Surely this is no issue at all, because everyone will reduce their speed, increase safety distances, drive more carefully and when in doubt, yield to others, right?
This makes me think, what happens in countries like the Netherlands that use "shark teeth" markings on the street mostly in addition but partially instead of yield signs... either chaos or everybody is driving more carefully (unlikely)
or wondering if the light up ahead is a vehicle ... or the gates of heaven because you already died in that fiery 12 car pile up on the highway a minute ago.
4 wheel or all wheel drive is a lifesaver if you live where it snows often. I've pulled so many cars and 2 wheel drive trucks out of the snow with my truck. It's fun, and I enjoy helping.
I’d probably do the same if I had a four wheel drive vehicle, but it doesn’t snow too often where I live so my little 2wd ranger performs just fine. Sandbags in the bed, drive slowly and deliberately, and keep a set of chains when shit really gets bad. It bugs me how some people in my area have a mindset where they think they need four wheel drive in the snow. No you don’t, you just can’t drive like a moron.
You have one of the older Rangers from before they got embigified? Those are great little trucks! I tried to buy one when I was looking for a truck, but I couldn't find one with less than 100k miles, and I didn't want to be repairing it all the time. I ended up getting a modern Chevy Colorado, and I'm really glad that I did. So far this truck has performed above my expectations for literally everything I've thrown at it. It drives well on the road, has great towing capacity, and is far more capable in the dirt than I expected. The interior is comfortable too, the infotainment center well designed, and it still has knobs and physical buttons when most cars don't. Oh and the voice commands actually work, unlike my wife's Honda. I did put a 1.5" leveling kit on it, bigger tires, running boards for my dog and short wife, and removed the air dam. A 2" kit is ideal for clearance, but it completely removes the rake, and I like the way the rake looks. The rake also helps when you're towing something heavy.
Have you seen the new Rangers? They look like they're pretty great trucks. Nice and sporty looking too. Of course they're as big or bigger now than full-sized trucks used to be. They're still agile and nimble enough to get through some pretty dodgy terrain though. I think the modern mid-sized truck is a perfect balance of everything a 4x4 truck should do, including off-roading.
Yup! It’s an ‘09, and I got it from some old guy who barely drove it so it was practically brand new. I’ve put over 150k miles on it since then, with the only major maintenance being a new clutch. It’s got a manual transmission, manual locks, manual windows, and a plain-Jane radio with an aux input - it’s all I need and nothing more.
I did get the chance to drive a 2020 Ranger once, and it was very nice and cushy, but didn’t feel like a Ranger, if that makes sense. Didn’t help that it was just as big as an F150.
They're as big as old F-150s, but the new F-150 is the size of an apartment bedroom. They're enormous.
Do you have the long bed? Those are perfect for hauling cargo, since it's lower and you don't have to lift everything as high as newer trucks. I wish they still made smaller trucks.
It’s got a 6’ bed, perfect for lumber or whatever else. It also has the extended cab with the jump seats, kinda useless for people but I keep ratchet straps and other junk back there. My only complaint is that cargo space is very minimal if I don’t want to just throw it in the bed, like luggage or stuff that’s weather-sensitive.
I've been meaning to get a roll-up tonneau truck bed cover for that very reason. I have a crew cab, so a decent amount of cargo space in the back seat, but my dog is always back there these days, so I need a solution myself. I want the roll-up kind though so that I can still use it as a truck on a whim when I need to. That would work for you too. Then cut a couple 2x4s to the right length and put them in the slots around 2 feet back from the tailgate to create a wall for stuff that can't slide around.
It's the biggest religion on the planet. Everyone believes the lines protect them. As long as everyone believes that, it works. But when you need help the most, it does nothing to protect you. It's just lines on some pavement, the people are the ones with all the power.
Rouds have material manifestations. The ground is different so driving there makes a difference. But historically, streets were the empty space between houses until the car industry lobbied to get the pedestrians out of the way.
Yes, true, and all used the streets equally. It was the car accidents and the victim blaming campaigns that blamed the pedestrians that invented the sidewalk. But roads existed before to get from one village to the next
It's been pretty awesome here in Calgary. Was getting worried there that ski season was going to be delayed. But I love a good snow dump to start winter. It sucks when it's cold and icy but no snow to cover things up.
Probably sucks for anyone that has to commute right now though.
as someone from Florida (USA) who has only ever seen snow once on a winter trip, literally every few months I learn something horrific about snow that makes it seem a little bit worse
Last months was that the salt that melts snow can essentially melt cars metal over enough time
Then it was that there's invisible 'black ice'
Now paint lines literally don't exist?! How do you exist over there? I'm literally dieing in like 50°F weather (10°C)
Even during the summer the lines are usually faded away so even on good nights you can barely see them. And because of plows no reflectors like down south.
Oh 10°C sounds so nice right now. Short answer is drive more cautiously, you can get undercoated for the salt issue and black ice is just hope and pray.
It's not a joke .... I drove on winter ice roads on James Bay for a few years about 15 - 20 years ago before they became well built ice roads they have now.
I remember driving on these roads in blinding snowstorms and losing the road entirely. The road up there mostly goes over frozen treeless swamps ... it's like driving through endless frozen lakes. There were also times where the road became so overfilled with drifting snow that it was better to go off the road and just drive the frozen wind packed open swamplands.
And that corridor on Highway 11 in Ontario between Huntsville, Orillia, Barrie is reminiscent of those winter ice roads if you ever up there during a blinding windy snow storm.
The worst is when it's a 2 lane highway and the snow on the shoulder starts slowly encroaching into your lane. You're never quite sure if you're being pushed into oncoming traffic or not.
I have the option to work from home, and I understand that not everyone has this privilege, which makes my comment come across as somewhat inconsiderate.
I get excited about getting to use my 4 wheel drive and make up excuses to drive to the store. "Oops, I think we need more gas for the generator. Be back in 3 hours!"
It is! I'm always happy when I see a big Ford F-150 stuck on the side of the road too, since it's the only time I get to use 4 low gear. I was even able to pull a Ford F-150 with a fully loaded flatbed trailer attached out of the snow. Not bad for a V6!
I kinda like it because it makes it feel like we are flying at warp eight to the next star system .... then I have not snap out of that fantasy and remember that this could also kill me
I don't mind the roads so much. We plow the roads to have a snowbank on the ditch edges to act as bumpers to keep idiots and fools from careening off the road into a tree. As a retired medic, it made it easier to get people out of their cars and with less serious injuries.
What really pisses me off is the inability of people to park correctly in a parking lot. When the lines get covered in snow pack, everyone loses their minds and just start to randomly park anywhere and in any direction. I've seen clown park across two parking spots. And it stays that way for a least 6 months out of the year.
We play this game in South Africa too. Not because it snows, but because the lines don't get repainted soon enough even if they're completely faded. And instead of snow ploughs, we have taxis (the minibus versions) that just drive wherever and however they want.
Nothing like successfully geoguessing a meme about winter driving instead of working. OP is actually correct about it being in Canada
Highway 401 eastbound, just west of Kennedy Road
I still don't understand how you people do it, but just in case you weren't aware yet:
https://feddit.org/c/geoguesser_iel
They have to make weekly blood sacrifices to Rainbolt
"I'm pretty sure I'm still on the road."
still feels like road, can't be that off
Start seeing polar bears and igloos, you get blocked by a herd of caribou.
Sign points to the turnoff to Rovaniemi.
Surely this is no issue at all, because everyone will reduce their speed, increase safety distances, drive more carefully and when in doubt, yield to others, right?
Definitelt happens for first snow here in Estonia if it comes down unexpected.
2 days later we're back to being assholes.
Gestures at a car that did barrel rolls at a 4-way stop with a speed limit of 50km/h with 1 inch of snow on the ground.
Yeah. Sure thing.
This makes me think, what happens in countries like the Netherlands that use "shark teeth" markings on the street mostly in addition but partially instead of yield signs... either chaos or everybody is driving more carefully (unlikely)
When there's snow in the Netherlands, everyone just stops and waits for it to melt.
I prefer the spinoff, "Whose parking spot is it anyway?"
That's easy. It's always the BMW's spot. Even when it clearly isn't.
Lunchtime when it melts it just looks like they showed up to work drunk
So… lunchtime then.
It’s lunchtime somewhere
The parking spot is where you stop the sliding.
There's nothing like counting 7 lanes in a road you know is 4.
or wondering if the light up ahead is a vehicle ... or the gates of heaven because you already died in that fiery 12 car pile up on the highway a minute ago.
VERY EFFICIENT!
The "lanes" are the sets of tire tracks from the car in front of you that you try to stay in so your car doesn't suddenly fishtail.
Remarkably accurate. Lanes become suggestions but tire tracks are mandatory.
4 wheel or all wheel drive is a lifesaver if you live where it snows often. I've pulled so many cars and 2 wheel drive trucks out of the snow with my truck. It's fun, and I enjoy helping.
I’d probably do the same if I had a four wheel drive vehicle, but it doesn’t snow too often where I live so my little 2wd ranger performs just fine. Sandbags in the bed, drive slowly and deliberately, and keep a set of chains when shit really gets bad. It bugs me how some people in my area have a mindset where they think they need four wheel drive in the snow. No you don’t, you just can’t drive like a moron.
You have one of the older Rangers from before they got embigified? Those are great little trucks! I tried to buy one when I was looking for a truck, but I couldn't find one with less than 100k miles, and I didn't want to be repairing it all the time. I ended up getting a modern Chevy Colorado, and I'm really glad that I did. So far this truck has performed above my expectations for literally everything I've thrown at it. It drives well on the road, has great towing capacity, and is far more capable in the dirt than I expected. The interior is comfortable too, the infotainment center well designed, and it still has knobs and physical buttons when most cars don't. Oh and the voice commands actually work, unlike my wife's Honda. I did put a 1.5" leveling kit on it, bigger tires, running boards for my dog and short wife, and removed the air dam. A 2" kit is ideal for clearance, but it completely removes the rake, and I like the way the rake looks. The rake also helps when you're towing something heavy.
Have you seen the new Rangers? They look like they're pretty great trucks. Nice and sporty looking too. Of course they're as big or bigger now than full-sized trucks used to be. They're still agile and nimble enough to get through some pretty dodgy terrain though. I think the modern mid-sized truck is a perfect balance of everything a 4x4 truck should do, including off-roading.
Yup! It’s an ‘09, and I got it from some old guy who barely drove it so it was practically brand new. I’ve put over 150k miles on it since then, with the only major maintenance being a new clutch. It’s got a manual transmission, manual locks, manual windows, and a plain-Jane radio with an aux input - it’s all I need and nothing more.
I did get the chance to drive a 2020 Ranger once, and it was very nice and cushy, but didn’t feel like a Ranger, if that makes sense. Didn’t help that it was just as big as an F150.
They're as big as old F-150s, but the new F-150 is the size of an apartment bedroom. They're enormous.
Do you have the long bed? Those are perfect for hauling cargo, since it's lower and you don't have to lift everything as high as newer trucks. I wish they still made smaller trucks.
It’s got a 6’ bed, perfect for lumber or whatever else. It also has the extended cab with the jump seats, kinda useless for people but I keep ratchet straps and other junk back there. My only complaint is that cargo space is very minimal if I don’t want to just throw it in the bed, like luggage or stuff that’s weather-sensitive.
I've been meaning to get a roll-up tonneau truck bed cover for that very reason. I have a crew cab, so a decent amount of cargo space in the back seat, but my dog is always back there these days, so I need a solution myself. I want the roll-up kind though so that I can still use it as a truck on a whim when I need to. That would work for you too. Then cut a couple 2x4s to the right length and put them in the slots around 2 feet back from the tailgate to create a wall for stuff that can't slide around.
And it's a manual?
You've got a gem there.
That, and winter tires. The amount of people I know who don't bother getting winter tires because "it's not required by law" is infuriatingly high.
Lanes are a social construct
It's the biggest religion on the planet. Everyone believes the lines protect them. As long as everyone believes that, it works. But when you need help the most, it does nothing to protect you. It's just lines on some pavement, the people are the ones with all the power.
Nah, I'd say money/cash is an ever bigger religion. It only works because everyone believes it's value, and some of them don't drive.
My grandma saw 6 different currencies and 6 different political systems in her lifetime (Eastern Germany).
Now that I think about it, so are roads
Rouds have material manifestations. The ground is different so driving there makes a difference. But historically, streets were the empty space between houses until the car industry lobbied to get the pedestrians out of the way.
Didn’t they have like horses and carts and shit?
Yes, true, and all used the streets equally. It was the car accidents and the victim blaming campaigns that blamed the pedestrians that invented the sidewalk. But roads existed before to get from one village to the next
Be safe out there. Not here, I've yet to see snow in Ontario, but I think Alberta's getting it hard.
It's been pretty awesome here in Calgary. Was getting worried there that ski season was going to be delayed. But I love a good snow dump to start winter. It sucks when it's cold and icy but no snow to cover things up.
Probably sucks for anyone that has to commute right now though.
Just use the guard rails as bumpers. You'll be fine as long as you're not going too fast.
Then arrive to work on time
You stop for a pee break on the side of the highway, walk ten feet away from your car and now you can't find it
I haven't laughed this hard all day... thank you!
Find warm squishy place to rest.
In 15 minutes, you'll feel comfy everywhere. Just lay down and have a nap under the warm white blanket, friend!
Oh, you mean drifting powder?
(I unironically love driving on snow or even ice - hate it that lives are in danger because of it, we can have better infrastructure)
My first date with my spouse was like that. I got to show off my impressive drifting skillz.
"Baby it's cold outside... And I laugh at snow so let me know when you want a ride back."
Here in Alberta the Hiways have ribs in the centre and ether side. You can drive in your lane by "feel" even when covered in snow.
Ribbed for your tire's pleasure?
as someone from Florida (USA) who has only ever seen snow once on a winter trip, literally every few months I learn something horrific about snow that makes it seem a little bit worse
Last months was that the salt that melts snow can essentially melt cars metal over enough time
Then it was that there's invisible 'black ice'
Now paint lines literally don't exist?! How do you exist over there? I'm literally dieing in like 50°F weather (10°C)
We get down to -50C (-58f) here, on a cold snap. Working outdoors sucks in that.
Even my pawns in Rimworld don't work outdoors during a cold snap. And i harvest them for organs and stuff.
what the fuck?????
Brrr.
A lot of shit breaks when it's that cold
The coldest in my memory was -42C, I remember getting into my boat of a Cadillac and the soft leather seats being as hard as concrete.
When it gets cold enough outside, it kind of hurts to breath because the cold air kind of stings the inside of your lungs.
Those are the best days to go outside when you can feel the brittleness of the air.
I loves me some crunchy air
Even during the summer the lines are usually faded away so even on good nights you can barely see them. And because of plows no reflectors like down south.
We gots sunken reflectors in BC. Some escape the scrape.
Like this
and this
snow land is better than swamp land. try it out and stay a lifetime
Oh 10°C sounds so nice right now. Short answer is drive more cautiously, you can get undercoated for the salt issue and black ice is just hope and pray.
That's not a highway .... that's a wheat field in Saskatchewan.
why not both?
It's not a joke .... I drove on winter ice roads on James Bay for a few years about 15 - 20 years ago before they became well built ice roads they have now.
I remember driving on these roads in blinding snowstorms and losing the road entirely. The road up there mostly goes over frozen treeless swamps ... it's like driving through endless frozen lakes. There were also times where the road became so overfilled with drifting snow that it was better to go off the road and just drive the frozen wind packed open swamplands.
And that corridor on Highway 11 in Ontario between Huntsville, Orillia, Barrie is reminiscent of those winter ice roads if you ever up there during a blinding windy snow storm.
At what point do you just stay home and have a beer lol
Between Dec 1 and April 1
The worst is when it's a 2 lane highway and the snow on the shoulder starts slowly encroaching into your lane. You're never quite sure if you're being pushed into oncoming traffic or not.
And you have your kids in the car
In India, the lines are just Grafitti and don't really mean anything.
It usually denotes the minimum number of lanes you should be driving in.
Only white raillanes matter.
Viva la railvolucion!
(and those don't need plowing to quite some extend)
Just make sure your switches are heated. In the arctic, they build little houses around their switches to keep it from getting completely snowed up
https://static-cdn.sr.se/images/98/5f80436c-9220-4c8a-9983-b3b65e5e4707.jpeg
Here's some pictures of their snow sweepers too
https://www.trafikverket.se/contentassets/d8073f787c8f49929ffc537c6f2dbd2f/sno2.png?width=720&mode=crop&heightratio=0.75
https://www.trafikverket.se/contentassets/0e582358466c4557b57af56d74989209/topp_malmbanan_27dec.jpg?width=1020&height=510&quality=90&format=webp
I stay the fuck home when this shit goes down. Its just not worth it!
Gotta work to live.
I have the option to work from home, and I understand that not everyone has this privilege, which makes my comment come across as somewhat inconsiderate.
I get excited about getting to use my 4 wheel drive and make up excuses to drive to the store. "Oops, I think we need more gas for the generator. Be back in 3 hours!"
Driving a 4-wheeler in a snowstorm sounds exhilarating, but unfortunately, my car struggles significantly in snowy conditions!
It is! I'm always happy when I see a big Ford F-150 stuck on the side of the road too, since it's the only time I get to use 4 low gear. I was even able to pull a Ford F-150 with a fully loaded flatbed trailer attached out of the snow. Not bad for a V6!
That's impressive! Great job assisting someone like me, who would likely have been stuck in the snow.
I'm always happy to help!
Yeah I wouldn't drive unless you really need to. The wind can start blowing which will make the visibility drop to about 3 inches.
I kinda like it because it makes it feel like we are flying at warp eight to the next star system .... then I have not snap out of that fantasy and remember that this could also kill me
As much as I love snow, for reasons like this I will never live in a place that gets it.
That and the rust, so much rust from road salt. My car has been rust-free for 20 years and I'd like to keep it that way.
Just gotta wash your car
Won't the water freeze, causing an entirely different set of issues?
Most of the areas I've lived in that have really bad winters also have heated washes. But yeah, if it's cold enough, you're gonna be SOL.
In the spring.
I don't mind the roads so much. We plow the roads to have a snowbank on the ditch edges to act as bumpers to keep idiots and fools from careening off the road into a tree. As a retired medic, it made it easier to get people out of their cars and with less serious injuries.
What really pisses me off is the inability of people to park correctly in a parking lot. When the lines get covered in snow pack, everyone loses their minds and just start to randomly park anywhere and in any direction. I've seen clown park across two parking spots. And it stays that way for a least 6 months out of the year.
We play this game in South Africa too. Not because it snows, but because the lines don't get repainted soon enough even if they're completely faded. And instead of snow ploughs, we have taxis (the minibus versions) that just drive wherever and however they want.
It's just one big white line
All I know is, eatliver.com