Originally Posted by
tulip
It's not normal around here, and we do not have the equipment to deal with it. It's a real problem, and a dangerous situation. Many drivers, myself included, have never learned to drive in the snow. Not because we're idiots, but because it's not needed except very occasionally. And we don't have the opportunity to practice very often. I don't drive in the snow, but many people do anyways and do a very poor (and dangerous) job of it.
During the first snow storm of this snow season here on January 30th, the city got blasted because they did a very poor job of plowing. It came to light that three years ago, the city sold one-third of it's plowing equipment, and much of the remaining plows did not function properly. By the time the next snowstorm came around last week, they had enlisted out of town plows and private citizens with plows, and they did a great job. Today's storm, which is still slamming DC, Baltimore and north, left us with only a few inches, but there were white out conditions and many, many traffic accidents this morning. There were two big plows on my street by the time the snow stopped.
If the city were to spend umpteen dollars on extra plowing equipment that would get used perhaps once every 10 years, they would be rightly criticized.
I hope all you DC-Balto-Delaware-Philly folks are safe and warm and at home.