"jariten1781" (jariten1781)
01/06/2015 at 13:17 • Filed to: None
2
18|
"jariten1781" (jariten1781)
01/06/2015 at 13:17 • Filed to: None | 2
| 18 |
NOVA always gets a bit painful when it snows, but my trip in this morning was the worst. Gave myself an extra 40 minutes for my normal 30 minute drive (yes, it normally takes me 30 minutes to go less than 10 miles) since there was less than an inch of snow.
Cruising along and dodging people left and right. First problem is a hill right by a school near my house. There's a chain of 3 minivans that are stuck spinning tires causing a huge jam. Myself and a couple others get out and push them, back in business. ~15 minutes lost. Rest of the commute is surprisingly decent. No bare pavement anywhere but it's not too slippery and everyone seems to be behaving well enough.
The final leg to my office is about half a mile of a slight downhill to a slight uphill. Worrying sight on the downhill...lots of abandoned cars in the right lane. Great. Grind to a stand still. The traffic going the other direction is a fucking mess. Pretty much every RWD car is stuck. BMWs, Transits, Rangers, etc. Only exception is a charger SRT 8 on snow tires who's chugging along fine. The FWD and AWD guys are handling it alright except for one guy in a WRX who is going backwards down the hill, all four spinning.
Finally make it to the bottom of the valley and about half the cars are bailing and turning into an apartment complex. I haven't had a single problem with traction so I decide to go up the hill...only a quarter mile so what's the worst that can happen?
Cruising up just fine...about 3/4s the way up when I reach a blockade about 3 cars deep. Get out to see what's up...There are three fucking cars blocking all the lanes. Apparently three people at once decided they couldn't make it up the hill and left their cars in such a way that NOBODY can go through. Note: Do not do that...ever. If you think about doing that remember that the rule is don't. If you think it's a good idea, it's not. What the hell is wrong with you.
A couple more cars queue up behind me then a cop shuts down the road coming up. He also won't let us back down. So I'm stuck. Try to shove the cars out of the way but it's NOT ICY ENOUGH....We're able to shift the rear end of a 335 coupe a bit but the other two are apparently on clear enough pavement that they go nowhere.
So hours later a tow guy shows up, moves them, and I'm able to go up the last quarter mile.
So Mr. Orange 335, Mr. Green Explorer, and Mr. White Vitara I hope my rings didn't 'accidentally' gouge up your paint when I was trying to move your vehicles you so thoughtfully left in everyone's way. Next time try staying with your car and people will help you push it out of the way for the greater good. If you're going to abandon it, don't do it where you block 2 lanes with your three vehicles....and buy some damned snow tires or stay at home.
At least the parking garage roof is pristine for some 'blow off steam' snow hoonage when I get done here.
Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 13:24 |
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That sucks dude. People are clueless in winter weather.
Just don't hoon too hard on that garage roof. You don't want to fall off. lol
BeaterGT
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 13:27 |
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This is why I leave later for work instead of earlier.
How do you get stuck in less than an inch of snow? I don't even...
McMike
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 13:32 |
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I left the house at 6:30 this morning, had the hardest time getting out of my neighborhood. Shit was slick, man.
Milky
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 13:38 |
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Sooo people abandoned their cars and walked with a just a couple inches of snow? I can't even.
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jariten1781
> Milky
01/06/2015 at 13:46 |
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Like 20 of them. I don't even care about the bunch that did it and left a lane...I knew I was in for a long ride...but three, across two lanes, and walking away. Fuck them, I hope it takes them weeks to find out what lot they were towed to and they have ungodly lot fees to pay.
Steve in Manhattan
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 13:55 |
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Next time try staying with your car and people will help you push it out of the way for the greater good.
Or stay home.
That's one thing I do not miss about the DC area - very few people know how to drive properly in snow, and cars that have no business being out in the snow litter the roads.
davedave1111
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 14:01 |
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Is it not a criminal and/or driving offence where you are? Here's hoping they lose their licenses and get criminal records, because that's just ridiculous.
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davedave1111
> BeaterGT
01/06/2015 at 14:03 |
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I've never had a problem with snow, but sheets of black ice polished by idiots spinning their wheels will be tricky for anyone.
It's always hard to know just who the real idiot was, anyway. There's a hill near me which gets polished every time we have snow: you can make it up easily if you keep going, but there's always some idiot who stops halfway up to let people out of a side-turning, and then everyone else is completely fucked; can't go back because of people behind them, can't move off without spinning the wheels unless they know just what they're doing..
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jariten1781
> davedave1111
01/06/2015 at 14:05 |
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It would be impeding flow of traffic and maybe lack of control of a vehicle. Really though, the cops are too busy pulling people out of ditches to worry about writing tickets on a day like today. The only way I would have seen them getting a ticket or a charge would have been if an ambulance or fire truck needed to use that route in which case the book would have been thrown at them. That didn't happen though.
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Milky
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 14:08 |
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Yea that sucks and they're dumb ….. obviously.
FJ80WaitinForaLSV8
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 14:08 |
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Bummer. Downtown DC wasn't plowed at all but no one was abandoning their cars. Saw a Tesla Model S that had just done a 180 and slammed into the curb. His passengers side rear wheel was only partially attached. Had a good chuckle about that.
VonBelmont
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 14:09 |
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Ugh, tell me about it. My dad spun out, my cousin crashed into a fire truck, and a friend of mine got caught at the bottom of two hills. Shit's crazy, and when you add bad NoVA drivers onto that...
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davedave1111
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 14:17 |
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Really, the police won't ticket them for being complete idiots? I'd have thought forcing the police to come and call a tow truck for you would result in the book being thrown.
Did you get the cars' details? I guess you could sue the owners in a small claims court for lost earnings :)
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jariten1781
> FJ80WaitinForaLSV8
01/06/2015 at 14:17 |
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Funny enough, I had a meeting in SE DC that got canceled. I got the note before leaving when a colleague of mine who lives very close to me and normally drives the same route did not. He was able to drive into SE, walk the half mile in the sludge to the meeting site, turn around and walk back, then come back to our office in Alexandria in just 2 hours. Took me 4 hours to do the straight shot. Apparently 395 and M ST were rolling at about 25 mph, but they were rolling.
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jariten1781
> davedave1111
01/06/2015 at 14:19 |
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Haha, I didn't. I suppose I could find out who the owner of the white Vitara was...there can't be that many of those still on the road. But meh, I'll be over it tomorrow.
AM3R shamefully returns
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 15:17 |
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it was so bad, there was maybe 2" of snow by 9 am. I'm over in Centreville, on my way over to get to Braddock I didn't run into to much trouble but i saw school buses getting stuck, cars just spinning, and lots of shitty teen drivers. They should've cancelled school today, the roads were pretty bad.
I got to Arlington alright but I made sure to leave early so I could avoid getting stuck with school busses.
chuck07
> jariten1781
01/06/2015 at 21:53 |
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north side of DC was terrible also. The perfect mix of slush made getting the mustang going a chore. Mix that with people slowing to basically a stop when going to the top of any hill and you get a hell of a driving experience.
thebigbossyboss
> jariten1781
02/24/2015 at 16:53 |
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I am always amazed by how bad the us does in the snow. It is incredible.