This is old had to many of the folks in the Frostbelt. Freezing rain came this afternoon to Dallas - turning roads into an ice rink for at least the next 48 hours. Keep in mind nobody has snow tires or snow plows in Big D. What is worse is the the young male bipolar driver - mania from driving 60mph one moment - a depressive (or "Oh $#it") moment the next.

Was driving at 3:30 pm as the George Bush freeway was starting to get a coat of ice. Doing 70-75mph is typical, but 40 was fast at that time. The police herded everybody ahead to the 100-ft mixmaster I'd exited to Lewisville - a mess. On the way I was two wrecks. The first was a pickup truck. The second was an SUV that slid twenty feet off the freeway completely upside down - occupant presumbably in the hospital. Probably was doing 60 or more......

Later that night, 20mph was about as fast as anyone wanted to go, althoug I did do 35 - I was kicking butt! Seriously, my wheels would spin at intersections as the light turned green, and I was hypermiling. The anti-lock brakes were clicking a number of times.

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Suprize Fuel-Robber in the Frostbelt

I've read about the wind, the slow warmup time, snow tires, etc....

One thing that is going to hurt fuel economy a lot is the inability to cruise at 35-45. At least in Dallas, you have to be prepared to stop frequently, so cruising at 40-something is just not going to happen on sub-freezing iced roads.

 

Im getting killed with FE now that its winter, a couple things ive learned is that in the first place we all know warm up and keeping all the parts that like being warm, warm, cuts FE, also winter mixes from the oil companies doesnt help either. In winter there are many different additives so that the fuel doesnt freeze. Also, and i dont know if this is related , maybe i can get some advise from you guys. After i took my car in (05prius pkg 4)for its 5000 mile service, not only do i feel my milage went down but it seems louder. Is that just because of the below freezing mark on the thermometer? thanks Dean

 

Weather Channel last night was showing Dallas roads and my 6-yr-old daughter and I were watching it, and there was a white Mustang shown driving along pretty slow. Then all of a sudden the backend started sliding, and the driver slowed up and straightened the car and then a few seconds later it slid again and recovered and then slid again and recovered.

My daughter, a Phoenix gurl who has only seen snow a couple of times in her life and has never been in a car which had to drive on a slick room, she was amazed and was laughing her tail off. As soon as her brother came into the road, she was telling him about it and they were both laughing. It was a classic family moment !!

My sister lives about 150 miles west of Dallas, and she had to take her husband to DFW airport yesterday. She got caught in the ice storm. On the way home on I-30/I-20, she was almost snowbound by all the accidents and the 18-wheelers who still insisted on trying to continue. The state troopers finally resorted to blocking the freeway entrance ramps and allowing CARS ONLY, not trucks, to enter the freeway.

After about 4 hours of crawling along either stopped or at 5 MPH, she finally exited the Interstate and took a parallel state highway and made MUCH better time.

It almost became complete gridlock on the Interstate.

 

chuck, i can totally understand the problem of ice driving. while we up here in the frozen tundra may give you grief about living someplace as warm as texas, we know that when you get cold and ice, it's really hell to drive on, plus your highway crews just aren't set up to deal with it. and the 4 wheelers still think they can go, forgetting that once they get going, they sure can't stop. we get ice once in a while and i hate it, though it's usually covered with snow fairly quickly. stay safe.

 

We had a couple of inches of snow here last sunday and as I was driving through my complex parking lot I noticed the big dodge ram 2500 4x4 with the lift kit had a freshly crumpled front end, bumper dangling, broken lights..... had to laugh....

The first few snows here tend to weed out the weak newbie drivers and the macho newbie urban assault vehicle drivers and the body shops love them..

As I was driving on I95 south on snow pack, a 4 runner was coming up behind at a good clip in far left lane, started to fishtail and went from rail to rail body parts flying everywhere. The rest of the pack behind him came to a stop and I had the whole highway to myself for the next 5 or so miles till I exited. He must have been going at least 60. I was doing about 35 in full control of course..

 

The two wrecks I saw on the Bush Tollway Wed in Dallas - one was a pickup truck, the other an SUV twenty feet off the freeway upside down.

While I was not there as the accidents happened, I picture:

• A macho young guy that "thinks" he can ride on a sheet of ice at 60mph
• Probably has just one hand on the steering wheel
• His vehicle hit a slick spot
• He instantly rotates the steering wheel a quarter-turn
• "Oh $#it!!!"
• Fliped and crashed

This is soooo pathetic how these studs think they are going to whoop Mother Nature.

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This next story is not about an idiotic stud, but a chicken little.

I drive on the High Five mixmaster approaching work every morning. It's the world's biggest - 100 feet tall with some ramps over a mile. The one I use resembles some of the intermediate ski slopes I'll be on at the end of the month. Would have loved to ice skated down it this morning....

The story: this very timid woman got to the top of the mixmaster 80-100 feet above the ground and stopped her car for 45 minutes, with a lot of angry drivers waiting on her.

I feel for any patients she councils on fear.

 

It ain't called the metromess for nuttin'!!! When I left for Denver Wednesday morning, I was less than 10 miles out when I got into the ice that later hit the DFW area. That began an hours worth of tiptoeing along at ~40 mph along HWY 101 and US287. It didn't take long for the speed demons to start involuntarily parking their vehicles in the median and ditches, about a half dozen or so in the very early beginnings of that storm, as I headed northwest. I can honestly say that I'm quite glad to have dodged a major bullet in the area.