Same here. Glad you are okay. Cars and ice don't mix well it seems. This is a sign rocketsjudoka. We all need to move back to Houston...
"Steer into the spin" means when you start to spin you don't turn your wheel the other direction to try to make the car turn the other way. What happens is because you are sliding you don't gain traction and just makes the slide worse. You try to turn the wheels so the car goes with the spin or you let it slide which is more likely to lead to you getting traction. It's counter intuitive since it seems like your car is going out of control one direction so you want to bring it back to where it was but that just makes things worse. That is what made things worse for me last night because I was in the far left lane and my car was starting to fishtail. I took my foot off the gas and brake and tried to let go until I could get traction but the freeway was curving to my right and I was still largely going straight so I had to turn to the right to keep from hitting the medium and that's when I started to spin and slide all the way across the freeway. The main thing though with bad weather driving is to keep calm and not try to force things. Also drive slow and not get overconfident about your skills like I did. It also helps having lived with Gulf Coast rain storms, Sierra, East Coast, and Midwest blizzards / ice storms and even a dust storm driving through the Central Valley I've gotten a lot of experience with bad weather driving.
Actually I have never had a serious driving accident. The only accidents I've ever had involve parking usually trying to parallel into too tight a parking space. Otherwise yes I plead guilt to the stereotypes. That is why I play Irish music.
I wish. To perpetuate Hotballa's stereotype I was driving a black Honda Civic coupe. Like something straight out of Fast and the Furious except without a spoiler, ground effects, racing graphics, nitrous and horrible storylines. My car is front wheel drive and I just got new tires on it which should've improved my traction but when that much snow is coming down all season radials can only do so much. One more bad weather driving tip. A standard transmission gives you more control and down shifting is your friend.
Really glad you're alright. A lot of people die on the road in situations less chaotic than this. Don't get too cocky kid. Seems you were already giving yourself credit when it happened ... ...and you seem to be a little confident when it comes to such an unpredictable situation.... I'm really not trying to be a jackass, still, dude... you said it yourself more than once... you were lucky. Confidence, experience and luck are great, but don't let your skillset and training skid you too far too fast. Being punctual is a virtue, but it is not worth your life. I know you get that... But it seemed worth repeating.
Glad you're okay. Any accident you can walk away from, you gotta count yourself incredibly lucky. But no one has ever had as much luck as this guy: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6HAA1hhuDBI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I had a similar accident in Cypress off of 290 a few years back except I hurled out of control across 3 lanes during the latter part of rush hour and into the median. My car was totaled but I made it out just fine. Glad you're okay.
You are totally right and take no offense. If I hadn't been driving so fast none of this might've happened and the only reason why I was driving so fast was that I was overconfident. In a snow storm like that I should've been doing under 40 instead of 45 to 50. What is weird is that when I first got on the freeway I had been thinking of a time before when I was driving with some friends who are native Minnesotans in another storm and they were surprised at how fast and well I was driving. I guess this was just Karma's way of slapping me upside my head.
I saw a kia suv this morning change lanes too fast on I-94 near st paul. The dude slid across two lanes, almost spun out, regained himself and sped off, weaving between lanes. Maybe he was late to work, I dunno. All the cars behind him(or her) had to step on our brakes. Glad you're ok though. Be wary of dumbasses like that kia.
I have the worst recurring nightmares that involve me losing control of my car on the freeway. ****s scary. Glad you're safe.
I've been in Chicago for work for three weeks, and have about a month left. Driving in the snow terrifies me... not because of me, but because of the other idiots on the road.
Defensive driving is always important. Also as what happened to me don't get too confident about your own driving.
