Anyone who has ever driven with me can tell you that sometimes I get a little bit of a temper while driving, especially when it comes to someone who is driving slow in perfectly fine weather or someone that is riding my tail. I mean, when I’m behind someone that is driving slow, I have places to go! And when someone is riding my tail, well, I’m going as fast as I can. I’m kind of contradicting myself there and I’m about to even more.
Copyright: Ruthanne Reid
I’ve always hated driving in bad weather. Luckily, I haven’t had to do it too often. 3 years ago on Christmas Eve, my husband was beyond sick with the stomach flu and I had to get to my family’s house to celebrate. For some reason I can’t remember, I took my husband’s car instead of my SUV. It was icy and snowing, but I thought the roads would be cleared and I wouldn’t have a problem getting there. I was maybe a little over a mile from home when I slowly hit the breaks and instead of stopping, my car just kept going and going. Hayden was three years old at the time and I’ll never forget the thoughts that flashed in my head, just praying we would be okay. Luckily, I had slowly crashed into a light post and thought that was it. But the car that has been traveling behind me also couldn’t stop and while my car had spun on the side, his car crashed directly into the side of our car.
I got out of the car crying to grab Hayden as the snow came down. My Mom was actually driving behind HIS car and witnessed the crash {I can’t imagine what was going on in her head!} and stopped and got out with me. Hayden was crying so hard that he was throwing up, which of course made me worried that something had happened to him in the crash. I decided to call the police instead of 911 and they told me if no one was hurt, they weren’t coming because there were so many bad accidents out there. After I got everything sorted out with the other driver, I took Hayden to the hospital to get him checked out, just in case. Luckily, we were both fine and so was the other driver.
Where am I going with this?
Well, whenever the weather is bad out there, I just don’t like to drive in it. I think about hitting the breaks on the car and it NOT stopping and just sliding through an intersection. Dozens of scenarios play through my head. I think about losing my kids or I think about them losing me. So when I had to make a trip to the grocery store recently as it snowed, I drove slow. Like sloooooooooow. One person actually honked at me. I was one of those drivers that people go on Facebook and complain, saying, “It’s just a little snow and ice! Why are people driving so slow!?” But today, I just didn’t care. I’m a wife and Mom of 3. I want to be there for them. I don’t want to risk my life or someone else’s life just to drive a little faster in conditions I don’t feel comfortable in. Yes, I could just not go out if I don’t feel comfortable, but sometime you gotta do what you gotta do.
So, going forward, I’m not going to get annoyed with slow drivers anymore. We all have someplace to go. But being safe is what matters the most. You never know if that person driving slow in front of you is a teen that just got their license sitting next to an anxious parent. Or an older person trying to get to a doctor’s appointment. Or just a mother who has a van full of kids. You never know if they had a traumatic car accident years ago or even recently and they are a slow and careful driver. We just don’t know. So I’m defending those slow drivers out there. Give them a break.
Completely agree. When the weather is bad, I’d much rather deal with slow drivers than an accident. My husband completely totaled our suv one year when he slid on a little bit of ice. He was traveling back home, so I didn’t see it, but when he showed me the picks of the truck, I started crying so hard because I knew it was a miracle he survived that crash.
i 10000000% agree, melissa. i also will NOT drive in snow or a heavy rain unless i *have* to be someplace. when it’s all said and done, we’re all relying on inches of rubber tires to get us from point a to point b. so many people don’t actually respect that and just drive how they want- but to me that’s putting my kids at risk and me at risk so we stay home, off the roads. i was driving 20 mph on the highway in college, in my chevette. TWENTY. we hit black ice and spun in circles for a mile and then flipped over. it was terrifying and luckily my passenger and i had bumps and bruises but i learned the hard way that day
although on a funnier note, given that it was a chevette, some guy came and he and his friend literally flipped my little car back upright and it started right up so off we went LOL
I get your point. It is slow drving on the highway, or the left lane that pisses me off, when it is good weather!
thanks,
Mitch
This is definitely something I need to work on. I get so annoyed when people want to do under the speed limit, yet I drive veryyyyy slow in bad weather. Better to be safe than sorry!
On most days I am that slow driver I am neither a novice nor old. LOL Its just in metro Atlanta going the speed limit is considered being a slow driver so thank you defending us slow drivers.
I can’t even imagine driving in weather like that. I know if I did, I’d be driving super slow and cautiously to try to prevent something like this from happening. Very scary.
It is super scary driving in bad snowy weather! I had a similar experience a few years ago! My daughter was 5 or 6 and we were headed home from getting groceries, the roads were very snowy. I started to go after stopping for a red light and when I got through the intersection, I must have hit a patch of black ice, I wasn’t even going up to speed yet! The car spun around twice in the road into the other lane and landed in the opposite direction against the snow filled ditch. I was scared to death and Thank God that there were no other cars behind me or coming from the other direction! So yes, I am a SLOOOOOW driver in bad weather as well. If someone gets on my tail.. I drive slower, lol!
In those kind of conditions, if I even had to go anywhere, I would definitely take it slow! You can never be too safe!
So true!
Great post. I drive really slow only because I used to drive super fast before I had my daughter. Now I want to be cautious.
In Atlanta when it starts to sprinkle everyone slams on their brakes. It drives me bonkers. I understand downpours and icy conditions but I’m talking even when it isn’t raining and the roads are just wet.
I am with you about driving slow in the snowy weather. It is so much better to drive slow than to get in a wreck! But, all the time I see people driving to fast for the snowy conditions, and there are so many wrecks because of it. I do not like driving in the snow and ice, it is so scary!
I agree! When the weather is bad, I stay off the roads if all possible.
The kids give my husband a hard time because he drives very slowly – like, barely the speed limit. He drove quite the opposite when he was a teenager, himself, but he reminds them now that there is precious cargo in the vehicle with him and that shaving a few minutes off a drive isn’t worth endangering that!
My bf and I just got in our first ever car accident this week. Was pretty much the same situation, the roads were all clear and we’d been driving all day fine but took one residential street that had a little snow on it (and apparently a bit of ice under that snow I guess) and when we came up to a roundabout our car just wasn’t stopping and kept sliding. We slid right into the roundabout and into the side of a truck. It was very slow motion just like you said your crash was, because we weren’t going fast and we could totally see what was about to happen. Very scary! I’ll definitely be a) getting snow tires once our car is fixed (or if we get a new car, because we don’t know yet if it will be written off. The damage was pretty bad) and b) driving like a snail in snow.
I’m with you and I know how you feel. If I don’t have to drive I don’t and if I do I’m pretty slow. I get pretty scare when there’s ice on the road, it gets all slippery and I try to remember no to push the break but sometimes is just to hard!
I wish there were more slow drivers on the highway I drive every day to work. 65 is considered slow and it makes me sick to my stomach every day. I witnessed a crash in my rear view mirror one morning. A van went across 3 lanes of traffic and crashed into a wooded area going at least 65. It was horrifying to see and I quickly grabbed my phone and called 911. I was one of many ppl calling in the accident as it was the very start of a heavy traffic hour. After I hung up from 911 I burst into tears. More people need to slow it down and not be in such a hurry. It’s too scary what could be the end result.