I'm Gonna Scream

[ny biker]

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.

Steven Pearlstein had an interesting column on that today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...903503_pf.html

BTW, I never owned a car or drove in snow until I moved to DC. I read this advice from AAA which I have found very useful: You basically do 3 things when you drive -- accelerate, brake and steer. In slippery conditions, only do one of those things at a time.

Also some stuff I learned in 8th grade physics have been useful. You get better traction when you go slowly than when you go fast, so if you are stuck in snow, apply gentle pressure to the gas pedal. If you spin your wheels fast, you'll never get anywhere. And of course momentum is mass x velocity, so you have less momentum (and therefore can stop easier) if you're going more slowly.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Also some stuff I learned in 8th grade physics have been useful. You get better traction when you go slowly than when you go fast, so if you are stuck in snow, apply gentle pressure to the gas pedal. If you spin your wheels fast, you'll never get anywhere. And of course momentum is mass x velocity, so you have less momentum (and therefore can stop easier) if you're going more slowly.

When I lived in Puerto Rico for 13 years, I learned how you have to drive through water that is above the bottom of your car door and above your tailpipe exhaust. You can't stop, because then the tailpipe gets blocked under water and suffocates the engine somehow and you stall. Basically, you slowly plow through the water while creating a wake in back of you, like a boat! The wake keeps the water below the tailpipe in back...unles you stop. Only stop when you reach your destination and do not stop for red lights in intersections. LOL!! Many is the time I had to do this to pick my kids up from school.