Have you noticed that when it might snow, many drivers act as if it had? They reduce their speed to 5 or 10 MPH below whatever the speed limit is in anticipation of slippery conditions, one supposes. It must make them feel “safe.” Perhaps even virtuous – because their slowing-down shows they care about the “safety” of others, too. Just like wearing a “mask” when you are not sick.
When it actually rains, it’s even worse.
Every third driver – anecdotally, so it seems – slows down 10-15 MPH below the speed limit – which most of the time is set a dumbed-down low that assumes everyone out there has no business driving to begin with – the moment a drop of rain hits the windshield.
Sometimes, the reduce their speed 20 MPH (or more) below the limit.
Granted, there are plenty of drivers who have no business being on the road when it’s sunny out. But how does it make things “safer” to dumb things down to the level of the least-able drivers? Would it not make things “safer” for everyone if expectations were higher rather than lower?
The lower expectations that are in effect have a secondary effect, too. It is apparent every time it might snow or actually does rain. It can be seen right in front of you. That car ahead that’s doing 38 MPH on a road with a 55 MPH limit that ought to be 65 but isn’t – so as to assure the majority of traffic is “speeding” at any given time, in order to make there are always “speeders” to be caught. Reasonable speed limits that are congruent with the natural flow of traffic – this is the 85th percentile speed – would result in fewer “speeding” tickets and sole less money for the county/city/municipality that employs speed limit enforcers for the same reason the IRS has enforcers.
The driver ahead doing 38 in a 55 may even have his hazard lights on. This is becoming a common sight whenever it might snow or actually does rain. Of a piece with the sight of people wearing “masks” – and for fundamentally the same reasons.
Fear – and virtue signaling.
People wore (and still wear) “masks” because they have been conditioned to be afraid. Not of anything specific. Just a vaguely threatening something – like the snow that might start falling sometime or the rain that is actually falling. These conditions can be likened to the virus that might be floating around.
Can’t be too careful!
Of course, one can.
“Safety” does not come first – if you want to get out of bed or take a shower or do anything else that entails movement. Which entails a degree of risk. You might twist your ankle getting out bed. It is slippery in the shower; you might fall and break your leg. Maybe there ought to be safety guardrails on bedsides. And no one ought to risk taking a shower standing up – benches are “safer” – and everyone ought to be encouraged to wear suction-cup shoes in the shower, too. Or maybe just reduce the risk by showering less often. It is the functional equivalent of driving 15-20 MPH below the already silly speed limit when – oh my god! – it is raining out.
This obsessing over “safety” – more finely, this deliberately conditioned inculcation of obsession with “safety” – is crippling people. It is making them afraid to risk doing anything. Like drive normally because it might snow – or when it is actually raining.
No doubt, those who drive 38 in a 55 because it is raining believe they are driving . . . safely. You can tell how ardently they believe it when you pass them by the horn honking and headlight-flashing. Of a piece with the way “maskers” reacted to those who didn’t. There is a cultish vibe to both. One must believe as well as scold. Apostasy cannot pass unremarked.
There is something else – and worse – that is highly likely to follow from all of this. Because one thing inevitably follows another thing. This is why – in law – precedents set always lead to practice being expanded. Hence the importance of establishing precedents.
Well, think about it.
The public-at-large (which is to say, many people and perhaps even most people) have been conditioned to accept “lock downs” – a term that in former times applied only to prisons – as legitimate when there is what the government declares to be an “emergency.” It does not need to actually be one, of course. Viz, “COVID.”
It is enough that it is declared.
The public-at-large has also been conditioned to regard “safety” as the utmost priority; the mere ululation of that word being sufficient to justify any imposition. It has been trained to fear snow and rain almost as much as “COVID.” It has been trained to regard it as virtuous to fear snow and rain – and to act fearfully.
How long will it be before the roads are “locked down” because it might snow – or actually is raining? If you think that possibility is preposterous, reflect back upon the past four years and remember what you saw and what you probably thought you’d never see before four years ago.
Then have a look at the rear end of that car ahead of you that is doing 38 in a 55 and has its emergency flashers on – because it might snow or is actually raining.
PS: If you are curious regarding the meaning of the headline accompanying this article, see here for an explanation-definition.
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I was forced to drive like a clover for an hour today, the 4-wheel conked out on today, the truck still goes.
Top speed was 45 mph at 3250 rpms all the way back home.
I’m happy that I wasn’t stranded out in the middle of nowhere.
Doesn’t make me happy that I have to repair the transmission.
Probably replace it, live with the expense. I’ll do it myself, I don’t have to drive it as a daily.
A cold wave is on the way for a few days.
Definitely beer time.
I hate getting stuck behind someone driving waaay too slow on some of the steep hills I drive up and down when the roads are icy. There was one time I passed a line of cars because I knew there was no way in hell I was going to make it to the top creeping along the way they were. It was nerve wracking to say the least. I was going way too fast for comfort passing them, but I made it up that hill that afternoon. On a side note, I hope the weather is not too bad in your neck of the woods. It is about -30 below right now, with clear skies, and the auroras have been out and looking nice. Weird that the lower 48 has been getting auroras and colours (the rare reds) that we do not see much up here, either. Where drinks go, I always loved hot chocolate, with a dabble of peppermint schnapps when it gets this cold.
Being alive is work, everything about it is work.
You breathe, you eat, you do what is necessary to exist on the earthship planet earth that is not lost in space, the sun keeps earth in its place, pun intended.
You want light? Well, you can’t have any light!
Said the Satanist Satanyahu the Satanist, you know who he really is.
Housing is kind of important when it gets colder than hell outside.
A tent is not a place to be. Maybe in LA, not in Alaska.
The ditch will have to do.
Most people couldn’t care less about “safety”. They only use “safety” as an excuse to not have to do anything, other than exist.
Here in Chicago, it really hasn’t snowed in the past 2 years outside of what the plows and pre-salting can handle. Now we have 2 years of new drivers plus illegals who have never seen snow on the road, plus forgetful old people. First big storm its going to be a mess. I have noticed the rain issue as well.
I take it you’ve never driven I-15 in Utah during the winter. Drivers will go 80 mph in whiteout conditions, I shite you not.
Also 80 thru 55 construction zones. Bike trip some years back going thru Salt Lake City the freeway was one long construction zone and NO ONE was doing less than 75.
Next time with family in the cage the summer trip to Solitude took Legacy Parkway around out to the west looped back south of downtown, no one on the road it was great.
It is like that up here, as well. I will see one car, with a line of vehicles behind them, and the slow, leader car will refuse to pull over and let others pass. Hey, if you want to drive 30 in a 55 be my guest. But if you are that terrified of the snow, maybe you should not be driving. Or at the very least, be courteous and aware of your surroundings. Which many are not. More than once I have been the bastard that passes each and every vehicle until I can get around all of them and be on my way. I have found that often shows other that hey, it is really okay to pass someone even in the Winter. What gets me, is no one will pass, but everyone will be tail gaiting in a long train. Not smart if someone has to suddenly slam on the brakes for a moose darting out.
…and yes, this applies to rain, as well, albeit, we have less of that.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that they often have their wipers on HIGH when intermittent is more than adequate.
Welcome to the world of the Slowest Common Denominator.
Probably because they’re automatic wipers. Apparently, they’re so sensitive, that they’ll activate when even a SINGLE drop hits the windshield!
Ah Winston, you see we could have exceedingly nice public schools, even adorned with driver experience test tracks and all, at a fraction of the cost of the war in Eurasia. What’s the point though if all the kids are gay and aren’t interested in driving cars they’ll never afford or want.
Hazard Lights are for breakdowns or when a vehicle is temporarily driving much slower than the rest of traffic. Driving with them flashing in low visibilty conditions is dangerous as well as flat-assed stupid. If one has to drive in heavy rain or fog, turn on your Rear Fog Light. If your vehicle doesn’t have one, buy one or stay off the road.
As I age I like driving in the rain less and less.
It doesn’t slow me down really cause I know every pothole and puddle location on my journeys. But occasionally I’ll get a surprise, ach it’s good for washing off the rock salt underneath!
Don’t start me on the farts doing 40 in a 60 on a dry sunny(rare in Scotland’s winter) day.
What I hate most is glare off a wet road when the sun comes out. The sun is so low this time of year.
Years ago, you came up with a euphemism for this kind of drivers: clovers.
I still use my old words: NPCs, biorobots, subhuman scum, etc.
I think my terminology is more descriptive.
Rhymes with GTFOver. I wonder why he calls them clovers.
Another PNW resident here. I refuse to drive I90 from Eastern WA to the west (Seattle) side in winter. Odds are there will be a spin out, jackknifed truck, roll over etc and the pass will be closed for hours. If you’re in the stopped pack of cars there is no out, no turning around – you’re stuck until “they” decide to reopen. It’s disgusting between the s**t drivers and the inability of this state to keep a major transportation corridor open. Snoqualmie Pass is only about 3000ft elevation level. Yea, it snows but it does that all over the mountains of the Western US.
The “stellar” road engineering here is another problem in the rain. I came around a bend near the mentioned pass after a big rain, just missed a car that had spun out in the giant water pond in the middle of the interstate & tiptoed around the mess on the shoulder. It’s wet here, all the time, how about surface grading and large drains? Nope can’t have that.
State route 18 near Auburn WA had another ponding problem that wasn’t addressed for YEARS. Their solution on Blewett Pass was to bank the road in the opposite direction for drainage, downhill. SUV feels like you’re going to roll even at the recommended lower curve speed.
I know the giant pond. Was doing around 70 with almost no traffic in a downpour. Truck went sideways for a while but I got her back. I couldn’t believe the amount of wash coming across an interstate. I hope i can remember next time as it’s rare for me to be there. 1-2 times a year.
And I have been stuck on the pass already too for 2 hours, with it barely snowing, jeez…..
During the summer months when a rainstorm hits, the rain can be monsoonal, you’ll slow down and maybe even stop. You won’t be able to see in front of you.
Like a cow pissing on a flat rock is what they say out in the sticks.
If there were no oceans, no water, just the earth’s mantle and core, it would be scarred heavily with deep valleys and caverns.
No Amazon River, no Mississippi River, no River Rhine, nothing.
It would never rain. The hydrosphere would not have existed.
The sacred river Alph would have never been thought of by Samuel Coleridge Taylor.
When the earth formed, the water was there too. A comet of water maybe struck the earth or several comets combined.
How water is here isn’t a mystery, the Universe provided the necessary elements for everything to be here like it is, formed a globe.
A Primordial Substance is the same as a Creation. Not any difference.
In the beginning it was let there be light, a dark winter pall has descended onto Ukraine and Gaza, lots of places, New Orleans was assaulted and battered this morning. Darkness these days, nobody can see the light.
Time for a change.
Porky the Rain-maker is a cartoon about the need for some rain.
Energy and Human Evolution, a sample at Jstor.
What drives me up a wall even more than people driving slow is the authorities over-reacting. I drive in CA’s sierras all the time, and we have these things called “chain controls”, where you are required to chain up, or have an AWD car with snow tires. Anyhow, when chain controls are in effect, the speed limit is 25mph, even if there’s no snow, and lots of people get tickets for this.
So, when you see those signs up, and you’re driving on perfectly dry road which has a 55mph limit, you have to slow it down to 25, lest you get a ticket from the popo, who is a far more dangerous threat to you than some snow on some road.
“Chain control” seems fitting, since we’re all living in an open-air prison.
It’s the same people that report people pulled over to the side of the road every 5 seconds on Waze
I see plenty of the opposite, at least with snow, living in a state that gets rapid temperature swings, significant snow (very nearly daily in some parts of the state) and wind. This we see ground blizzards, black ice, rapidly changing pavement conditions and lots of plowing.
First with wider availability of 4WD (and AWD) and then a real explosion with anti-lock brakes and traction control many people thought themselves immune from laws of physics and friction. The posted speed limit is of course arbitrary and primarily a balance of not pissing people off being too low while also being a useful revenue generator. But be that as it may it’s set to be followed under good conditions and isn’t a “hold my beer” challenge in poorer conditions.
So I come back to the fact that more and more people are just simply not good drivers and lack experience and judgement to ever really know how to find a safe traveling speed. Winter travel for me means being ready for the occasional going 25 with flashers on freaked out driver as well as a two hour highway closure for a wheels up moron.
“So I come back to the fact that more and more people are just simply not good drivers and lack experience and judgement to ever really know how to find a safe traveling speed.”
Bingo
It’s very hard to teach someone to sense available traction if they have zero experience playing at the limit. Used to be kids (primarily guys) would go do donuts in snow parking lots for fun and would learn.
Now the AGWs will ticket a kid and/or impound his car for “reckless” driving or some other conniving BS only these useless government parasites can come up with.
Yup, and it’s getting way worse Eric. Lot’s of good theories below but I think it’s because of what we were talking about a thread or so ago, gov education. or it should be defined as gov propaganda schools, ‘follow the rules’ BS.
The only way out of it is to relocate to as rural as you can handle. We did at least half the year now to a rural place and it is refreshing to drive, actually enjoy it.
“The only way out of it is to relocate to as rural as you can handle.”
I’m see it as a badge of honor living as far away from people as I can.
Pisses me off when they keep paving roads that have been gravel for the last century & ought to be left gravel. As soon as road is paved all the idiots then decide that it’s OK to live out here.
At this point I’m convinced the developers are buying rural property then they payoff the county to pave the road. Boom, like that property values double or triple and there is a hoard of people that will now consider living there vs living on a dirt road.
The problem is in the winter the county barely maintains the road plowing and the new California immigrants are totally unprepared to navigate a snowy road.
In Utah, it’s the opposite problem, especially at the first major snowfall of the year. I.e. when it snows heavily enough to stick to the roads or if it’s cold and foggy enough to ice the roads, many drivers drive as if it is still sunny and dry. This leads to things like huge pileups on I-15 at “point of the mountain” (near the border of Utah and Salt Lake counties) and huge numbers of slide-offs and rollovers statewide.
good point Shoal Creek, yes it seems to go to both extremes now.
It’s the same in ID, MT, CO, WY and mountainous areas of CA, AZ, etc. I’m a native to the mountain states and it’s always been a balancing act. You have to travel slower 6 months of the years since it snows almost everyday but if you over compensate you’d waste a lot of time.
So you have to drive as fast as you can without flipping. You will eventually find your limit. But putting yourself in a ditch is a learning experience and you become a driver who can toe the edge a bit more. So it’s almost always new transplants who seem to fall into this polarity of being over or under cautious, either bering too trusting of their ABS and 4WD or under experienced in adverse conditions.
Being prepared for the winter weather plays a part too. People buy AWD vehicles thinking they’ll be fine, but then forget about the snow tires. That little snowflake on the sidewall isn’t just for show, it’s because the tire is made for the white stuff.
But try telling someone who’s already overpaid for their vehicle that buying $800 worth of tires you can only use 1/2 the year makes economic sense. After all, they just bought a bunch of safety equipment that’s supposed to help them drive, right?
Yup, lots of great drivers in the mountain states. You can easily tell who they are and who they aren’t. Live there half the year and thoroughly enjoy driving the majority of the time.
It is like that in these parts, as well, Shoal. I do not know how in the hell people can forget how to drive on snow and ice in the span of three months, but somehow they do. That first snow fall-especially the one that really sticks to the roads-I do not go anywhere unless I absolutely have to until people figure out how to drive. Or not.
Have to laugh at the Jamoke you were passing hitting the brakes as you pass.
Ya’ scared em’ good. At least he didn’t floor it and try to speed up to prevent the pass. That seems to happen with increasing frequency around here.
Here in PNW we have zero snow on the ground except at higher elevations in Mountains. Very odd for December.
Anyway – yesterday the roads were all brined. No snow, no freezing fog in the forecast. Nothing!!
So why the application of brine?
I theorize it was a government make work project intended to put some cash in the plow drivers pockets because they haven’t worked much this year.
Maybe to use up some brine in CY2024 to help justify the need for more in the 2025 budget?
Maybe to make the roads and intersections just a tad slippery just in time for New Years Eve? Damp brined asphalt is much more slippery vs clean dry pavement. I hate to ascribe evil intent where simple incompetence fits the bill but it sure makes you wonder.
Happy New Years to everyone here!!!
Ugh, back when I was working at least a couple times a month I would get stuck behind the same car on my commute home, almost all the way to my street. Full stop and long wait at every stop sign, would never go right on red, slow down at every intersection even though he had the right of way, etc. Probably raised my blood pressure significantly and definitely had a beer as soon as I got home. Wished that we all drove bumper cars so I could knock his ass out of my way and get on with my life.
I used to fantasize about having a powerful small laser mounted on the front of my car so I can vaporize those slow drivers.
Around here Fridays, rain, or days before a holiday, there is a noticeable increase in the amount of wrecks on the highway. I guess stupid keeps a schedule.
I have to take a 5 mile, 2 lane country road for almost anywhere I need to go from the house. Has some turns in it but I drive the majority of it 50-55 no problem. Most of the speed limit is 45. Occasionally I get behind someone who wont go over 40, sometimes less.
Not sure what their hold up is, but they should find a different place to drive.
Or you should move to a 15 minute city so you don’t have to drive so far.
The weekly online program The Highwire reported on local governments in Spain actually imposing climate lockdowns over catastrophic rainfall, which were blamed on what else? Cliiiiiiiiimate change. The idea of climate lockdowns were deemed CONSPIRACY THEORIES just a few years ago, but in the U.S., there were those who wanted the Biden Thing to declare climate change an emeeeeeeerrrrrrrgency & impose nationwide climate lockdowns accordingly. Had the Harris-Walz ticket won the election instead of Trump-Vance, there would likely have been MASSIVE pressure from climate change zealots for a new Harris-Walz regime to enact climate lockdowns on DAY ONE.
https://thehighwire.com/ark-videos/climate-lockdown-over-rain-in-spain/
Every cautionary tale about government overreach is a “conspiracy theory”, until it actually happens. And when it does, us “crazy conspiracy theorists” will just get persecuted anyway for “non-compliance”. Sometimes, it’s just better to let the dildos learn the hard way. The only downside, of course, is that they’ll be hellbent on dragging us down with them.
Kind of like the covid jabs. Those darn “conspiracy theorists/anti-vaxers” were right, but did any of them get an apology when their lives were destroyed over it? Losing friends and jobs because they stood to their beliefs? No, they got blamed by the pro-vaccine group because they are now sick (and many dropped dead) because they DID take the vax. Now they say it is “our fault” for not warning them. You just cannot fix that level of stupidity, because when the next pandemic comes around, they will do the same thing. Also, the “conspiracy theorists” are running out of conspiracies, which should tell the other side something. “Draggin us down with them”. Indeed. Also known as wanting to punish the rest of us, too, if they have to be dragged to hell, as well.
Some of it has to do with the aging population. I think the reason why we die is because if we didn’t our minds would eventually seize up out of fear of everything. We remember the bad things with greater clarity than the good. This tends to build over time. We used to call the old timers “Mad Hatters” because they’d always be wearing their old fedoras and often honk and yell at us as we passed on the yellow. “Remember that time…” becomes the only thing that they think about.
Some of it has to do with the fact that safety sells cars, to a specific group. The mother hen types used to be only of interest to Volvo. But over the years all manufacturers started beating the safety drum (how is it that every vehicle gets a 5 star crash rating? How is it that I know?). If you bought your car because it is safe, that implies that all other cars are not.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s because people don’t like the feeling of motion. I see it all the time. Highway curves induce too much lateral G-force on their body, so they slam on the brakes. Two lane roads are 10X worse. They don’t know how the car will handle on curves because they never experience them. Or maybe they think the tires will break loose and they’ll end up in the guard rail. They’ve been told that hydroplaning is a thing, and that ditch is right over there, waiting to dump them in.
All speculation of course.
Speaking of death, if you’re planning on going to Carter lying in state, the first day will be for people with even numbered plates, the second day by odd. 😀
Take the express lanes on 395 to save time in the crush of vehicles heading to the Capitol.
The toll money is for a good cause — Australian and Canadian pensioners.
You’d think we were burying a monarch or something. Funny thing is, so many Democrats, back in ’81, were GLAD to see Carter go, even though it meant “Old Dutch” was in the White House! So many of them had to reluctantly acknowledge that the peanut farmer from Plains, GA, was simply working above his pay grade.
Two things I want in my politician(s):
1. That’s he’s “HONEST”! That is, when he’s “bought”, he STAYS “bought”!
2. He sticks to the “truth”, at least until the LIE works better for the Public interest. As Captain Johnathan Archer, United Earth Space Probe Agency, will note about 135 years from now, even the VULCANS can “lie with the best of ’em”! It is…LOGICAL.