Winter driving safety site

[Dan Robinson]

I just completed this new web site devoted to winter driving safety:

http://icyroadsafety.com/

I'm still compiling stats from various sources (they are hard to find).

Thanks for viewing!

Dan

 

[Sam Stone]

The BEST safety investment anyone can make for snow and ice is a good set of snow tires. Take-off or steel rims can be found for under $200/set for most cars, and a set of dedicated snow tires runs maybe $250-700/set depending on the car and tire size.

I got addicted to Audis at a young age at an Audi Club North America winter driving clinic, at the ripe age of 14. Audi of course has their quattro all wheel drive system, which is a major help, but I was corrupted there by a friend with a new Audi S4 rolling around on a set of Blizzaks. The clinic is held on a frozen lake with a plowed course, giving an extreme mix of snow and glare ice for surface conditions. You quickly learn how to accelerate, brake, turn, save you ass, etc. on the stuff, and then learn it better when you're put against the clock. By the end of the day, it is no longer a daunting task to threshold brake into a corner that you could play hockey on.

Experience in a couple of different cars and tire combinations taught me one thing there--there is ZERO replacement for snow tires, even with AWD. The difference between the good and bad snow tires is significant. The difference between the good snow tires and even the best all season tire around is astonishing--a good snow tire like a Bridgestone Blizzak, Nokian RSi/Hakka 4, Hankook iPike, etc. make driving on ice and especially on snow a completely no-drama task. Snow is like driving on dry pavement, ice is like really wet pavement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7-3Z5pY7BM



Sam

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Nicely done, Dan. Great site, lots of info. I hate driving on ice, can't stand it.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

I hate driving on ice, can't stand it.

I never cared until my 18 wheels and 80k weight started jackknifing down a mountain in Oregon from a great speed of about 2 miles per hour.

Nice Site Dan!

 

[Bill Hark]

Dan, that is an amazing education website on the dangers of driving on icy roads. Great work.

Bill Hark

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Again, I think this website has a great wealth of information and it is a site that everyone needs to pass on to their friends, family and co-workers. Driving safely during the winter months is very important.

Also be sure to stress to those you know to be extremely cautious when driving across overpasses and other bridges during the winter. Normal roads might be fine due to the surface temp, but overpasses cool a lot quicker allowing ice to accumulate.

I mention that because Monday a co-worker of mine lost his mother when she hit an ice patch on an overpass and lost control and slammed into a semi killing her. We had other accidents in the area caused by ice on overpasses.

And while on it, a couple of more safety tips that a lot of people don't think about:

• When it's icy out, keep distance between you and the vehicle in front of you. As the temps warm up allowing ice to break away, those chunks of ice will break apart and fly off the vehicle as they're driving down the road. Following too close puts you at risk of having one of those ice chunks fly off and come straight into your windshield. Years ago when I was still working at a local TV station we had a story where a driver on I44 died when ice from a semi broke off and went through his windshield hitting him in the face causing him to wreck.
• When at stop lights, don't pull directly underneath the light. Similar to cars with ice accumulated on them, when it warms up the ice will break apart and fall from the street light and pole. If you're directly under it one of those chunks of ice could break apart and either cause a big dent on your vehicle or hit your windshield.

 

[Adam Childers]

Very nicely put together site. I like how almost everything has bullets next to it, for people with short attention spans... like myself

 

[Dan Robinson]

I just finished compiling a list of fatalities so far this winter due to icy road accidents. 129 since October 13th (a little over 2 months) - that's a conservative estimate based only on a search of news reports.

http://icyroadsafety.com/stats2008.php

I'll be updating this list throughout the winter.

EDIT: I just finished the state breakdown - here are the top ten states for deadly icy roads this winter:

- Oklahoma (12)
- Illinois (12)
- Indiana (11)
- Ohio (10)
- Michigan (10)
- Minnesota (9)
- Texas (8)
- Kentucky (8)
- Iowa (6)
- Pennsylvania (5)

All of the Oklahoma and Illinois icy road fatalities have occured during this month alone (December 1-17). In fact, all of the Oklahoma indicents took place in just the past 9 days.

 

[B Ozanne]

My best advice is to buy a Subaru and throw some Hakkapalittas on it. My Outback is like a snow mobile, it is amazing in the snow. Having great skid control and race car training also helps.

Short of doing all that snow tires might be the best investment. I think learning the breaking points of your car really helps. Short of crossing pure water ice I have a really good feeling of what it takes to break traction in my car.

 

[Sam Stone]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...ch=false&fromCompare1=yes&partnum=955QR5AMAXA

Hands down best value/performing snow tire released this year. A set of 4 195/55r15s for the Audi ran me $320 shipped, $100 for a set of rims and $50 M&B at the local small tire shop is the cheapest insurance I've ever bought. I went from a set of newish summer-only deep treaded tires to these, and you would _not_ believe the difference.

Whereas the other tires made even slush feel like an incredibly slippery surface, you would have to be downright stupid to get yourself in trouble with these, in a 300hp AWD car. Driving normally, snow is like a slightly moveable dry asphalt surface. The braking limits are incredible--you can't stop from 60 in 100ft, but you have to be hauling yourself down hard on polished hard snow to fully engage ABS. Directional control is excellent. They even seem to hold their own on pavement, free from lots of noise and excessive tread squirm. I've come from Blizzak WS-50s and Michelin X-Ices to these, they blow both away. Have yet to try them on polished ice to evaluate the compound though, but for snow--winners for sure.

Sam

 

[Dan Robinson]

Just a quick note to report that freezing rain killed 26 people yesterday (Tuesday the 23rd). When I started this project I never expected to see these types of numbers. 38 icy road deaths since Saturday, 182 for this winter season so far since October. Reports have been flooding in today and I expect that number to continue to rise.

Not to be a Debbie Downer on Christmas Eve, but I thought this was remarkable. Tell your families to take it slow out there.....

EDIT: 3 more reported in Indiana from yesterday - bringing the toll for the 23rd to 29, 41 since Saturday.

 

[Brandon Ivey]

Great site Dan! There is some great information on there and I learned some things reading through it. We don't have to drive on ice too much here in southern Kansas, but when it hits, there are always accidents. It was pretty slick out there this morning!

 

[Dan Robinson]

Just a quick note to mention this site again. The 2009-2010 icy road season has already arrived in force - there have been at least 3 fatalities already in the past 2 days alone. Like last year, I will be maintaining daily research and stats on the icyroadsafety.com site throught the winter, and ramping things up a bit with a Facebook and Twitter feed.

If I'm able to get some funding, I may also be traveling to the bigger storm events this winter to futher promote the cause.

I would be greatly appreciative if you could pass the link on to others. This is truly a significant weather hazard that people should pay attention to. I never expected to see the casualty counts as high as they are - at least 477 deaths last season alone.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Another qucik update to mention that there are dynamic and static link banners now available. The dynamic banners update automatically:

http://www.icyroadsafety.com/banners.shtml

Your support of this effort via a link will help make a difference and would be greatly appreciated!