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With all the bad weather in the country this winter, it's difficult to complain about what we've had in Phoenix. Yesterday we had a nice gentle rain most of the morning into the early afternoon, nothing anyone would call a storm. Some time after 10:00 my power went off, and stayed off till 11:00. No big deal. But it's always a mystery here why the power goes off once in a great while. With the rain I assume somebody slipped off the road and hit a pole somewhere. All the lines are underground in my neighborhood, so it wasn't anywhere close. There's a (power company) substation nearby, so even if this were an area with more severe weather the power wouldn't stay off for long.
I like to blame Arizona natives for all the bad driving in the rain here. But, there are bad drivers in the rain in the Midwest and horrible drivers in the snow in New England. Personally I try to avoid driving in the rain here. Most people do keep to the speed limit in the rain. Nobody does in the sunshine. Just like in Missouri where there was always some idiot trying to drive the speed limit in heavy snow, here there are always people trying to go ten miles an hour faster than the limit in the rain. It's mostly inexperience, of course. But people get to thinking they are far better drivers than they really are, too. I remember back when one of my nephews was in college and wanted to get back quickly after winter break to be with his friends. It was snowing hard in St. Louis that day and worse in the direction of the town where he was going to school. Compounding the problems, it's very hilly in that direction and his vehicle was a little Japanese pickup truck that was just awful to drive in the snow. His father and I both strongly suggested that he put off going back a day (his school wasn't going to start for several days). But he was cocky and left with the storm still dumping snow along his whole route. His more cautious older brother might have made it, but he didn't. He spun out somewhere and departed the highway permanently as far as that day was concerned. He wasn't hurt but the truck was worse for the experience. There weren't any stories of how some accident in front of him caused it all, so I presume he was just going too fast and lost it in a situation nobody would think twice about in good conditions. The road kept getting worse so my nephew wasn't the only one who had to spend a night in a motel along the highway. If I remember correctly his mother had to go rescue him the next morning because his truck wasn't drivable.
My mother used to like driving in the rain and said so. Well, I enjoy the thrill of driving in the snow, as long as there is *no one* else out driving. I had one car that was just horrible in the snow. The front end was really heavy and it had terrible traction. It was manageable in the rain, but not in the snow. I kept a bag of road salt in the back over the driving wheels all winter just in case, but it still was awful. I got a ride with someone else whenever it was snowing. I slipped off my country road in the snow once on a bad curve very close to my house. That car was usually very good in the snow and I was driving very slowly. But it was just too slick that afternoon. There was a high bank of snow built up there and the car bounced right back onto the road. I was very lucky.
The wildest thing I ever saw personally was while driving in the rain. I pulled up and stopped at a stop light at a major intersection with no problem, not even a hint the road might be slick. A big sedan was coming from the opposite direction at a moderate rate of speed, and you could see the nose of that car dip slightly as the brakes were applied in what seemed like plenty of time. The sedan started sliding and began turning around. It went 360 into the middle of the intersection, where there was nothing for the driver to do but go sheepishly on through. It was very lucky that there was no cross traffic at the moment. I was just happy the car straightened out in the middle of the intersection and didn't keep spinning into me.
Any slick road adventures for you?
I like to blame Arizona natives for all the bad driving in the rain here. But, there are bad drivers in the rain in the Midwest and horrible drivers in the snow in New England. Personally I try to avoid driving in the rain here. Most people do keep to the speed limit in the rain. Nobody does in the sunshine. Just like in Missouri where there was always some idiot trying to drive the speed limit in heavy snow, here there are always people trying to go ten miles an hour faster than the limit in the rain. It's mostly inexperience, of course. But people get to thinking they are far better drivers than they really are, too. I remember back when one of my nephews was in college and wanted to get back quickly after winter break to be with his friends. It was snowing hard in St. Louis that day and worse in the direction of the town where he was going to school. Compounding the problems, it's very hilly in that direction and his vehicle was a little Japanese pickup truck that was just awful to drive in the snow. His father and I both strongly suggested that he put off going back a day (his school wasn't going to start for several days). But he was cocky and left with the storm still dumping snow along his whole route. His more cautious older brother might have made it, but he didn't. He spun out somewhere and departed the highway permanently as far as that day was concerned. He wasn't hurt but the truck was worse for the experience. There weren't any stories of how some accident in front of him caused it all, so I presume he was just going too fast and lost it in a situation nobody would think twice about in good conditions. The road kept getting worse so my nephew wasn't the only one who had to spend a night in a motel along the highway. If I remember correctly his mother had to go rescue him the next morning because his truck wasn't drivable.
My mother used to like driving in the rain and said so. Well, I enjoy the thrill of driving in the snow, as long as there is *no one* else out driving. I had one car that was just horrible in the snow. The front end was really heavy and it had terrible traction. It was manageable in the rain, but not in the snow. I kept a bag of road salt in the back over the driving wheels all winter just in case, but it still was awful. I got a ride with someone else whenever it was snowing. I slipped off my country road in the snow once on a bad curve very close to my house. That car was usually very good in the snow and I was driving very slowly. But it was just too slick that afternoon. There was a high bank of snow built up there and the car bounced right back onto the road. I was very lucky.
The wildest thing I ever saw personally was while driving in the rain. I pulled up and stopped at a stop light at a major intersection with no problem, not even a hint the road might be slick. A big sedan was coming from the opposite direction at a moderate rate of speed, and you could see the nose of that car dip slightly as the brakes were applied in what seemed like plenty of time. The sedan started sliding and began turning around. It went 360 into the middle of the intersection, where there was nothing for the driver to do but go sheepishly on through. It was very lucky that there was no cross traffic at the moment. I was just happy the car straightened out in the middle of the intersection and didn't keep spinning into me.
Any slick road adventures for you?