We got about eight inches of beautiful powdery snow Sunday night.
I’m sure the roads were a mess from that.
Then we got about an inch of wet sticky snow in the afternoon, during the time I needed to commute to teach.
Sigh.
I was really hoping crashing my car in a freak April snowstorm last year would NOT freak me out about driving in the snow, but it has.
I left early, took my time, and avoided the highway (even though it might be clearer, that is where I crashed my car, so I am not mentally ready to drive there in a snow storm). But ugh, the roads were not good, and my heart rate was probably through the roof. Many lanes still had a layer of slush – which is what caused me to slip and crash my car. Changing lanes over that is a scary nightmare to me right now. Most turns caused me to slip, even with the snow setting on in my car, and with going through the turns slowly. (I’d like to add, everyone except huge trucks was driving this slow – I was not being a nuisance to other drivers with my speed.)
I got to class and kind of wanted to cry, from the stress of the drive. But instead I text Bobbi (who offered to come drive me home after!!! how sweet!) and she made me feel better.
I took a different route home and it was mostly better, minus some blowing of snow that had started because of our high winds.
I’m embarrassed that crash shook me up so much. Even though I know it’s completely logical that it would. Now I just need to figure out if there’s anything I can do to help my driving (on snow covered roads) anxiety, other than give it time. Maybe I should go practice driving in a huge empty snowy parking lot. I keep telling Steven I want to learn how to drift (in the Datsun). Maybe doing THAT would give me more confidence. YES! THAT’S IT!!!!
Ugh, sorry you had to deal with so much anxiety from this 🙁 But it definitely makes sense that the crash would have impacted you. I hope that you won’t have too much more snowy driving to deal with this year!
Thanks, I hope I don’t have much more this year either. Or that it doesn’t happen on days I have to leave 😉
I’d be s888ing myself and I haven’t crashed 🙂 I think given enough time you’ll feel better, fingers-crossed.
LOL!!! Thanks, I think so too 🙂
Listen, I award you a million bravery points for driving in the snow, period. And hell yes, it would be really scary to drive in conditions where you crashed your car, no doubt. I like the idea of practicing in a parking lot because you kind of need to simulate losing traction/control when you won’t actually crash. Still, even drifting in a Datsun (old school right there) sounds pretty scary to me. I hate that you have to deal with driving in gross snowy conditions.
Aww, thank you 🙂 I hate that we have to deal with it here too. But I guess that’s the price we pay for… um… getting a few nice weeks of weather a year? HA HA HA
I think I will practice. But not in the Datsun. Ha! Can’t take it out in this snow!
Driving is scary, yo. We do it by intentionally forgetting that it is an activity in which we might kill ourselves and/or other people if something goes wrong or we make a mistake – and it’s completely terrifying when we are reminded of this.
I live in San Diego, and we completely lose our sh*t when it rains, so please know that your driving skills are far superior to everyone in southern California 😉
Good point! It’s hella dangerous and we put a lot of trust in ourselves (AND STRANGERS!) any time we do it!
Aww, lol! But I have to say, if something hits, like rain, and you aren’t used to it, of course you’re going to lose your sh*t when it does!
Does your car have good snow tires? Jason put really good ones on our car (which also has all wheel drive) and that seems to make a huge difference. I still don’t like driving on snow, either, but he said he had no problems on his commute on Monday even when lots of other people got stuck.
Ahh, no, we don’t switch out on this car. We have all weather or whatever tires. I should think about that – it’s a great idea. I remember we had snow tires for the Infiniti coupe (you can imagine how awesome that was in the snow, ha!).
That all makes total sense. I am always scared when driving in the rain (so yes, I’m one of the people everyone makes fun of, but I don’t care! Safety > anything else), so I can only imagine how difficult it must be to drive in ice and snow, especially after your terrible car accident! It’s so hard to get over something like that, and I expect it will be a while until you feel confident driving in the snow again. Hugs!
That is mean that people make fun of that! If that is your “extreme” weather there, then why not be cautious of it?
I think it will be too. I hope I don’t have many more days like this. Hugs back!
Oh, I am so sorry driving to your class was so stressful and scary! 🙁 But that accident you had last year was really frightening, and so I guess it’s normal that it would still have an impact when you have to drive in the same conditions.
Practicing drifting in a parking lot is a really good idea – the more you get yourself back to feeling comfortable driving in snowy, slushy conditions, hopefully the less stress you will have. And living where you do, this is something you’ll have to deal with every year, so it makes sense to get a handle on it.
I think it IS normal. I was somehow hoping it wouldn’t happen to me though. LOL, even though it’s to be expected!
I should ask Steven if he wants to go do that with me during after our next storm. I know he’ll have some good tips for me! (After our cold snap it’s supposed to get in to the 40s and we are getting a bunch of rain… can’t wait to drive on THAT!)
I don’t blame you at all for being nervous about driving in the snow, especially after what happened in April! I get nervous just riding in a car that’s driving in the snow, never mind driving in it myself (not that I’ve needed to do that for awhile – definitely one of the biggest pros of living in the city). I read this article in the New York Times a couple of weeks ago about driving in the snow – not sure if it’ll help at all, but it does have some tips that’ll maybe give you a little more confidence when the roads are a mess: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/business/driving-snow-ice-winter.html?module=inline
That article WAS helpful, thank you! I know first hand that warmer temps and snow = BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD. And how interesting that Quebec REQUIRES snow tires. And always a good tip – look where you WANT to go (like with bowling, point your hand where you want the ball to go lol). Thanks!
It’s hard not to be a nervous passenger, right? Steven is such a great driver in the snow, thankfully!
Ugh, that was a scary and very difficult experience, so of course you’d have anxiety from it. I’m sorry that you have to deal with that!
This just made me watch a video on how to drive on icy roads. It’s so challenging and seemingly reliant on luck. I hope you don’t have to drive on any more icy roads this winter. Can Steven help you out at all here?
Was the video helpful?! Steven can help me out. He’s great at this. He grew up driving on an ice/snow combo. I think I will go with him to an empty large parking lot to practice after our next storm!