In Reply to: O.T.: Snow and Geographic Cultural Differences...., MI-Roger [Profile/Gallery] , Thu, 20 Jan 2005 09:41:51

I live in Durham, NC (right next door to Raleigh) so I got to experience the weather you just mentioned. I’m not as convinced it’s a driving issue as much as others are (especially the relocated Yankees that seem to enjoy lording their supposed winter driving skills over the locals). Raleigh, it seems, is just unprepared for this weather. Indeed, with the exception of the last ~5 years, I understand that it is historically quite unusual, so I can’t really fault them. Durham seems to do better (and has less traffic to begin with), as my 15 miles commute from Durham to Chapel Hill went just fine, while co-workers who live in Raleigh reported hellish hours on the road. In addition to Raleigh’s insufficient preparation, the timing was terrible as the snow came on shortly before the rush hour commute. It’s difficult to clear roads when they are already crowded and the situation quickly escalates from there. This is the worst winter weather traffic I have heard of in my four years here, and I think it is mostly due to the poor timing. I suspect that a similarly timed first snowfall up north would also cause issues. I can also attest that despite the very small amount of snow, the roads were actually fairly slick. Certainly the performance tires on my Saab struggled on unplowed sections, and with the major thoroughfares and interstates unplowed in Raleigh, it’s pretty inevitable things would grind to a halt.

While I don’t doubt driver experience is a factor, I think the issue this time had more to do with the timing of the snow, insufficient reaction by Raleigh, and the psychological factors of the first years snow. But then, I didn’t have to sit in traffic for four hours, so what do I know. :)

Craig
’87 9kT 284k


posted by 66.15.17...

• O.T.: Snow and Geographic Cultural Differences...., MI-Roger , Thu, 20 Jan 2005 09:41:51
  • The NY Times has some fun with yawl........, ChrisB, Fri, 21 Jan 2005 06:55:30
    • Whoops, its the AP not the NYT!, ChrisB, Fri, 21 Jan 2005 18:04:11
    • Re: trusting The NY Times?, t_mokes, Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:09:53
  • a little overconfident?, isobel, Fri, 21 Jan 2005 06:24:57
  • The first snow of the season nails northerners, too, Noel, Fri, 21 Jan 2005 05:46:13
  • And North Dakota drivers sneer at us MI folks...., Carina, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 15:01:30
  • Well, even folks in NJ have such fear of snow that...., TKC, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 13:56:28
  • Re: at least they have an excuse...., t_mokes, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 13:19:50
    • Did you get your bread and milk?, Urby, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 16:58:03
      • Re: Did you get your bread and milk?, t_mokes, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 17:11:18
  • A quick NC perspective…, Craig, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 11:47:20 <-- Viewing This Message
    • Nothing was meant negative regarding NC drivers...., MI-Roger , Thu, 20 Jan 2005 14:06:04
      • No Offense Taken...., craig, Fri, 21 Jan 2005 14:01:00
  • Re: O.T.: Snow and Geographic Cultural Differences...., Dan , Thu, 20 Jan 2005 11:03:53
    • Re: O.T.: Snow and Geographic Cultural Differences...., johnf, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 11:45:03
  • NC is INSANE whenever a few snowflakes hit..., johnf, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 10:26:32
  • Getting worse everywhere...., dparadis , Thu, 20 Jan 2005 10:26:19
    • Southern Ontario Bad too, Gabor, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 12:12:58
      • only the first few snowfalls, Trev, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 12:38:09
  • Big time (+), Vlad, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 10:21:43
  • Atlanta is the same way . . ., jc, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 09:49:52
    • That is a hoot!, RS , Thu, 20 Jan 2005 14:14:36
    • Re: you did what I wanted to do, t_mokes, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 13:25:47
    • Ha...nice...I tip my 40 to you n/m, McTeague, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 11:44:18
    • That may be one of the best traffic..., 99 9-3 HOT, Thu, 20 Jan 2005 09:54:03

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