Okay, this is a rant about my whole drive back home. See, I work at Borg Warner in Auburn Hills, MI and while my Chevy K2500 was down in the dealership (while they stripped the whole truck - I mean, engine out, tranny out, all that to figure out why she ain't running. Turns out it was a loose connector... and the whole time, the mech. was telling me the last thing I wanna hear, "I don't know what's wrong with it") I took my Mazda MX6. Now, see, this car was rebuilt by me with the purpose of it being trailered to/from the race track, and was rebuilt to basically dominate the I-Prepared-C racing class on road courses. It is what it sounds like - heavily prepared vehicles. Finally, just this past week, the dealer (New Jersey) finished my truck. So, not wanting to drive a Mazda on the streets with balding ZE-512 tires in a Michigan winter (and find out what a pain in the you-know-what that'll be) I decided to pack up and head on home in a pinch, get the truck, and drive straight back to Michigan in a little winter storm.

The drive home was uneventful, with a few fun CB moments back in Snow Shoe, PA. However, it was the drive back that was quite a bit more eventful, infact, far more than I'd like.

So, I made it up to I-78 and was about to get to the TA at exit 7 by the tolls, where I usually fill 'er up (40-gallon main tank, plus a 80-gallon tank in the bed) and traffic just plain STOPS. So, I turn on my un-tuned CB, turn up the gain, and start listening. Turns out, a Escalade entering the highway full-throttle had started sliding, the driver panicked, and it hit a Dodge Caravan, rolling both vehicles onto their sides. Now, nobody was seriously injured, thank god, but the vehicles had it blocked, from ditch to ditch. So, we're all sitting there, idling, with nowhere to go (leaving the trucks running since, well, it's 29 out according to the thermo, and a diesel don't like starting when she's cold). So, we're all there chatting away, and finally (2 hours... keep in mind that my CD player is broken, and if I try skipping or going back or changing CD's, I might never get another one in until I get a chance to pull off and start praying to the Chevy gods). Alright, traffic finally starts moving a little again, and everyone's trying to figure out what lanes are going. A few rolling refineries from the other direction are saying it's the two left lanes, while a Schneider and JB Hunt are saying it's the outside lanes (these going in our direction). I went with the middle lane, since that's where I am (keep in mind, there's 3 lanes).

Well, I'm noticing that our lane is dead stopped, while the two outsides are still truckin' along past us, so I grab the CB, got a trucker to let me in, and slid my way into the right hand lane, doing a quick hazard flash to thank 'm. Well, what'd'ya know, the two left lanes are the ones they're letting go (outside lanes flowing never did make sense to me), and what do you see in the center lane? A Honda Accord, the driver leaned back in his seat, fast a-f***ing sleep! So, I grab the CB, and holler at the CT driver in the left hand lane, getting him to honk the air horn a few times (he also saw the guy was asleep), and I figured a few blasts from that, and he'd jump in his seat, and get on moving. But what'd he do? Stay on sleeping.

Pretty quick, this guy was the talk of the CB (became an instant celebrity), and from what I heared when I was pulling out of the TA, he was still asleep over an hour later! Although some people were talking about how "Oh, maybe the accident up ahead scared him", "Yeah, scared to death", "Y'all seen rat race? Y'know that one guy who kept falling asleep? Maybe this guy has the same thing, y'know?", "Damn, I wish I could sleep like that. Most'a'th'time, I gotta get earmuffs, 'n towels, 'n what-not. And here's this ignorant f***, fast a f***ing sleep, sittin' there in the center lane of an interstate, sleeping right through several blasts from mine'n Rich's air horns", and on and on.

Well, I pulled on across the toll bridge, swampers sliding in snow, and slipped on down to 4-wheel-drive, for the treck through the hills out on PA-33 and across onto I-80 W for the long treck. First 10 minutes or so, most of the drivers seemed pretty sane to me. A few people wanted to go a little faster than me (the truck was VERY different after all that work, seemed to have a little something extra under the hood too) and I was hearing from a few truckers about how some of these cars were having spin-outs, so I decided to leave an extra 8-10 lengths just incase someone started sliding so that I wouldn't have to take evasive action myself (and possibly get both vehicles wrecked). Well, it wasn't until after I passed by that little city out there on 33 before the heavy climb that I finally met these idiots.

The first driver I saw in my rearview, coming up fast. Brights on, so I could hardly see the road, so I pulled into the left lane (unplowed), hit my hazards, and started crawling up the hill. I grabbed the CB, and told the trucker about 20 ahead of me that we got us some crazy SOB about to fly up the hill. Now, I've driven this road many-a-times, and know that after this uphill with a gentle right-hander, you get yourself a nice downhill a-comin. And I recall there being a nice, sharp left hander right at the bottom of that there hill. I was a-figurin that by the time I reached the bottom of the hill, there'd be a whatever sports car sitting in the ditch, all bent up, with a driver there wondering "How on earth did my car slide on a good 9 inches of snow and ice?"

Well, sure enough, me and the trucker are coming on back down that hill, with me in the right lane and him in the left (he got off the throttle at a better time than me, I have to admit, at 25mph that downhill was downright SCARY - he was doing around 20) and there in the center median was that Mercedes Benz, spinning his tires and cursing the snow, as he tried to get that luxury car out of a ice-filled ditch that even my K2500 with it's swampers and all, wouldn't have dug herself out of.

A few miles up the road, a Saab I had passed as he was spinning his tires and going nowhere real fast (around 5mph I'd say) came flying up the road too. Anyone wanna take a bet on what happened to this guy? I'd still take what I took then, which was 100% true. This guy flew past me, and as he was approaching the trucker, I noticed a little wobble. I grabbed the CB, and let bubba up ahead know that this guy's gonna spin out any minute, and he aughta slow on down, and I'll give 'em some room. Sure enough, no later had this saab ripped on by the Kenworth name than he finally fishtailed it one way then another, and would up sideways, scraping the guardrail, and then spun 180-degrees backwords. We both slowly drove on by, and I saw him cursing and punching the wheel as the two vehicles he just worked soooo hard to pass slid on by him. Before the next uphill, me and the trucker changed places, since I was handling those much quicker than him (and I'm not surprised either) and next thing I know, I'm hearing "Black smoke, black smoke, watch out, a bent-up saab's a-comin' up the hill toward you, black smoke, he just blew the doors off me, and I think he's gonna do it again". Sure enough, right on cue, this Saab just flies up past me, then the bobble, then the slide, and he's outta here! Right into the guardrail hard.

When will drivers ever learn their lesson? On snow and ice, the old addige is true, Haste makes Waste. And it sure turns a car or truck into a piece of twisted sheetmetal in a real good hurry. I don't mind letting people on past me, but damn, some people are just in too much of a hurry. I had one guy out by the I-81 breakoff riding not 2 feet from my rear bumper while I was behind two snow plows out there on 80W. I mean, honestly, where'm I gonna go? Might as well hang back, after all, if I start sliding (not that I ever did find myself in a real bad situation on that drive, but it could'a happened), you'd end up 2 feet deep in 1995 Chevy Full-size heavy-duty pickup quicker'n you could say shyt. So, he then flew up the side of the road (keep in mind, even with the plow going, you couldn't tell road from lake out in that mess) and then TAILGATES THE DAMN PLOW. wtf?

Sorry about having to rant about this, just had to. 800 miles of crazy drivers... not all of 'em, keep in mind, but damn. I mean, you'd think someone, after spinning it once, would've learned. But not some of these. Idiot Driver of the Year to all of them for their actions of pure lack of judgement.

 

dayum, dude. Glad you made it where you were headed, but thats why I love livin in Texas. None of that winter storm crap. Get ice every now and then, but I just call it a day and stay in the house if its too bad.

 

that was a nice read. Glad you made it okay.


note to self: buy cb before going on long road trip.

 

They forget how to drive in the white stuff every year. There isn't much more fun than screwin around in a fresh snowfall though...

 

I've never driven on snow before and I'm not looking forward to the day I have to. I'm constantly aware of my surroundings when I'm driving and snow driving would make me concentrate even more. I refuse to talk on the cell phone while driving simply because I will lose my concentration. People can't drive when the roads are dry. I'd hate to see people drive in the snow.

 

I feel your pain man. Im originally from northern New Hampshire so i've done my share of winter driving. 90% of the people down here in FL can't even drive on dry roads, i'd love to see how shitty they drive in snow lol.

 

why does evyone call it "white stuff"? its snow..... is that a northern thing? i swear ive ready it about 6 times today in different places.

-glad you made it!

 

oh dear.

 

sorry, didn't realize the slang term for snow was bothering you. we'll make sure to amend that northern thing immediatly.

 

Nobody says snow thats old school
When its constanly snowing for three to four months you start saying weird **** I guess, cabin fever sets in.
Just be gald you don't have to deal with the morons who forget how to drive in snow each year, the snows not the problem if you know how to control a slide, hell it's actually really fun in a truck with a V8!