Are Drivers This Stupid or Just Lack Any Common Sense

Hi Everyone:

Today, my wife and I went out to buy our Christmas tree. For the first time ever, the very first tree we saw we bought. Another first was to set it in the stand inside. Usually there is a delay between purchasing it and setting it up, but not today. Next on our agenda was to go back out to try to finish our Christmas shopping. When we left our house a light rain started. We weren't to concerned since the weather forecast called for temps in the 40's with light rain.

My wife's car has an outside temperature gauge on the dash. I noticed that the temp was fluctuating between 31 and 33 degrees but we continued. We drove on Route 6 west so that we could go to a local mall. We stopped at a store and then continued west towards the mall. As we came to a traffic light that was located on top of a hill traffic stopped about 1/2 mile from the light. We noticed about 7 or 8 cars turning around and headed back towards the direction that we came from. My wife and I looked at each other and decided that the roads were getting icy so we too turned around and headed for home. As we got into a town called Mahopac, traffic was at a standstill. We discussed which road was the best way to get back home. By the best way, I mean the roads with the least amount of hills, which we decided we needed to avoid. After being stopped at the same place for 15 minutes or so, I got out of the car so I could try to see if there were any accidents up ahead. I didn't see any accidents and there were only about 7 cars in front of us. When I got out of the car there was enough ice on the road that I could skate on the road with my sneakers on. The first car, of the seven was stopped in the lane and apparently didn't want to go down a relatively steep hill. We decided to wait it out since the best way home was the direction in which we were heading. As we waited, there were numerous 4 wheel drive/ all wheel drive vehicles that couldn't wait and they drove in the oncoming traffic lane to pass the 8 cars that were waiting for a salt truck in order to continue.

I have owned 2 types of 4wd/awd vehicles. My first being a true 4wd with a posi front and a posi rear end. That means that at any given time when in 4wd, there was power to all 4 wheels simultaneously. My second one was an awd vehicle that had limited slip differentials on the front and rear ends. That means that at any given time there are only two wheels with power, one in the front and one in the rear. What I've learned about both these kinds of vehicles is that you may be able to go forward easier/faster then non 4wd/awd vehicles but they don't stop any easier or quicker. If anything it takes them longer since they are almost always heavier then regular vehicles.

As we watched these 4wd/awd vehicles pass us in the wrong lane, we were wondering what was so important and what their big hurry was since the roads were getting worse. After a total of about 40 minutes a salt truck finally appeared on the opposite side and was trying to salt both sides of the road at the same time. I pulled the car over to the right shoulder to let the salter do a better job on our lane. The cars ahead of us started forward. I turned on the emergency flashers and also started forward. We continued about 3-4 miles at about 10 to 12 miles/hour and then we saw it. A 4wd pick-up truck had gone down a hill at a speed to fast for the conditions of the road and hit a telephone pole dead center on the grille. The pole snapped in half leaving the cross member dangling in the air still attached to the wires. The truck looked totalled to me.

As soon as I saw the accident I wondered why any driver, but especially drivers of heavier 4wd/awd vehicles don't drive at a slower speed when road conditions were as bad as they were at the time. It is apparent that people without common sense are not the best drivers, especially when the weather is bad. As I previously mentioned in one of my earliest blogs, common sense should be taught in high schools or colleges but now I believe that common sense should also be taught to new drivers so that they can become better drivers.

Common sense rules and fast driving in bad weather drools.

Til next week.