The weather is bad.
Tam: "Up in Boone County, they had black ice like we saw in the parking lot on the interstate."
Roberta: "There's a parking lot on the interstate?"
Tam: "No, black ice like we saw in the parking lot."
Roberta, musingly: "It just doesn't seem like a very good idea...."
Tam: [Exasperated look]
It was a bad idea, in fact; an emergency vehicle stopped and helping people at an accident was struck by another car. 50 wrecks around metro Indianapolis alone and at least one fatality.
Be careful out there.
Yes, my winter in Frostbite Falls taught me that ice driving is best done parked in the driveway.
ReplyDeleteThat all other sorts of winter driving must obey the arresting officers orders. "No sudden moves"
And that winter is not over in International Falls until the ice goes out of the Rainy River.
Stranger
Back in the late 1960s, I was in Indianapolis for a few days' work and had to travel the Interstate between my motel and the jobsite. Came upon a small pileup of cars and couldn't figure out what the problem was. The next overpass that I crossed was glare ice, and the car began to slew sideways. All I could do was hang on, keep the wheel straight, and hope that I got to dry pavement before it was too late. Fortunately, I wasn't too far off when I reached the other side of the overpass. Exhaled, and slowed down....a lot.
ReplyDeleteThe worst thing is a back road where the snow has become packed and frozen, then it warms up a bit and begins to rain. The only good thing is that it's so slippery that you can't really GO, let alone stop.
Is the term "black ice" permissible in this day of political correctness run amok?
ReplyDeleteOh, fine, Dave, fine -- "Ice of no discernible color," then.
ReplyDeleteJim: Icy roads were where I learned an old-time trucker's signal. Indiana 22 East of Kokomo used to have two hard 90-degree turns about a quarter-mile apart on an otherwise long, straight stretch. I was driving in the dark, in pretty back weather but making fair time, when a semi in the oncoming lane loomed up, rapidly flashing his headlights at me and the cars behind me. I had no idea what he was on about but slowed down, trying to figure what he'd gone weird over.
He probably saved my life. The two hard turns were a glare of ice and there were already several cars piled up at each one. because I had slowed some, I was able to slow even more and get through it without crashing.
Ever since then, I make sure I signal to change lanes and always give trucks the "all clear" highbeams when they pass me. And I warn oncoming motorists of hazards the same way he warned me. It's not much but it's the only way I can pay that debt back.
Be careful out there. Years ago I was living where we had glare ice from time to time and my neighbor got out to help a stuck car. This was the days of rear wheel drive and if one wheel started spinning on the ice all it would do is warm up and start smoking when an inexperienced driver would continue to press on the gas.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor brought his car to a stop behind the stuck car, put on his blinkers and walked up to the driver and told him how to go easy on the gas while he would give the car a manual shove.
Well, when neighbor was positioned between the two cars another car approached them unable to stop and smashed the neighbor between the two cars crushing his pelvis and a lot of other internal stuff. It took him a long time to get out of the hospital and he never did completely recover.
Good intentions are not always successful on roads covered with ice.
"Being bad grammar, a student should not use dangling participles."
ReplyDelete--Rule #7, ___ Using English Good, Read Magazine, May 15, 1968, page 32.
The rule -- WITH proper citation!