We had a saying in some of the mechanic shops I have worked at . It goes like this “You can’t fix stupid!”

How about some of these lifted trucks take off their mud terrain tires and put on some actual winters? If any of these idiots hits me because they can’t stop the first thing I’m doing is taking pictures of their tires and the road conditions. Yes puny winter tires don’t look as good as those big aggressive tires, but they sure as hell work a lot better in winter conditions!
I have a truck with a small, functional lift. Rest of the year I run larger aggressive all terrains. First sign of snow I take them off and put on skinny winters – amazing the difference!

Ya I`m looking out the window and can clearly see it`s winter.One more day to go….hope you`v all practiced your yoga???

Been saying this for years. The narrower your tire tread, the greater your ground pressure per square inch (traction). Think about why you put sandbags in your car for better traction. It is to put more weight on the tires. That is: more ground pressure. If you use wide tires, you will have less traction than if you use narrow tires.
Only trouble with that is, tire companies now are making wider winter tires. It is harder to find narrower winter tires nowadays.

Also, tire sizes are misleading. There is no uniform measuring used for the numbers because different manufacturers use three different places to measure the width of their products. You have to physically see the tire you are thinking about buying, to see how wide the tread is. Tread width could be as wide as a 235 with one manufacturer or as narrow as a 205 with another. I think there should be a standard measure enforced.

Al, I agree, and when people are approaching a stale green, the amber doesn’t mean SPEED UP! AND that applies to city buses as well as taxis. It’s bad out there, but there are a lot of good people taking it easy. Thanks to them!

Yep I agree with the mud tires 110% . Probably spend so much on tires and lift they can’t afford proper tires for winter .

peegee: make sure you have both vehicles weighed and tire width measured to find ground pressure equivalents as well. Make sure you take pictures of the side of the tire to identify the type of tire it is, winter or not. Could make a big difference in court.

Skid mark pictures and measurements and witness statements are also VERY helpful.

Funny how you see a lot of the fastest drivers out there with Ns on the back of their vehicles. Like I’ve said before, N simply means, “not quite sure” of the whole concept.

“you will likely find that insurance premiums will go up”
Personally, I like that idea.

And remember that when you see a pedestrian, they are also experiencing the same road/sidewalk conditions you are. If you’re driving on ice, they’re walking on ice. Give them a bit of extra room when making your right or left turns, just in case they slip on the ice at the precise moment that you’re trying to squeeze by them. It happened to me the other day and the only reason the car didn’t drive over me is because I managed to fling myself the other way, and fall away from the car instead of towards it. I had the right of way, started into the intersection long before the car drove up, and s/he thought it would be ok to go by the second I was clear. Not a good feeling.

Who in their right mind walks out in front of a car on icy roads?

I saw a guy riding a bike, no helmet, taking up a half a lane riding down Ospika today, when the snow was really coming down. All the cars in both lanes had to abruptly move into the left lane to avoid him. Moron!

Weaksauce
“Who in their right mind walks out in front of a car on icy roads?”

I didn’t say I walk out in front of cars. I walk, following the rules of the road and allowing for icy conditions, to get around this community. I walk to the bus stop, to the grocery store, and anywhere else I need to go. It’s good exercise. You should try it.

However, when I enter an intersection in which I have the right of way and there are no other cars, I should have some expectation of getting across safely. People come out of nowhere trying to beat the light or make a turn just before the oncoming traffic, forgetting to look for pedestrians. Even if you don’t care about MY life, you shouldl care about children who walk, or seniors, who may be lessa ble to jump out of your way. And, you can be charged criminally if you kill people with your car. Yep, I’d still be dead, which is why I am as careful as I can be and don’t take chances and follow the rules of the road, but it’s in your best inerests as a driver to also watch out for pedestrians.

Maybe it’s just me, but when I’m walking, I start with the assumption that no drivers are paying attention. I don’t want to be ‘dead’ right.

As do I, Johnybelt. I don’t step out in front of moving vehicles, I assume that they can’t stop for me (on ice, for example) and aren’t looking, or don’t care to bother stopping. Generally, I am proved right. However, even when I have taken all precautions, people still feel the need to push jsut a bit to get to thier destination five seconds faster> It’s my life at stake, so I do feel justified in commenting on this. Any person who walks on a regular basis in this town will tell you the same thing…the olny way to avoid idiot drivers is to not walk anywhere. Unfortunately, it’s my only means of transportation, so unless I stop participating in society, i have to deal wtih the cars.

To the stop sign runner and I mean deliberately, that’s you Bright yellow 4×4 that blew the stop sign on Dagg and Austin road East yesterday. I guess your thanking the Lord that I could stop in time, no thanks to your stupidity. I guess you think your pretty smart by keeping the snow piled on your license plate. Keep driving like that and you’ll just become another statistic.

JB gets it. When I’m walking (or driving for that matter) I never assume a driver sees me unless I’ve made actual eye contact with them.

You got that right BCRacer. PG is full of crap drivers.

Some on should start a TV show call it Canada’s worst drivers. Oh ya that’s been dun.

Drivers would get it if there was some enforcement. Right in the wallet.

sarasmith70, great post. Way too many drivers think they have the right-of-way instead of those on foot. Good on you for walking more. We should all do it. Weaksauce and JohnnyBelt’s comments are just inflammatory and not really worth reading. Keep on walking!

peegee, you mentioned “lifted” trucks and “mud terrain tires”. This town is freaking full of redneck idiots with massive lift kits and huge mud tires!

What amazes me this the fact that they have thousands to spend on lift kits, rims and tires, but they can’t find a hundred bucks or so to install a decent set of (legally required) mud flaps!!

I am so sick and tired of being stuck behind one of these clowns as they drive around throwing rocks and other debris out behind them. ICBC could save a ton of money on windshields if these clowns would only install some mudflaps!

Perhaps if the police started to issue fines for failing to install proper mudflaps, maybe word would get out and some of the truck owners might actually install them.

I drive a 4×4 and have installed proper functioning mudflaps. They work and look good. As a bonus, my truck stays cleaner!

How bout we start with getting ALL THE SNOW OFF OUR VEHICLES, make sure tailights and headlight are visible, USE THEM, USE OUR SIGNAL LIGHTS, drive to CONDITIONS, and yeah, maintain a safe distance. Oh, and those people who use their signal lights at the last second or change lanes without signalling? Got get a defensive driving course!

Sure be nice when travelling on the highway if the lead auto pulled over and let others pass safely rather than tie up 10 or 15 cars because the driver in the lead is afraid to push the speed up or 50 km per hour. Always amazed me how the car in front is always the slow poke. Did he just leave home early to piss a bunch of other drivers off.

So Resident,are you the person that likes to speed!maybe driving at 50 km per THAT person is driving to the conditions…

jonnypg
I guess with your logic the 15 drivers behind the slow poke waiting to pass are all wrong and the slow poke is driving correctly. Some people just merrily cruise along well below what the conditions allow whether it is summer or winter oblivious to traffic around them. Hope they never head to the USA where there are minimum speeds posted.

“Always amazed me how the car in front is always the slow poke.”

Isn’t there always a car in front?

LOL! Imagine if the car in back was the slowpoke.