One mans opinion on how to prevent another Atlanta

smkettner wrote:
Too much reliance on the government to save us all from ourselves.
JMHO

That is a common sense statement. People need to accept responsibility for their actions.

In those conditions, we can all predict that in an area where snow is not common, there will be pile ups, accidents, and mishaps. Why not just make the common sense decision to stay home?

Where are the employers to stand up to the plate and say, "there's a big one coming, leave work early", or "because of the big storm tomorrow, only essential personnel are required to report".

Too many cry babies. People need to learn to take action on their own not wait for someone to do it for them. At least I won't.

Now I was not in Atlanta but where I am (About an hour and change away) we got snow too.. I had no problem..

There are several things one can do to cope with snow and 2 or 3 inches is, basically, nothing to get all that excited about if you are grew up where I grew up (Many of you have the name of the town I grew up on in your tow vehicles.. On the Trailer Brake Controller,,, TEKONSHA).

First: SLOW DOWN.... I mean we normally drive too fast, Far too many speed up to get home before it gets worse... And end up going instead to their eternal reward. Second... Following too close.. I was taught a 2 second rule, today they have upped it to 3, and that's on good roads. on bad roads. ADD SECONDS. So I'm on my way to Atlanta last week (Friday) and I notice a couple of cars so just for fun I timed it.. Proper One thousand One, One thousand Two, One thousand 3.

I got to One thou... that was all folks.. FOLLOWING TOO CLOSE for sure.

(I was running about 3-4 seconds on good roads.

Now understand, In MICHIGAN I have watched traffic as it approaches an object (Stove) Lying in the road.. I can tell you we all found it very entertaining Best TV show we had watched in a long time, and what's more it was LIVE.
(you can watch the same cameras, only difference is we had tilt/pan/zoom/focus/exposure and more control over them,,, You do not.. And when we are using one you can't see it, you can only see the ones on standby. http://michigan.gov/mdot and foll the roads and traffic link to traffic cams in teh Detroit area).

Next is no sudden anyhthing.. No heavy braking or acceleration cause.. They won't work.

Finally is tires.. Now most folks here in the sunny south get sunny south summer treads, Nice smooth quiet ride, NO TRACTION.

Me... Well.. Think Kelly Navigator 800's that's about my favorite tire class. This is a nice all season tire, Dang near a snow tire.

Too much reliance on the government to save us all from ourselves.
JMHO

Did anyone else notice in the photo from the link by the OP.....

Look at the photo of the teacher's aide reading to the kids-
She is wearing ankle socks! And so is the little girl next to her. I've never lived down south, but if it's cold enough to forecast snow then you can bet your life that I am wearing warm, tall socks. And so is my kid.

I bet my life that lady didn't have an emergency kit in her car in case she had to walk. How warm will she be with ankle socks on (and probably no warm boots, just sneakers) walking through snow/slush/ice!?

Sorry, it just looks like the adults were all unprepared for even basic cold weather. Maybe she wore warm socks and boots to school, and changed once she arrived..... but I don't think so.

Being an outsider, those in the southern states don't see snow or ice that often. That and the snow they got was similar to what we see in the Northwest wet and falls just at or slightly below freezing and turns almost instantly to ice. I will take snow at 15 to zero, rather than the crud the south got. Cold dry snow has about the same traction as a wet road, not wet ice!

Having lived in the northeast for 45 years before moving down here, that is exactly the problem.
And because there is not much snow and ice down here, the state and counties do not spend the money to handle these conditions.
I would rather drive in 8-12 inches of snow in the northeast than 2 inches down here.

And having watched CNN their weather forecasts were right on.

Talking with my daughter who currently is down there, for a couple years. Her company anticipated it and didn't open. No problem. However, her comments were,

Few people's cars are prepared for it down here. Lots of people's tires are nearly worn out. Tire tread? What's that? Also, they freeze up and panic. They will litterally stop in the road rather than cross the straight flat stretch ahead. Following distance. What's that. Why doesn't the car stop? I'm pressing the brake as hard as I can! Why won't it go, I've got the pedal to the floor!

She really heard these comments from people. Many people down there just didn't understand, to live in this kind of weather, you have to be prepared. Good tires. (Many can't afford them, very poor) Plan about going out. Don't panic. Understand how to drive in icy conditions. (How can you do that if you never get a chance)

To their credit, Rachel said, it was VERY slick with the ice under the snow, but it was still passable with a good vehicle, and plan ahead. She is a great snow driver with lots of experience, AND a 4 wheel drive.

I guess we won't be getting too many people from Atlanta moving up north after that.

Funny how experienced snow drivers have the same results as those less experienced when the road is ICED.

Seen it many a time in WY/UT.

Driving on ICE will make a fool out of most anybody.......that's why studded tires were so popular back in the day.

RGar974417 wrote:
Here in Pennsylvania,every time there is a forecast for snow,people rush to the grocery store to buy bread and milk just in case.If a big storm is predicted,the shelves are often bare if you don't get there in time.One of the problems with people who don't normaly drive in snow is they may be able to go with 4 wheel and all wheel drive,but that doesn't help them to stop and that's where they get in trouble.Another problem was schools,businesses and government all let out at the same time.Up here we try to stagger shut downs so that not everyone is on the road at the same time.Plus today with all these big schools,hardly anyone walks to school anymore.When I grew up,the elementary school was about 3 blocks away and the high school was about a half mile.I never once took a bus to or from school and we rarely shut down for snows under 6".Today,most kids ride the bus and they shut down just at the treat of snow.A few years ago they closed the schools and we didn't get any snow at all.Times have changed.

They are running a new program called "Safe Routes To School" where they are trying to get kids to walk/bike to school for there health. I don't know how it works but, I'm thinking there going to have certain people watching certain sections of the bike route to school to make sure everything stays safe. But, that's just a guess on my part.

Here in Pennsylvania,every time there is a forecast for snow,people rush to the grocery store to buy bread and milk just in case.If a big storm is predicted,the shelves are often bare if you don't get there in time.One of the problems with people who don't normaly drive in snow is they may be able to go with 4 wheel and all wheel drive,but that doesn't help them to stop and that's where they get in trouble.Another problem was schools,businesses and government all let out at the same time.Up here we try to stagger shut downs so that not everyone is on the road at the same time.Plus today with all these big schools,hardly anyone walks to school anymore.When I grew up,the elementary school was about 3 blocks away and the high school was about a half mile.I never once took a bus to or from school and we rarely shut down for snows under 6".Today,most kids ride the bus and they shut down just at the treat of snow.A few years ago they closed the schools and we didn't get any snow at all.Times have changed.

Johno02 wrote:
Snow?? Ice?? What's that?? OK forget the forecast, let's all just do whatever we want to...

That seems to sum up what happened. Then there are the hundreds of thousands who thought that they would be the only one out there because everyone else would have the good sense to be off the roads. Wrong.

24 hours notice that things were likely to get nasty & still people went out for reasons that could have been taken care of well before the storm hit.

We deal with hurricanes here. Trees across roads have the same effect as ice on roads. They can't be used. Businesses close in good time for people to get home before the storm hits, if it hits in full force, leaving roads clear for those who absolutely need to out.