Lower pressure increases the footprint (rubber on the road), however I agree with the others - a few more square inches of rubber on the road would not have made any difference (from your description). Ice is ice. So sorry to hear about your accident - hope the only injury was to the car!

*** Retired after 65,000 outstanding miles ***

Their is a way of stopping of ice (black or fresh). But you can only do it in an Automatic. And only on ice otherwise you rip out the tranny. 1) Lock breaks 2) Shift into reverse 3) Floor it 4) Release break. All has to be done in 2-3 seconds. Same principal as a plane landing. It used it on a curve going 30mph on black ice and stopped on a dime and even downhill. I live in Denver so we get alot of ice and I learned to drive in the Blizzard of 82 6ft of snow if anyone remembers. I was driving a 81 528i BMW.

I keep my tires (Prius) at 40 front 38 rear. Factory tires have rated max of 44, I figure this allows for increased pressure due to warming up on the highway.

Replaced my poor, beloved 2005 with a 2007 when a tree fell on it.

I put 44psi (the stated max) in all 4 of my Dunlops in the HCH2.

Anyone see a problem with this?

nope

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

I'm not sure what a "max" of 44 psi means - is it absolute maximum pressure, or the max "cold" inflation pressure? This is why I take the conservative approach and put in 40 psi "cold" - leaving some room for the tires warming up.

Replaced my poor, beloved 2005 with a 2007 when a tree fell on it.

Its max cold PSI. However, It does not mean the tire is in danger of exploding if you put more in. Most tires can take about 100lbs before they are in danger of exploding. I keep mine at max cold PSI just as a rule of thumb. Putting more in gives you less and less benifit.

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

I just got back from my 10K oil/filter (0-20W mobil 1) tire rotation etc and the dealer didnt change my tire pressures back to 30psi. All tires were still set to 40psi.

I have had them as high as 44 but I could feel every bump....