Western Washington has the worst snow drivers in the world! (A Rant)

[icymist]

First off, The WSDOT is either undermanned, don't know what they're doing, or only work in the rich people's neighborhoods first. Maybe that's why SR 16 at the Tacoma Narrows bridge was such a mess! I've lived in Central Illinois and NE Ohio and have never seen a major highway seem to be so neglected, especially in a known problem area.

Now for you drivers..... You do not slow down to almost stopping while driving on snow and ice! This is asking for you to become stuck, especially in rear wheel drive cars and trucks. Likewise, if you have to drive like nothing has happened, passing people left and right because somehow you think you're immune to the ice, going even faster so as to put any danger behind you..... if you drive like this then you're an idiot.

Growing up in snow and ice country everyone learns that when one drives on snow and ice the key is to drive steady and straight. Never do you speed up, slow down, steer erratically. Just keep the speed steady and turn only when necessary. In Western Washington, the snow or ice is not a problem to me. It's all the drivers on the road who don't know what they're doing, that's the problem.

If you're wondering what brought on the rant this morning, well I got stuck in stand still traffic on the Narrows bridge last night and had to miss work. It seems that people who couldn't drive in the snow and ice were abandoning their cars on both sides of the bridge. Then, to top off my experience,as I let a 22 wheeler trucker change lanes in front of me as the way was blocked by a car that was stuck, a full size pickup truck behind me bumped me! The driver was waving his hands, trying to force me to drive into stand-still traffic! What the Hell's the matter with people?!

[cdnwannabe]

1. Your answer is in the key words "growing up in snow and ice"

maybe you aren't aware that tons of people that live in Seattle and vicinity moved there from L.A. and other warm weather places. Add to that the fact that snow simply doesn't fall very much in this part of the country (I'm in Portland) except in the mountains, and you have a high percentage of people who have little or no experience driving in snow and ice. I took the train to work today just in case it was icy - I can drive in it but don't like to take my chances when I don't have to...

[icymist]

13. Saying that people simply didn't grow up in ice and snow country...

Is not a real excuse for those people driving on the roads covered with snow and ice.

[LisaM]

2. People in Seattle can't even drive in the rain!

They can't seem to figure out that poor driving conditions mean you SLOW DOWN, don't pass everyone, and DON'T TAILGATE. I once was driving steadily, at a medium speed, on the West Seattle Freeway. FIVE cars passed me (I was in the center lane) on both sides. I turned around a corner and guess what, there were the five cars - all piled into each other.

I was going on I-5 south once (going to IKEA for the one and only time in my entire life). It was pouring and you couldn't see the lines on the road. Did that prevent people from tailgating, passing, spraying water on my car, the whole time? No. It was the scariest driving experience I ever had.

[icymist]

14. Exactly! We have some of the best driving conditions (i.e. roads)_

but the worst drivers! The worst of this gets doubled when the police and State Highway patrol do nothing about aggressive drivers. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about here. How many time must we be put up with drivers passing on the right in excess of 65mph? Those of us trying to be lawful are tailgated into doing more that the speed limit, only to be passed by those who instigated the whole incident in the first place. Everytime I get on the on-ramp to a highway, I presume that I am taking my life into my own hands, not because of how I drive, but because of how YOU ALL drive.

[flamingyouth]

3. Yes, this is true.

But the hills here don't make it very easy.

I totally agree with you, however. I grew up here so I don't have a ton of experience driving in snow, but I know enough to SLOW THE HELL DOWN and NOT JUST ABANDON THE CAR IN THE MIDDLE OF A BRIDGE OR FREEWAY like people are doing. It's nuts. :crazy:

[cdnwannabe]

4. BTW, are you folks pushing for mass transit up there?

if you're not, I hate to see what that traffic will look like 10 years from now...

[Quantess]

5. On the radio, a DJ said that a study was done on which states have the best drivers.

Oregon was #1, and Washington was #2.
Weird, huh? I could see Oregon being high on the rank of good drivers, but I was honestly a bit surprised to see Washington so high on the list. California was ranked somewhere in the middle.

[LisaM]

6. Strangely, I think the accident rate is lower here

I can't imagine what other reason there could be. Oregon drivers always think they're better than Washington drivers, but by that all they mean is that they drive faster and people let them pass more readily. I think Oregon drivers tend to drive aggressively, and to speed.

[Quantess]

7. LOL! You're right. You have Oregon drivers pegged pretty well.

I just moved here from Oregon. On the road, I tend to think that impatience is a virtue, compared to the WA natives. :7

[LisaM]

10. As long as you don't tailgate me, or splash water on me, or hang out next to me

I don't care what you do. I drive the speed limit or a little over. I tend to stick to the right lane.

I can't bear other cars driving on my ass or right next to me. I don't understand why drivers think they need to travel in packs, nor do I understand why drivers feel that they need to pass EVERYONE. Sometimes when we're coming into work, it's like doing NASCAR. No one is content to stay in their lane, even if everyone's travelling the speed limit! They just weave in and out.

The design of the roads here is bad, though the hourglass shape of the highway is more due to geography than anything else. Many entrances and exits are on the left. Oregonians think that Washingtonians hang out in the left lane, but often, they need to be there to exit (or they've just entered there). We enter on the left. No one will let us in as we try to get up to speed. And I mean no one. They HONK at us as if we're really driving along at 45 mph in the left lane, but we have a small car and get up to speed as fast as we can! It's not our fault we have to enter on the left. Sometimes we go 1 or 2 miles before anyone will let us in.

I've also noticed that no one will yield to buses - even though they are clearly marked. Yield to buses! It's the law.

[Quantess]

8. Mostly, though, Washington drivers are the same,

It's the way traffic is designed that is the real problem, for me. The roads seem to be designed with the assumption that people can't be trusted to make good driving decisions on their own. The way the roads are designed, there is discouragement from using your own judgment, which seems to make drivers less responsive and more dependent on following the cues.

Washington drivers are just fine. It's the way the flow of traffic is set up, that drives me batty. (Especially here in the Tacoma area). I wish the city planners would have more faith in people's ability to drive competently, without setting up barriers between lanes, and overabundant stop lights, and all those extra obstacles that make driving so inconvenient.

[maxsolomon]

9. its the TYPE of snow we get

certainly, the 'california driver' problem is real. and the 'i may be driving on ice but that doesn't mean i should hang up my cellphone' problem is real. and the 'we weren't prepared, again, sorry, love, the city of fill-in-the-blank' problem is real.

but i grew up in '2" of snow that turns to ice' country: SW ohio. and never did i experience such a tiny amount of snow turn so quickly into sheets of ice.

our snow comes down WET, and cars polish it into ice. the ice doesn't go away because its
1. not sunny
2. sunny, but so low on the horizon that it can't melt patches on slopes that face away from the sun

but my commute has been beautiful the last 2 days - i'm sorry yours was so bad.

[pnwmom]

11. Where are we suppposed to be practicing? We often have no snow

through a whole winter. Plus, we have hills to contend with, and black ice. And because we get so little snow, we haven't budgeted for a lot of snow removal equipment. It would be a huge waste of money.

I grew up in the northern midwest, where it's an entirely different story. Lots of snow, lots of driving practice, lots of perfectly flat roads, and lots of snowplows.

I don't miss it one bit.

[Evergreen Emerald]

12. stop tailgating me!!! (mini-rant)

I drive steady and slow and terrified that the big giant truck right up my you-know-what is going to hit me if I have to stop or slide.

Those who tailgate me while I am driving on an ice-sheet are impatient and rude and dangerous.

Chill out and stay home you tailgaters.

[icymist]

15. I understand you and know what you mean.

I hate tailgaters! The bright lights in my mirror with the added knowledge that they didn't get off at the closest off ramp. To Hell with you, bright lights on my bumper. I pray you turn. I'm going to show my dislike with you so much that I'll decrease my speed. Yes! I'll decrease speed to the point where it's uncomfortable to follow me. Then you'll pass me.

[uppityperson]

16. and they'll get to (wherever) 15 seconds sooner and mad to boot

mad because it could've been 20 seconds if only you'd speeded up.

[sneakythomas]

19. An additional rant

Folks, learn how your car works. Start by reading the owner's manual. I've lost track of the number of people in front wheel drives or 4x4's clanging around with their chains on the rear wheels. That does NOTHING on a front wheel drive, and is way less than optimal on a 4x4. While you're at it, go to Shucks or somewhere when its not snowing, buy a set of chains that fits your car and practice putting them on. I grew up in Cooperstown NY, we put the chains on about Thanksgiving and left them there until Easter. All those cars left by the side of the road would have gotten home about 1/2 hour later than normal if they'd chained up.

Sorry my first post here is such a rant, but it took me 4 1/2 hours to go from 1st hill to Juanita, and that includes walking the last two miles because it beat sitting on the bus.

[icymist]

21. Welcome to the DU sneakythomas!!!

And welcome to the great Pacific Northwest! Here, some people get into their cars and think the highway is a NASCAR track! Sure, there's people like this everywhere, but it seems to be prevalent here, maybe because it's mainly metropolitan, or because the on ramps have no yield signs, making drivers think they always have the right of way!

I haven't noticed anyone putting chains on the rear wheels of front wheel drives, but the thought of it is halarious..... until I have to drive behind such thoughtlessness.

[icymist]

20. Yeah, you're right. ~sigh~

There's no point in putting any more angry drivers out there. Isn't it amazing how rude otherwise nice people become when they get into a car?

[progressivebydesign]

18. I hate tailgaters.. lowest form of life on earth.

I usually find that I have to adjust my side mirror so that the lights don't get in my eyes.. but gosh, it seems that the lights shine right back into their face! oopsy!

[progressivebydesign]

17. Apparently these rude drivers were actually flipping off snow plow drivers..

Apparently (and I don't think it's isolated to one town), there were many reports from street crews that they were passed, harrassed, honked at, and FLIPPED OFF, as they were trying to either plow or spread de-icer, or sand on the streets. People were pissed off at them for driving slow and apparently swerving in front of them.

I've found a large contingent of incredibly RUDE drivers here. On the streets, people tend to be courteous, but on the open road, they are obnoxious. I've never noticed and problem with slow drivers, only tailgaters and speeders. And.. it's 99% of the time pick up trucks, SUVS, and those people who think they're living out the Fast And Furious movie.

I watch the people trying to drive down my street this weekend in the ice, and it blows me away. Our speed limit is 20 in the neighborhood.. they are mostly going around 35 or 40, gunning their engine, too stupid to realize that when they hit traction they are going to fly forward (if they're lucky). In snow and ice you have to slow down.. you cannot go the regular speed because when you do lose traction and regain it you will be flung forward or worse. Slower than normal, but steady.. that is reccomendation of the safety professionals.

And. it's so funny to see how many people accuse the LA drivers of being the worst ones here. Trust me, most of the people in my neighborhood are natives, and they drive so badly.