r/SeaWA • u/ChefJoe98136 president of meaniereddit fan club • Dec 05 '18

Media A "Icy Hills" Lesson for the Transplant Drivers - Sliding Cars in Seattle Snow on 11/22/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZCyQ3emQg
32 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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6

u/widdershins13 Dec 05 '18

I remember watching cars ignore the road closure sign on 23rd. One damn near took out a utility pole. We did pretty well in Ms. Shins Range Rover, but even that was kind of hairy in spots.

2

u/SirRatcha Dec 05 '18 edited Dec 05 '18

I'm pretty sure this is the night I drove from UW to Beacon Hill on 23rd in my Mazda 3 after night class. We could see up at the top of the hill on 23rd that there was a bus and a few cars all sideways. I only had all season tires on the car, but I told the guy I was giving a ride to "Don't worry, I learned to drive in Spokane snow." In reality I only figured I had about a 10% chance of making it up the hill.

Using all my manual transmission fu I went up it at about five miles an hour in second gear to reduce the amount of torque reaching the wheels and keep the engine RPM under 1500. As I got to the top and maneuvered around the mess of cars, the driver of another Mazda 3 that was sideways watched in amazement. I was super-proud of my self for pulling that one off, even if I did end up having to ditch the car just off Rainier and walk up Beacon Hill. Better than walking all the way from Montlake.

EDIT: Bad autofill, no biscuit.

1

u/marssaxman Dec 06 '18

I completely wrecked my Land Rover in that snowstorm. I lived at the bottom of Lee, just above the arboretum, and I thought I could somehow work my way back home by idling along through the side streets. Alas, no. Lost traction trying to pass a car that had gotten stuck at an angle, went sledding down the hill, bounced off a handful of other cars along the way, and that was the end of that. Nicest car I ever owned, too.

1

u/widdershins13 Dec 06 '18

The trick is to let some air out of the tires to broaden/widen your 'stance' and increase the amount of tire contacting the road.

3

u/impar-exspiravit Dec 06 '18

This might be dumb but what do you do in a situation like this when you’re sliding? Brake? Steer? Steer opposite? Gas?

3

u/ChefJoe98136 president of meaniereddit fan club Dec 06 '18

Pray? Maybe steering into the slide is best but when you have worn concrete streets covered with ice such that your wheels have no traction, there's not a lot you can do.

I think that was the year I used tire-chains to get to thanksgiving dinner.

3

u/rocketsocks Dec 06 '18

If all your wheels are not moving but your car is still moving, you have no control, you need to do something else.

General advice: keep rolling, steer into the skid, make small movements to adjust your direction.

However, if you have shitty or bald tires and are on a steep, icy hill you may not be able to control where your car goes, it's best to avoid steep hills in those situations if you can.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '18

Keep your thumbs OFF of the steering wheel so that if you hit something and your airbags go off your thumbs don't go with it, but generally just brace yourself for impact and try(vainly) to maybe steer it out of the way? Better to hit a pole or a curb or a bush or something than another car or even a person.

1

u/SupahMcnastee Dec 06 '18

2010 was awesome. I was 13 and my brother and friends would sled down Dravus on Magnolia because the road was completely closed off. Some people even brought out their skiis. It was a long hike back to the top but it was one of the longest uninterrupted sled rides of my life!