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velvetpageDriving in snow when it's just begun to fall is generally not too bad. A bit slippery, and if it's coming down thick, low visibility. If there's ice on the ground first, it's worse, of course.
Driving in a lot of snow within twenty-four hours of it stopping is a pain in the neck. You have to clean off the car, shovel enough to get out of the driveway, shovel again after the plow dumps two feet of snow from the road into your driveway, and deal with the crazy drivers who didn't manage to do some of those things, and are stuck or unable to see where they're going.
Driving more than a day after a lot of snow, given good snow removal, doesn't have a lot of hurdles. Your street might not be plowed, or the spots you want to park may still have snow because there were cars in those spots when the plow came through the first time. (Montreal's system, of requiring all cars to be off the roads before the plows come through, has its advantages.)
The biggest hurdle related to getting places in the days after a snowstorm are all related to where people put the snow.
There aren't a lot of choices. If the sidewalks are bordered by a strip of grass, most of the snow can go there, but most sidewalks aren't bordered by a strip of grass, so there are two choices: on the sidewalk, or on the road. Usually, cities and homeowners choose a combination of the two.
The result for drivers is that most roads are anywhere from a few inches to a couple of feet narrower than they were pre-snowfall. My street fits three cars abreast, and woe betide the driver who tries to squeeze between two minivans - he's likely to lose a side mirror. At the moment, with about three unplowed feet on either side of the road, you can fit two cars abreast with a bit of room to spare. That means that if people are parked in front of their houses (a necessity on our street, due to insufficient driveways) it's impossible for two cars to pass each other without one of them pulling into the unplowed section where people usually park. Doing that leaves the driver open to the hazard of getting stuck, especially if the snow is on the edge of melting/freezing - it can melt into just enough slush to make the tires spin as you try to get out of it.
My usual solution is to try not to drive down a block where someone else is headed towards me. I will turn at the previous side street in order to avoid meeting someone head-on, even though that's out of my way, because it means I'm less likely to get stuck. Unfortunately, other drivers either don't think ahead or figure that bravado = right of way. Parking is a dicey business for the same reason.
Then there are the results for people trying to use sidewalks - think strollers, here. Most homeowners clear the bare minimum of snow. Strollers are invariably designed for full-width sidewalks. Furthermore, homeowners on corners rarely clear all around their properties, and if they do, they don't bother to shovel out from the corner into the street, so that someone pushing a stroller can cross safely. So moms and babies end up cooped up inside all winter, unable to use improperly-cleared sidewalks in strollers, getting more depressed and cabin-fevered by the day.
And there ends my rant about snow clearance. I won't be sorry when this melts.
Driving in a lot of snow within twenty-four hours of it stopping is a pain in the neck. You have to clean off the car, shovel enough to get out of the driveway, shovel again after the plow dumps two feet of snow from the road into your driveway, and deal with the crazy drivers who didn't manage to do some of those things, and are stuck or unable to see where they're going.
Driving more than a day after a lot of snow, given good snow removal, doesn't have a lot of hurdles. Your street might not be plowed, or the spots you want to park may still have snow because there were cars in those spots when the plow came through the first time. (Montreal's system, of requiring all cars to be off the roads before the plows come through, has its advantages.)
The biggest hurdle related to getting places in the days after a snowstorm are all related to where people put the snow.
There aren't a lot of choices. If the sidewalks are bordered by a strip of grass, most of the snow can go there, but most sidewalks aren't bordered by a strip of grass, so there are two choices: on the sidewalk, or on the road. Usually, cities and homeowners choose a combination of the two.
The result for drivers is that most roads are anywhere from a few inches to a couple of feet narrower than they were pre-snowfall. My street fits three cars abreast, and woe betide the driver who tries to squeeze between two minivans - he's likely to lose a side mirror. At the moment, with about three unplowed feet on either side of the road, you can fit two cars abreast with a bit of room to spare. That means that if people are parked in front of their houses (a necessity on our street, due to insufficient driveways) it's impossible for two cars to pass each other without one of them pulling into the unplowed section where people usually park. Doing that leaves the driver open to the hazard of getting stuck, especially if the snow is on the edge of melting/freezing - it can melt into just enough slush to make the tires spin as you try to get out of it.
My usual solution is to try not to drive down a block where someone else is headed towards me. I will turn at the previous side street in order to avoid meeting someone head-on, even though that's out of my way, because it means I'm less likely to get stuck. Unfortunately, other drivers either don't think ahead or figure that bravado = right of way. Parking is a dicey business for the same reason.
Then there are the results for people trying to use sidewalks - think strollers, here. Most homeowners clear the bare minimum of snow. Strollers are invariably designed for full-width sidewalks. Furthermore, homeowners on corners rarely clear all around their properties, and if they do, they don't bother to shovel out from the corner into the street, so that someone pushing a stroller can cross safely. So moms and babies end up cooped up inside all winter, unable to use improperly-cleared sidewalks in strollers, getting more depressed and cabin-fevered by the day.
And there ends my rant about snow clearance. I won't be sorry when this melts.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 03:19 am (UTC)If I leave Florida for places north I'm going to miss the lack of snow. It's fun to goof around in and can be really pretty, but it seems when you actually have to get stuff *done* it's a pain in the ass.
Good luck dealing with all that crap and hopefully you don't get much more over the next few days...
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 11:15 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 03:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 11:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 02:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 05:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 11:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 05:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 11:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 05:52 pm (UTC)This is how drivers deal with winter weather in my corner of the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMzeiMJQrvk
Granted, that wasn't just snow but very bad ice, but obviously no one was equipped or educated on how to get around. There's silly laws in Oregon against putting salt on the roads...for the one or two days every few years when we actually have to deal with bad ice. They'll just let everyone wreck their cars instead. I would be okay with it if they use some effective alternative, but they don't. So that's my rant on snow around here. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-20 06:30 pm (UTC)Salt only works within about ten degrees of freezing, because salt water has a lower freezing temperature than fresh, but not all that much lower. Below that point, you're better off with a mixture of sand and salt, or straight sand, or really good winter tires - or just, you know, not driving. Canadians at this time of year try to make sure they have enough food around to manage for a day or two if there's an unexpected snowstorm, and the first things to sell out in convenience stores are generally batteries and bread, which seems pretty sensible to me.