up.

Drunken Lullabies
Aug 1, 2006

by Debbie Metallica
Well I had a total anus clenching moment today after stopping at the gas station to get some cash back. When leaving I was taking a left across 2 lanes of 45mph traffic. Saw a good gap on one side and saw that the other side was stopped at a traffic light. Bingo. Right as I pull into the road, I hear a motorcycle revving but I can't see one, and the next thing I know I'm in the lane and there's a biker wearing all gray on a gray bike on a rainy gray day inches off of the side of my car pulling past me. This was extra scary because my seat belt decided to break on me last night at 3am (I have extra seats so it's no biggie, I just forgot about it and I was driving 1 mile round trip)

Anyways my immediate reaction was that I hosed up or something, but then he blew down the road going around double the speed limit doing the same thing to other cars, using the left turn lanes to pass people at intersections, etc. So maybe he was just some shithead. But seriously, who rides a GRAY bike wearing all GRAY with no lights on around Seattle on a dark rear end gray rainy day? I could barely track him once he had some distance, even once I knew where he was. Then again I also understand that my car is basically road camouflage colored too when it's raining so maybe he was in the same boat and didn't see me turning (even though I had side indicators on, lights on, and my fogs on)

xzzy posted:

I think Seattle is just about the worst city for winter driving in north america.. it's rarely just snow. It's usually bookended by rain or sleet which means once it gets dark and the temperature drops, everything turns into solid ice. To cap it off, the whole area is either a hill or a cliff.

The only upside is that snow like that is pretty rare. But when it does show up the entire city is paralyzed.

The other sneaky problem is that because the snow is so wet, heavy accumulation has a habit of caving in the roofs of houses.

Also Seattle drivers in general have poor decision making skills, like all of the people trying to make it up the Denny hill at 10mph despite the road being closed and people skiing/tubing down the hill. Toss in the fact that most people are running bald all seasons because I GOT AWD AND IT NEVER SNOWS BUT I HAVE TO GET TO WORK NOW I CANT BE LATE and have either never driven in snow (cali trasplants) or only do it 1 or 2 days out of the year (seattle natives) and it's no wonder why i5 becomes a sea of abandoned cars when we get 2 inches of snow. Also most people over-use their brakes, drive too fast down hills, too slow up them (I blame the ice, the roads LOOK a lot better than they actually are when it freezes here,) and don't have any idea how to control a car in a slide. Toss in some black ice and you have a pefect storm of hosed.

I wish I could find that video of one car hitting something like 10-20 parked cars on cap hill in one go that king5 aired a few years ago.

Drunken Lullabies fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Nov 15, 2013

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug

Drunken Lullabies posted:

I wish I could find that video of one car hitting something like 10-20 parked cars on cap hill in one go that king5 aired a few years ago.

This one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvmaRQ75hc8

slurry_curry
Nov 26, 2003
<3mini-moni+animu^_^


And that is why I don't leave the house when it snows. Also it makes me very happy that I have a garage/driveway so none of my cars get parked on the street.

Michael Scott
Jan 3, 2010

by zen death robot

xzzy posted:

Parking on a slant in the sun or using a truck wash seems like it would take care of situations where snow does build up.

Failing that, a ladder and a snow rake should be sufficient right?

You've overlooked an important part of human nature regarding effort/time spent. There's a term called 'externalities', which basically means benefits/costs that are imposed on other, external people in the course of or lack of an action. When taking time to clear off the roof of a truck provides absolutely no benefit to the driver, and it's extremely unlikely there would be any consequences to the driver for not clearing the roof, there is very little incentive and therefore very little chance that any driver would do so.

Similar with cars. People are self-serving and that can be pretty bad!

superdylan
Oct 13, 2005
not 100% stupid
More Seattle driver highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC2cEgT5Qq0&hd=1

Solar Coaster
Sep 2, 2009

I love this. Not only because I know exactly where all this is (I grew up on Juanita Drive), but it totally shows what the EastSide Drivers are like. Glad you got most of the big hangups in Kirkland! Should film some of the bullshit around rush hour on 85th, 124th, and Lake Washington Blvd! The things I have seen....

Seriously, this video made my day knowing I'm not the only one that see's this nonsense.

Drunken Lullabies
Aug 1, 2006

by Debbie Metallica

Yep, thanks.


Spot on.

Drunken Lullabies fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Nov 16, 2013

0rganDonor
Jan 19, 2007

Michael Scott posted:

You've overlooked an important part of human nature regarding effort/time spent. There's a term called 'externalities', which basically means benefits/costs that are imposed on other, external people in the course of or lack of an action. When taking time to clear off the roof of a truck provides absolutely no benefit to the driver, and it's extremely unlikely there would be any consequences to the driver for not clearing the roof, there is very little incentive and therefore very little chance that any driver would do so.

Similar with cars. People are self-serving and that can be pretty bad!

This too, a good 40% of things that we are required to do, we aren't actually paid to do

CannonFodder
Jan 26, 2001

Passion’s Wrench

0rganDonor posted:

This too, a good 40% of things that we are required to do, we aren't actually paid to do
Right. For those that don't know, truckers are paid by the mile, and that only counts the miles between A and B as measured by how the company wants to measure it, so that doesn't count time spent before and after and during (fueling) the trip.

Mat_Drinks
Nov 18, 2002

mmm this nitromethane gets my supercharger runnin'

Oh man, the drivers in this city... :smith:

You Am I
May 20, 2001

Me @ your poasting

Thank God I don't live in a place where it snows.

ephphatha
Dec 18, 2009




Drunken Lullabies posted:

But seriously, who rides a bike with no lights on

Motorcycle low beams are wired to the ignition, you have to actually disable the lights (wire in a switch etc) to be able to run a bike with no lights on. So he's an rear end in a top hat.

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Jonny Nox
Apr 26, 2008




You Am I posted:

Thank God I don't live in a place where it snows.

Snow is fine. Know you're going to take a lot longer to get places. Don't lock your wheels, don't spin your wheels. Leave yourself plenty of room. Don't try to change speed or direction quickly. Don't panic. I hear winter tires help alot, but I've never needed them. When you try to get going, take your loving time to get started, THEN, accelerate up to speed. There is always ice right before the stop line, do most of your stopping before it. Also the ice has probably been polished to a mirror shine by the assholes spinning their tires on it trying to get going.

Remember if you tense up, you are going to loose control.

See? Easy.

edit: I just realized all our snow in Calgary this year has been Friday evening til Sunday Morning. (And we have another winter storm warning for tonight!) The morning after a big snow is loving terrible in this province.

Jonny Nox fucked around with this message at 07:49 on Nov 16, 2013

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