I had the dubious experience of spinning out on the way to work today. This with a Civic with two new tires on a road that appeared to be completely dry and clear of ice and snow.
The problem with the weather is that at -20 degrees (air temp, NOT wind chill), salt doesn't work. The road was practically white, it had so much salt dumped on it, and it appeared to be completely dry as well. Little did I know that it was a disguise for glare ice.
The road curved, my car curved more. I steered the wheels the way I wanted the car to go (as I remember reading/hearing), but on glare ice that doesn't really make a difference.
So off I went into the wonderful world of....wheee!! Lookit all the stuff going by! Wonder when I'm going to stop or what I'm going to hit that will eventually stop me. Hmmm....well, it appears that a snowbank is coming up on my left. THUMP!
My back bumper thumped into a snowbank, I hung out for a little bit, checking the scene, then drove away.
While cars were on the road, thankfully none of them were near me, and they obviously slowed down after seeing me do a couple of doughnuts in the middle of the road.
The best part was seeing how my new GPS had to re-calculate my route based on the new direction my car was facing.
There is one advantage to snow, it can be a cushion in exactly the situation you described. I am delighted you are OK, your car is OK and nothing was hurt but your pride. Kind of embarrassing sitting there while other drive by looking at you.
ReplyDeleteI would've sat there and flipped off the people that just passed you by.
ReplyDeleteActually, I was more embarrassed then anything, I didn't want to pull out and sit next to them at the light, so I let them go by!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're getting kind of jaded about spin-outs -- doesn't seem to distress you too much after having this happen a few times in your life. (Remember the one on the way home to Mankato?) It sure is a reminder of how we feel in control and how fast it can change on those highways, tho. Your experience just strengthens my belief that we do have guardian angels watching over us most of the time, at least.
ReplyDelete