lawrocket 3 #1 March 26, 2006 And it's tougher when the wife and kid are in the car. We decided we needed to do something to get outta town. A good idea - let's go up to the mountains and show Conor his first snow. And I hadn't been in snow for a couple of years, so I thought it a good idea. I mean, it's only an hour away to Shaver Lake. So we took off about noon. Incident particulars: 1) driver - me 2) Drives - 17 years without incident - including 6 years straight of daily trips from Orange County to downtown Los Angeles. Hell, I've only had one moving violation for a right turn on red. 3) Inclement weather experience - some special training, and experience in Colorado and Utah winters, but none since Dec. 2001 years. 4) Vehicle - Volvo XC-90 SUV. 5) Crew - wife in passenger side, child in carseat. After making it up the mountain and into town we found only rain amojng the snowdrift (that sucked) we decided to travel east of the lake to a higher elevation. A couple of miles east of town, the distinct sound of sleet hitting the windshield. It looked a lot like rain, only it bounced off. The temperature gauge read 37 degrees. We come over a small crest and start heading downhill. No shit, there I was. The road had an entirely different appearance in this downhill section - it looked like shiny sandpaper. It went directly into a left hand turn going downhill. Too cold. Too fast. I might have added - too late. Now, I was only doing 25 at the time (yeah, you may have thought I was going faster - I'm a safe mo-fo, but even THAT didn't work). I eased onto the brakes and tried to steer left. This resulted in the back end sliding right. I slowly let pressure off the brake and shifted into first (a manual/automatic). The wife saying, "Oh my God. We're gonna hit it). We had an impact - much lighter than I would have imagined it feeling. It was right into a snow drift. Every snow drift at the side of a road that I have ever encountered was rock hard. We'd had nice weather last week, and I figured the drifts were ice coated. We were almost sideways when we hit, and probably only doing about 5mph. Damn, it didn't feel like much. Oh, yeah, we stopped about 100 yards short of another car that had really lost it. We decided to quickly get the car the hell outta there are go back to a parking lot about 1/4 mile away to inspect the damage. I figured the exterior would tell a tale of destruction. Nope. Not even so much as a scratch. Sure, there was mud, but it seemed fine. Until we heard the "SSSSSSS" coming from both right side tires. We were slowly losing air in both. If ti was one tire, no problem. We've got a spare. But this was both. So into town for repairs. It turned out that there was mud between the tire and the rim - the impact temporarily knocked the tires of the rim, but left enough time for mud and pebbles to breach the seal. They needed to be cleaned, but there was no damage to the vehicle. None. Even the alignment was fine. I don't know how the hell we lucked out like that. I've driven in far worse conditions. This incident just shocked the hell outta me - the road condition changed in a heartbeat. My wife wasn't even mad at me. I'm mad at myself, though. Man, Volvos rock. That car really IS built like a tank. It's not even something to report to insurance. We're all fine, and we made it back without further problem. You can't even tell it happened. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindsey 0 #2 March 26, 2006 Sounds like you're not use to driving in ice storms.... downhill. Glad y'all fared well. At least your kid saw snow. Peace~ linz-- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
packing_jarrett 0 #3 March 26, 2006 yeah, sounds scary. I got my drivers permit last week.Na' Cho' Cheese Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tumbler 0 #4 March 26, 2006 Glad everyone is OK... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
morningdove831 0 #5 March 26, 2006 I'm glad you're all ok. BTW, my son's name is Connor too (just a different spelling). I think that's cool. One who looks for a friend without faults will have none. -- Hasidic Saying Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #6 March 26, 2006 Shit, get to the store and buy yourself one (and *only* one) lottery ticket!!! With the kind of luck you had, you just may be at the beginning of one hell of a roll!!! Congratulations on avoiding a *very* bad situation--you done good! Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vectracide 0 #7 March 26, 2006 I saved myself from a imminent collision with a sign on a turn due to ice. The conditions were ok, but at the last second I noticed the sheen on the road....too late....just like you. So, my f-150 was already in 4 wheel drive....I locked the brakes up, put it in reverse, and floored it. All 4 tires were spinning backwards and I was still going forwards, but slowing down. It worked. Stopped a couple of feet from the big ass sign. I thought to myself....well that was stupid for entering the turn too fast for conditions, but that was fun too! Steering is reversed when the truck is going forwards, but the tires are going backwards! Wheeeee. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jdatc 0 #8 March 26, 2006 Let me make you feel better. This is a tale of my stupidity. Me (alone), Car Subaru WRX STI, With snow tires, a lot of idiocy. No special driving courses and a lot of tickets later.... The pic I stole from google earth and made a diagram.. Coming off the expressway to exit and to make the turn on north ocean ave, I was doing 70ish in the far left lane when I hit some ice. Car nose started going right. Tried to straighten it out in the lane as the nose rotated clockwise at a rapid speed.... Lost it. Was sliding sideways in the high 50mph zone. Car is perpendicular to the road.... Pole approaching... Big, mean and intimidating... It wanted to kill me I think... Going of the road. counter steering not helping.... I am perfectly sideways.... Fuck it. Accept the situation. Me or the car. Really rip the wheel right and downshift into second... If I am going to go right maybe I can keep going right and spin it. That way at least the dirver's side door won't strike the pole and kill me... clutch completely optional. off the road into the enterance for the radison parking lot. Sideways into the entrance. Missing the pole. whew. Probably going to eat the sidewalk scurb sideways at low speed. Hmm... could roll... bad is getting worse. Boom. Traction. it turns and stops exactly parallel to and I miss the curb by less than 6 inchs. Get out, whoot and hollar! WOOHOO! I made it. My car is on bonus days from here on out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #9 March 26, 2006 Awwww c'mon..it was an intentional power slide, right? My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #10 March 26, 2006 Glad your ok there counselor..... Sounds like you might have hit some freezing rain. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #11 March 26, 2006 Holy shit!!!! Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
