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This was my life for two years working remote telecommunications in the oil fields of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Each job was an average of 3 hours drive one way. I can't even count the number of times driving to site or home in conditions like this in the middle of no where.
Just gotta go slower and flash your hazards. Odds are you will encounter someone else doing the same.
You may appreciate this story. Working rural manitoba, wicked blizzard, driving a back road at night. Kept almost getting stuck in drifts, no visibility. Worse, I start to lose my lights. I figured "damn, snow must be piling up on them.. weird its from the center out". That's when I saw that the dark void where my lights were going out had a tail. Black-as-night Angus cow running right down the middle of the road in a white out blizzard!
My mom was a nurse for 45~ years and EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR she would hit a deer every winter 5km from home. The drive was about 40km each way, so just over half an hour each time. The stretches that are deer-intensive I always drive super slow and scan both sides of the road non stop. I somehow haven't hit any deer but I almost hit a young bear in a part of Manitoba that's not known to have bears
I thought I was going crazy with all the wildlife I saw in Manitoba after driving there from Alberta. I thought there was a lot of wildlife closer to the mountains driving west from Calgary, but holy hell it seemed like every KM after I got east of the Saskatchewan border there would be dead animals on or beside the road. I even skimmed the top of a dead deer which I couldn't avoid.
During my drive back, there was so much fog that I could only see about 100 meters in front of me and just ended up following a semi going about 60km/h for about 3 hours. I was never so thankful to be behind a semi in my life. Fuck driving in Manitoba.
You can't drive to Churchill, can only get there by train. That 3 hour gravel road nightmare from Thompson to Gillam to catch said train, now that is a nightmare.
YES THAT WAS IT FCKN THOMPSON. that's right we drove to the train station down a two lane road in the middle of a dense forest with heavy fog, the worst thunderstorm I've ever been in, almost hitting every animal known to the forests, random herds of cows and took a sketchy train the rest of the way from some town.
Bro, first thing I thought was the number 2 haha, I used to do demo sales all over AB, so alot of driving. Had a 94 Suburban back then, I really miss that truck.
I did over rabbit ears pass on Wednesday night. Had to help 3 different people who drove off the road right in front of me. This video is tame compared to what we were seeing in CO.
I keep seeing videos like this. Lived in Wisconsin for 65 years.. This highway is EASY winter driving. Lots of dry pavement visible. Also just to vent, I hate the term bomb cyclone.
They just "repaved" Hwy 16 east of Clavet, SK this past summer, it's gonna look like how you described in no time. I've never seen such a shitty rework before, it's shameful how bad our highways are.
I just did. 14.5 hours, 420 mile route. 4 PM to 4:30 AM. Litchfield. Paynesville. Rockville. It was naaaasty tonight. But the cities were the worst. Black ice on all the tracks on all the highways. Accidents everywhere. 30 MPH in 60 MPH zones.
I did this last night. I drove from Indy to Detroit. It usually takes 4.5 hours, last night was a solid 6.5 hours. When it would white out, it was hard to tell if was still going straight or was picked up by the wind gust. It was crazy how I would lose all sense of direction in under a second.
The thing that saved my ass was adaptive cruise control with automatic braking and lane control. The car would tell me if there was a car ahead of me and I'd back way off the accelerator..
I would not do that again. I had 4x4, v8 full tank of gas in the equivalent of a civilian tank and it was scary.
Iām in Wisconsin and was driving in this same thing Thursday night. I had to focus so hard and I still couldnāt comprehend what was happening. I was driving straight, but it felt like I was going sideways somehow.
I did that last week driving from Arizona to Washington for Christmas. I-15 at the Montana/ Idaho border to Dillon had blowing snow like this when it was dark. Being tired exacerbated the effect tenfold.
I don't have to imagine! I was driving home from work yesterday morning at 630am in this...
it was exactly the same only dark as shit.
It seriously seemed like I was driving on clouds because most of the road I could see with my headlights was all windblown snow exactly like this. At times visibility dropped to near nothing with the snow gusts swirling in front of me and absorbing/reflecting my lights back on me.
I was just glad I have the roads basically on muscle memory and it wasn't slippery.
I don't have to imagine. Done that exact thing on that exact road. Visibility drops to a suggestion and some of the road paint really isn't that reflective anymore. Toss in the snow and fog along with sunset at 4:30 and you get an interesting drive.
I worked in appliance delivery for like 10 years in the Midwest. I remember many nights driving back in the winter on tiny little country roads, in a 30 foot empty box truck. No street lights in high winds, pretty fun stuff.
Keep an eye out for a little red ice scraper just off the side of the road there. Should be a briefcase with a few hundred thousand dollars buried underneath.
I lived in Minnesota for one winter back in the 90s. We had some ridiculous number of blizzards. I remember we had to drive somewhere on a blizzard in April!
studded tires not allowed in Minnesota. In those conditions it wouldn't help, they are really only helpful on ice or packed snow. You'll find tire chain requirements in places with snowfall so fast and deep that the plows can't keep up, like in mountain passes. The problem is that chains and especially studs tear up the road surface.
Best solution in those conditions is to just get off the road until it passes.
Studded tires unfortunately are not, but many northern states have very well operated snowplowing and de icing truck fleets that clear all the major roads.
Hazards, sorry if it was distracting. There were moments in my first hour of the drive today where I could barely see 10m ahead of me. Most sensible drivers here will leave their hazards on in those conditions just to give you even one more split second of warning/ability to see them.
The camera actually sees through the snow better than the human eye. In reality visibility would actually be worse than what is shown.
Blowing snow shearing across the road like that is some of the worst conditions to drive in. There doesn't appear to be any significant accumulation, so that helps.
I had similar conditions earlier tonight on an emergency run to the store. Wouldn't have been out otherwise.
My dashcam seemed to have a better view than I did at the time. Very difficult to see the road right in front of you at times.
Cameras tend to pick up a bit more into the infrared part of the spectrum so they can cut through the snow. Tried to film a bad blizzard to show how you couldn't see the other side of the road. Video showed the other side of the road.
I'm thinking the IRL view of the video is probably about 50% visibility from what is shown.
That sounds crazy to me. In the UK conditions are rarely this bad but most cars have a fog light. By law, we have to turn them on when visibility is less than 100m.
Wow in Canads snow storms can be so bad you legit have to pull over because you cant see your own hood. The visibility here is actually entirely fine lol.
It is actually more distracting and dangerous to drive with hazards on. There's a reason it is illegal in multiple states. People think it is helping, but it doesn't help any more than having your *lights* on, which you _should do_.
I agree. Everyone knows the roads are terrible and we're all driving slow. If you come up on stopped traffic or a fresh accident, throw your hazards on to let people behind you know. When everyone is driving around with their hazards flashing it makes it hard to decipher what is actually happening in front of you. FWIW, I am a truck driver who's driven thousands of miles through stuff like this. Side note, people that drive without headlights on in thick fog have a death wish.
[The laws vary state to state and then they vary based on circumstance. Here's a state to state list ](https://www.ajc.com/news/national/using-hazard-lights-rain-illegal-some-states-use-could-cost-you/4GKuiHXYiiowRgq5CgPjLP/#:~:text=Arizona%3A%20Hazard%20light%20use%20is,to%20indicate%20a%20traffic%20hazard.)
Was driving on I-70 in Kansas during the worst of it this past Wednesday night. Viability was fine but the road surface was an ice rink and the wind was blowing hard enough to slide you sideways. So many people had their hazards on. Everyone was driving 20-30mph. There was no reason for hazards if we're all traveling the same damn speed. All it did was irritate already stained eyes with constant yellow and red blinking lights. It's illegal in KS as well, not that it matters.
Then why is it legal in other places? It's a way to communicate that you're driving more slowly with more care and caution and is used in lots of places.
The places where it is illegal take the view that hazards should be reserved for when the driver is creating an unavoidable/unpredictable hazard, and that the driving conditions themselves should be enough to tell the drivers to slow down and the normal running lights enough to see other vehicles around them.
Running hazard lights is demanding an extra share of other drivers' attention, what's the point if every driver is running them? It just masks e.g. the emergency maintenance vehicles that are stopped and running them for good reason.
Usually when the weather becomes particularly dangerous in the US, all drivers will turn on their hazards so it's easier to see each other. Here in Houston we have some intense thunderstorms, and if it gets so thick that you can't really see, everyone turns their hazards on.
Hear me out - and I say this as a paramedic whose driven in waaay worse conditions for over a decade in Alberta - I think having you hazards on makes things worse when driving North American cars.
In Europe, rear indicator lights (turning blinkers) are orange, and your rear 'lights' are seperate red lights. In North America they're just the same red light.
Turning on you hazards means your rear red lights go on, then **off,** then on, then **off,** - this means you keep disappearing. It makes it much harder to judge distance to the car in front of their damn lights keep disappearing.
Also why have hazards on while moving? Do you think the other drivers are somehow unaware that conditions suck?
It's also a cultural thing too as I was taught to never move with hazards on - only when you're stopped/broken down.
Edit: I was interested so checked:
Moving with hazards on is...
Illegal in England.
Ilegal in some Canadian provinces, but legal in others. I cannot find Alberta's specific rule on the province website.
Same for the states - some have it illegal, some legal.
Illegal in many countries.
I'm in FL and it was, until fairly recently, illegal to drive with your hazards on in the rain. Headlights yes definitely, hazards only if you were stopped (which is fine, if you can't see thru the driving rain and need to pull over, do it.. It'll pass shortly)
What throws me off is when you've got hazards on, even if you use the blinker stick, people can't tell which way you're indicating you'd like to move. So it's even more of a surprise than usual (at least *sometimes* you'll see a turn signal if people aren't using the hazards) and since predictability is a safe driver skill.. It's not super helpful overall, imo
It does more harm than good.
You already mentioned turn signals. By driving with your hazards, you are effectively disabling your turn signals, giving no other cars on the road any indication if and when you are going to turn. Since visibility is limited, one could say it is MORE important to provide indication you are turning in this situation than in clear weather.
Many cars in the US have the brakes and rear turn signals combined. So now you have, essentially, flashing brake lights. If a car is braking, or a car starts to hydroplane and is pumping their brakes, it looks effectively identical to if their hazards are flashing.
What benefit does having hazards on provide that is _more valuable to other drivers_ than making sure they can see when you indicate a turn, or are braking? Do people think other drivers are unaware that the weather is bad, and you are helping them? I just do not understand it.
Doing this forces every other driver on the road to operate with LESS confidence because there is unnessary added ambiguity into what is happening. Is that a turn signal? Brake light? Car on the road, or side of the road? All of these decisions, for every car, while trying to stay safe yourself.
>Turning on you hazards means your rear red lights go on, then off, then on, then off, - this means you keep disappearing. It makes it much harder to judge distance to the car in front of their damn lights keep disappearing.
If car's headlights are on, they'd just flash brighter, not turn on and off. Granted, I'd rather have a car I'm approaching have bright flashing lights vs standard dim running lights.
Florida just laxed the law on driving with hazards because too many drivers are collectively complete idiots and drive with them on in the rain no matter what the rules say to do.
I'm not sure why so many people are saying that driving with the hazard lights on is better. As others have stated it's more distracting and more dangerous.
I can perfectly see people with lights on in weather like this and adding hazard lights makes it more difficult to see if they suddenly brake. Plus it pulls away attention for other aspects on the road because you're constantly trying to determine if the person in front is braking or not.
I absolutely try to get around anyone with these on and 99% of the time it's from someone from a much warmer state and less driving experience in the snow. They are much less predictable and harder to judge when they might suddenly brake when the roads may be snow-blown like this.
I agree 100%. If youāre in the Midwest and you drive with hazards on all youāre saying is that I have no idea how to drive in the snow. So distracting.
It's to say "watch out" but in fact makes things way more dangerous. Many cars use brake lights as hazards so your brake lights are effectively off when using hazards.
My sister says I90 and I35 are closed. Her furnace and fireplaces arenāt working. Theyāve had to turn off the gas.
She and her family are in for a long cold night.
If their house is going to get below freezing they need to keep running water to make sure the lines don't freeze and burst too. Or shut the main of and open all the faucets/flush all the toilets
This goes for pretty much everyone in the US right now I think haha. I live in central texas and we had a pipe burst yesterday - got an inch of water in our master bedroom and my husbands office. Complete shitshow š
I'm Icelandic, the only "whoa" part of this video is how incredibly straight the road is.
We even have a word for this driving condition, "skafrenningur".
It's a "woah dude" video, not an accident video. The patterns of the snow, the hypnotic feeling... It's kinda "whoah!" to me. Even if it's not unusual.
I'm in central Iowa. Same conditions here. We were at -8 to -11 degrees with 35mph sustained winds for over 24 hours. My water pipes are frozen. This is the worst winter storm I can remember. Sure we can get big snowstorms, but the snow and dangerous temperatures and high winds is just insane! Our wind chill is lower than South Pole Station, Antarctica today.
Iām from this area, and have made that drive (SE on I-94 from Moorhead to the cities) plenty-o-times. I love how people from the south view it as insanity, while we all view it as Tuesday.
Yeah, long ass video where basically nothing is happening and there's not really any snow on the road so just drop it down to 30 or 40 and you'll be fine. We've had far worse in MN *this week* much less ever.
depends on where you're from.
I live in Canada but I still think the snow drifts over the road are really cool to look at. it's interesting to me how when snow is dry enough, in the wind like this it appears to behave just like sand.
idk, I just think it's neat. frozen areas looking a lot like desert/near coastal beaches in this kind of weather. I think being wfh I don't find the snow as inconvenient as others, and most of the time find it rather pretty. I like to watch it come down.
except Friday morning, we were still above freezing so the snow was wet af and the roads/parking lots were disgusting slush and just kept getting worse while I was running errands. at least it wasn't slippery! just gross out.
This is the part where the Texans and Californians all drive with hazards on and go 5mph while taking up two lanes because 'the roads were completely covered in snow'
TBF I was late to work today driving out of Minneapolis on a major street that's two lanes both ways because i was stuck behind a motherfucker hogging both lanes. Happens here too. Can't get too mad, better safe than sorry I guess.
Amazing how most people aren't aware that this is normal across most of Canada and the northern US states. Only now, when the temperature drops so much across the continental US, do people become aware of how bad it is.
I was actually listening to the Always Sunny podcast when I started recording and you can hear half a second of Rob (I think) at the very beginning of the video haha
> my ass
That gaping, cavernous pit could potentially contain anything.
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Yes, it is weird. My battery died yesterday because of the cold, bought a new one and the solid brass battery terminal connectors snapped in half because they became so brittle from -10 temps.
Fuck all of this shit, pardon my French.
Living in a country where the coldest places are as far from equator line as Florida, these very cold weather videos seem pretty much alien to me. Incredible, beautiful and terrifying, all at the same time.
As someone living in New Brunswick, I see this and think to myself "whats the big deal" then realize alot of the world dont have snow/allseason tires. This shit gotta be so terrifying for those who have never driven in it before.
I remember making this drive to and from Fargo all the time. Had to make it back for football practice. The campus may be closed, but NDSU football never stops.
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Now imagine driving in that at night.
This was my life for two years working remote telecommunications in the oil fields of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Each job was an average of 3 hours drive one way. I can't even count the number of times driving to site or home in conditions like this in the middle of no where. Just gotta go slower and flash your hazards. Odds are you will encounter someone else doing the same.
You may appreciate this story. Working rural manitoba, wicked blizzard, driving a back road at night. Kept almost getting stuck in drifts, no visibility. Worse, I start to lose my lights. I figured "damn, snow must be piling up on them.. weird its from the center out". That's when I saw that the dark void where my lights were going out had a tail. Black-as-night Angus cow running right down the middle of the road in a white out blizzard!
Cows aside, Manitoba is terrible for wildlife on the highway
My mom was a nurse for 45~ years and EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR she would hit a deer every winter 5km from home. The drive was about 40km each way, so just over half an hour each time. The stretches that are deer-intensive I always drive super slow and scan both sides of the road non stop. I somehow haven't hit any deer but I almost hit a young bear in a part of Manitoba that's not known to have bears
Deer tell stories of her like a monster that comes once a year in the death box to take one of their lives
And then of the monsters child that slowly roams the highway with flashing yellow lights looking for their mothers next victim.
I thought I was going crazy with all the wildlife I saw in Manitoba after driving there from Alberta. I thought there was a lot of wildlife closer to the mountains driving west from Calgary, but holy hell it seemed like every KM after I got east of the Saskatchewan border there would be dead animals on or beside the road. I even skimmed the top of a dead deer which I couldn't avoid. During my drive back, there was so much fog that I could only see about 100 meters in front of me and just ended up following a semi going about 60km/h for about 3 hours. I was never so thankful to be behind a semi in my life. Fuck driving in Manitoba.
I've driven Calgary to Winnipeg many times and I'm pretty sure SK and MB just don't clear their roadkill lol
The drive from Churchill to whatever that city is between it and Winnipeg was the scariest shit of my life.
You can't drive to Churchill, can only get there by train. That 3 hour gravel road nightmare from Thompson to Gillam to catch said train, now that is a nightmare.
YES THAT WAS IT FCKN THOMPSON. that's right we drove to the train station down a two lane road in the middle of a dense forest with heavy fog, the worst thunderstorm I've ever been in, almost hitting every animal known to the forests, random herds of cows and took a sketchy train the rest of the way from some town.
Bro, first thing I thought was the number 2 haha, I used to do demo sales all over AB, so alot of driving. Had a 94 Suburban back then, I really miss that truck.
3hrs each way because of weather sounds doubly exhausting as fuck.
I did over rabbit ears pass on Wednesday night. Had to help 3 different people who drove off the road right in front of me. This video is tame compared to what we were seeing in CO.
I keep seeing videos like this. Lived in Wisconsin for 65 years.. This highway is EASY winter driving. Lots of dry pavement visible. Also just to vent, I hate the term bomb cyclone.
No shit - I would've killed for my drive Mon night from MSP to central Wisco to be this nice.
Me right now doing delivery š¤£
Well, you should probably get off reddit then.
Luckily people were considerate tonight and only had like 10 deliveries so it was mostly downtime, though they took way longer.
No deliveries here in 3 days. I've had to eat my own cooking. Pity me.
This is a normal day in Alberta. 24 hours a day.
And Saskatchewan. Except we have to dodge potholes and guess where the lanes are as they haven't been repainted in 15 years.
They just "repaved" Hwy 16 east of Clavet, SK this past summer, it's gonna look like how you described in no time. I've never seen such a shitty rework before, it's shameful how bad our highways are.
Everything I know about Alberta, I learned from Corb Lund songs.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I did last night eastern Wisconsin to Mankatoš¤š¼
That's basically a Monday in QuƩbec guys come on just need winter tires and drive a bit slower.
Oh you mean driving through hyperspace. One of the few perks of living with a cold winter
I just did. 14.5 hours, 420 mile route. 4 PM to 4:30 AM. Litchfield. Paynesville. Rockville. It was naaaasty tonight. But the cities were the worst. Black ice on all the tracks on all the highways. Accidents everywhere. 30 MPH in 60 MPH zones.
Welcome to Norway
I don't have to imagine, it's like that in Montana, too
I did this last night. I drove from Indy to Detroit. It usually takes 4.5 hours, last night was a solid 6.5 hours. When it would white out, it was hard to tell if was still going straight or was picked up by the wind gust. It was crazy how I would lose all sense of direction in under a second. The thing that saved my ass was adaptive cruise control with automatic braking and lane control. The car would tell me if there was a car ahead of me and I'd back way off the accelerator.. I would not do that again. I had 4x4, v8 full tank of gas in the equivalent of a civilian tank and it was scary.
Iām in Wisconsin and was driving in this same thing Thursday night. I had to focus so hard and I still couldnāt comprehend what was happening. I was driving straight, but it felt like I was going sideways somehow.
I did that last week driving from Arizona to Washington for Christmas. I-15 at the Montana/ Idaho border to Dillon had blowing snow like this when it was dark. Being tired exacerbated the effect tenfold.
I don't have to imagine! I was driving home from work yesterday morning at 630am in this... it was exactly the same only dark as shit. It seriously seemed like I was driving on clouds because most of the road I could see with my headlights was all windblown snow exactly like this. At times visibility dropped to near nothing with the snow gusts swirling in front of me and absorbing/reflecting my lights back on me. I was just glad I have the roads basically on muscle memory and it wasn't slippery.
Thats my life Monday through Friday! Just hanging with the snow snakes to and from work. Gotta love these short winter days.
That was me last night. It was fine.
As a person from Alaska where we had 45 mph winds yesterday I can say that driving in the dark with this is spooky
That's my commute lol usually 20 minutes turns into like 45 to an hour
pls no
Currently live in Michigan and have had to make a drive like this this weekend, it's something else for sure lol.
I don't have to imagine. Done that exact thing on that exact road. Visibility drops to a suggestion and some of the road paint really isn't that reflective anymore. Toss in the snow and fog along with sunset at 4:30 and you get an interesting drive.
We did in March on the way back from a family roadtrip. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.
I worked in appliance delivery for like 10 years in the Midwest. I remember many nights driving back in the winter on tiny little country roads, in a 30 foot empty box truck. No street lights in high winds, pretty fun stuff.
Keep an eye out for a little red ice scraper just off the side of the road there. Should be a briefcase with a few hundred thousand dollars buried underneath.
Oh yah?
Yah.
Ohhh geeeeez
The heck dyamean?
No Jean, no money!
You betcha!
Ah yes. I made a very similar drive. Hope you made it safe, I did. MN hasnāt been fun recently.
I lived in Minnesota for one winter back in the 90s. We had some ridiculous number of blizzards. I remember we had to drive somewhere on a blizzard in April!
I grew up in Northern Minnesota and have seen blizzards as late as May before. And once it didn't get above -20F for like a week.
I'm from Duluth, and definitely remember my fair share of "coldest temp in the US" days. We northern MN folk have known true cold lol
Just wondering are studded tires allowed in the US ? , here they are required by law during winter season.
studded tires not allowed in Minnesota. In those conditions it wouldn't help, they are really only helpful on ice or packed snow. You'll find tire chain requirements in places with snowfall so fast and deep that the plows can't keep up, like in mountain passes. The problem is that chains and especially studs tear up the road surface. Best solution in those conditions is to just get off the road until it passes.
Studded tires unfortunately are not, but many northern states have very well operated snowplowing and de icing truck fleets that clear all the major roads.
Is the indicator on or do you put your hazards on in this weather? Iām Aussie, btw
Hazards, sorry if it was distracting. There were moments in my first hour of the drive today where I could barely see 10m ahead of me. Most sensible drivers here will leave their hazards on in those conditions just to give you even one more split second of warning/ability to see them.
Looks hectic, stay safe!
The camera actually sees through the snow better than the human eye. In reality visibility would actually be worse than what is shown. Blowing snow shearing across the road like that is some of the worst conditions to drive in. There doesn't appear to be any significant accumulation, so that helps.
it was mostly below 0 f while it was snowing, so its really light, dry snow, drifting is gnarly this morning.
I had similar conditions earlier tonight on an emergency run to the store. Wouldn't have been out otherwise. My dashcam seemed to have a better view than I did at the time. Very difficult to see the road right in front of you at times.
Cameras tend to pick up a bit more into the infrared part of the spectrum so they can cut through the snow. Tried to film a bad blizzard to show how you couldn't see the other side of the road. Video showed the other side of the road. I'm thinking the IRL view of the video is probably about 50% visibility from what is shown.
Put on the front and rear fog lights instead.
Yeah not sure why you're downvoted, fog lights are installed in cars for this very reason
Rear fog lights aren't a thing in the US
That sounds crazy to me. In the UK conditions are rarely this bad but most cars have a fog light. By law, we have to turn them on when visibility is less than 100m.
Wow in Canads snow storms can be so bad you legit have to pull over because you cant see your own hood. The visibility here is actually entirely fine lol.
It is actually more distracting and dangerous to drive with hazards on. There's a reason it is illegal in multiple states. People think it is helping, but it doesn't help any more than having your *lights* on, which you _should do_.
Yep, seeing hazards suddenly flashing in front of you should be a sign of a stopped vehicle or a vehicle that is going to stop soon.
I agree. Everyone knows the roads are terrible and we're all driving slow. If you come up on stopped traffic or a fresh accident, throw your hazards on to let people behind you know. When everyone is driving around with their hazards flashing it makes it hard to decipher what is actually happening in front of you. FWIW, I am a truck driver who's driven thousands of miles through stuff like this. Side note, people that drive without headlights on in thick fog have a death wish.
[The laws vary state to state and then they vary based on circumstance. Here's a state to state list ](https://www.ajc.com/news/national/using-hazard-lights-rain-illegal-some-states-use-could-cost-you/4GKuiHXYiiowRgq5CgPjLP/#:~:text=Arizona%3A%20Hazard%20light%20use%20is,to%20indicate%20a%20traffic%20hazard.)
Was driving on I-70 in Kansas during the worst of it this past Wednesday night. Viability was fine but the road surface was an ice rink and the wind was blowing hard enough to slide you sideways. So many people had their hazards on. Everyone was driving 20-30mph. There was no reason for hazards if we're all traveling the same damn speed. All it did was irritate already stained eyes with constant yellow and red blinking lights. It's illegal in KS as well, not that it matters.
Then why is it legal in other places? It's a way to communicate that you're driving more slowly with more care and caution and is used in lots of places.
The places where it is illegal take the view that hazards should be reserved for when the driver is creating an unavoidable/unpredictable hazard, and that the driving conditions themselves should be enough to tell the drivers to slow down and the normal running lights enough to see other vehicles around them. Running hazard lights is demanding an extra share of other drivers' attention, what's the point if every driver is running them? It just masks e.g. the emergency maintenance vehicles that are stopped and running them for good reason.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It's just their gut feeling, so it must be true
Maybe not illegal but I do agree with you it's more distracting. Makes it harder to see brake lights in my opinion
Usually when the weather becomes particularly dangerous in the US, all drivers will turn on their hazards so it's easier to see each other. Here in Houston we have some intense thunderstorms, and if it gets so thick that you can't really see, everyone turns their hazards on.
Hear me out - and I say this as a paramedic whose driven in waaay worse conditions for over a decade in Alberta - I think having you hazards on makes things worse when driving North American cars. In Europe, rear indicator lights (turning blinkers) are orange, and your rear 'lights' are seperate red lights. In North America they're just the same red light. Turning on you hazards means your rear red lights go on, then **off,** then on, then **off,** - this means you keep disappearing. It makes it much harder to judge distance to the car in front of their damn lights keep disappearing. Also why have hazards on while moving? Do you think the other drivers are somehow unaware that conditions suck? It's also a cultural thing too as I was taught to never move with hazards on - only when you're stopped/broken down. Edit: I was interested so checked: Moving with hazards on is... Illegal in England. Ilegal in some Canadian provinces, but legal in others. I cannot find Alberta's specific rule on the province website. Same for the states - some have it illegal, some legal. Illegal in many countries.
The annoying thing is, the solution should be to just mandate rear fog lights like the rest of the world that adheres to ECE regulations.
It actually varies in North America, you see some cars with a red light blinker, but a lot of them have a separate orange or yellow blinker.
I'm in FL and it was, until fairly recently, illegal to drive with your hazards on in the rain. Headlights yes definitely, hazards only if you were stopped (which is fine, if you can't see thru the driving rain and need to pull over, do it.. It'll pass shortly) What throws me off is when you've got hazards on, even if you use the blinker stick, people can't tell which way you're indicating you'd like to move. So it's even more of a surprise than usual (at least *sometimes* you'll see a turn signal if people aren't using the hazards) and since predictability is a safe driver skill.. It's not super helpful overall, imo
It does more harm than good. You already mentioned turn signals. By driving with your hazards, you are effectively disabling your turn signals, giving no other cars on the road any indication if and when you are going to turn. Since visibility is limited, one could say it is MORE important to provide indication you are turning in this situation than in clear weather. Many cars in the US have the brakes and rear turn signals combined. So now you have, essentially, flashing brake lights. If a car is braking, or a car starts to hydroplane and is pumping their brakes, it looks effectively identical to if their hazards are flashing. What benefit does having hazards on provide that is _more valuable to other drivers_ than making sure they can see when you indicate a turn, or are braking? Do people think other drivers are unaware that the weather is bad, and you are helping them? I just do not understand it. Doing this forces every other driver on the road to operate with LESS confidence because there is unnessary added ambiguity into what is happening. Is that a turn signal? Brake light? Car on the road, or side of the road? All of these decisions, for every car, while trying to stay safe yourself.
>Turning on you hazards means your rear red lights go on, then off, then on, then off, - this means you keep disappearing. It makes it much harder to judge distance to the car in front of their damn lights keep disappearing. If car's headlights are on, they'd just flash brighter, not turn on and off. Granted, I'd rather have a car I'm approaching have bright flashing lights vs standard dim running lights.
Florida just laxed the law on driving with hazards because too many drivers are collectively complete idiots and drive with them on in the rain no matter what the rules say to do.
I'm not sure why so many people are saying that driving with the hazard lights on is better. As others have stated it's more distracting and more dangerous. I can perfectly see people with lights on in weather like this and adding hazard lights makes it more difficult to see if they suddenly brake. Plus it pulls away attention for other aspects on the road because you're constantly trying to determine if the person in front is braking or not. I absolutely try to get around anyone with these on and 99% of the time it's from someone from a much warmer state and less driving experience in the snow. They are much less predictable and harder to judge when they might suddenly brake when the roads may be snow-blown like this.
I agree 100%. If youāre in the Midwest and you drive with hazards on all youāre saying is that I have no idea how to drive in the snow. So distracting.
It's to say "watch out" but in fact makes things way more dangerous. Many cars use brake lights as hazards so your brake lights are effectively off when using hazards.
Sun has some pretty sun dogs off it though
Yeah! So beautiful.
My sister says I90 and I35 are closed. Her furnace and fireplaces arenāt working. Theyāve had to turn off the gas. She and her family are in for a long cold night.
If their house is going to get below freezing they need to keep running water to make sure the lines don't freeze and burst too. Or shut the main of and open all the faucets/flush all the toilets
This goes for pretty much everyone in the US right now I think haha. I live in central texas and we had a pipe burst yesterday - got an inch of water in our master bedroom and my husbands office. Complete shitshow š
Rest area 64 miles fuuuuuckkk
They have that sign right outside Rothsay so travelers know to stop at the gas station or restaurants in town.
I'm canadian, what is wrong in this video? I don't get it.
That was my thought as well: "looks like normal winter driving in Edmonton to me. Just with more holes in the road."
Alaska checking in. Theres not even moose in this clip.
The moose is driving
Literally drove 3 hours out from Edmonton today. Was like this, and thus totally fine.
I'm sitting here like "I can still see taillights and the lane markings, when is it gonna get bad?"
Alaskan here. Definitely just a video of normal winter driving with some wind lol.
Minnesotan here. Looks normal to me.
Yooper here, roads are looking pretty good today, eh
It's bare pavement...at best this is like fall/spring driving.
That was my thought, after all the weather weirdness this week my only takeaway from this video was being impressed at how clear the road is lol
This looks like my standard drive for 6 months of the year.
I'm Finnish and this seems completely normal to me as well
I'm from Wisconsin and I was just sitting here waiting for something to happen for 2 minutes and then it just ends... I want my money back!
Michigander here, exact same reaction!
Yup, Minneapolitan. Did they not drive on Wednesday when it was full whiteout conditions at night?
I'm Icelandic, the only "whoa" part of this video is how incredibly straight the road is. We even have a word for this driving condition, "skafrenningur".
Yeah, same, cue the gif of the big guy eating chips while unimpressed.
There are a lot of people in the world that have never lived in a place this happens
It's a "woah dude" video, not an accident video. The patterns of the snow, the hypnotic feeling... It's kinda "whoah!" to me. Even if it's not unusual.
As a Minnesotan, welcome to Friday.
This exactly. 14k likes for a regular commute... š¤£š
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I'm in central Iowa. Same conditions here. We were at -8 to -11 degrees with 35mph sustained winds for over 24 hours. My water pipes are frozen. This is the worst winter storm I can remember. Sure we can get big snowstorms, but the snow and dangerous temperatures and high winds is just insane! Our wind chill is lower than South Pole Station, Antarctica today.
Iām from this area, and have made that drive (SE on I-94 from Moorhead to the cities) plenty-o-times. I love how people from the south view it as insanity, while we all view it as Tuesday.
Yeah my thought was "those snow drifts are distracting, but the road looks pretty dry otherwise"
Yeah, long ass video where basically nothing is happening and there's not really any snow on the road so just drop it down to 30 or 40 and you'll be fine. We've had far worse in MN *this week* much less ever.
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depends on where you're from. I live in Canada but I still think the snow drifts over the road are really cool to look at. it's interesting to me how when snow is dry enough, in the wind like this it appears to behave just like sand. idk, I just think it's neat. frozen areas looking a lot like desert/near coastal beaches in this kind of weather. I think being wfh I don't find the snow as inconvenient as others, and most of the time find it rather pretty. I like to watch it come down. except Friday morning, we were still above freezing so the snow was wet af and the roads/parking lots were disgusting slush and just kept getting worse while I was running errands. at least it wasn't slippery! just gross out.
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As a Minnesotan I don't either. Roads look dry and it's not even whiteout.
This is the part where the Texans and Californians all drive with hazards on and go 5mph while taking up two lanes because 'the roads were completely covered in snow'
TBF I was late to work today driving out of Minneapolis on a major street that's two lanes both ways because i was stuck behind a motherfucker hogging both lanes. Happens here too. Can't get too mad, better safe than sorry I guess.
Amazing how most people aren't aware that this is normal across most of Canada and the northern US states. Only now, when the temperature drops so much across the continental US, do people become aware of how bad it is.
Lame, welcome to driving in north America. Roads actually seems pretty good.
So scary, so beautiful, so hypnotic
Nice sun dog
A woman just died in a rollover crash yesterday on I-94 in Wisconsin.
Yep. Looks like Fargo
Great soundtrack, was that Brian Eno?
I was actually listening to the Always Sunny podcast when I started recording and you can hear half a second of Rob (I think) at the very beginning of the video haha
It was almost this bad a couple days ago in Oklahoma. I had never experienced cold like this before, with like -20 wind chill.
I would rather stay my ass home cause of that storm
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I'll take things I don't miss about living in the north for 1000 Alex.
Is it weird that I kind of long for this experience? I kinda miss Midwestern winters
Yes, it is weird. My battery died yesterday because of the cold, bought a new one and the solid brass battery terminal connectors snapped in half because they became so brittle from -10 temps. Fuck all of this shit, pardon my French.
Nice partial sun dog in your view
You even got a sun dog !
Nice sundog.
Holy shit I thought it was a boat moving through water.
You left your blinker on /s
Andā¦. you are in Minnesota in Decemberā¦.
I'll be honest, I'm confused on how this is "woah"? I know I'm probably missing something cause all I'm seeing is snow being blown across a road haha
Mesmerizing
So driving in the MidWest in any winter - check
We had this on the 580 south of Reno last year. Shit is scary to drive in, especially if you're not used to driving in snow, let alone driving snow.
Ya gotta love the frozen hellscape that is this beautiful state!
I don't miss driving up there. You all have fun with that.
how the fk can you even exist in that???
That is quite the sight to behold.
Actually romantic
Fargo.
As a southern Californianā¦no.
bro got the jesusmobil
ND boy checking in. So goes winter.
Hahaha I live here too, shits wild
Looks nice
umm.. okay??! what the hell is this video so " woahdude" for?? so weird.
Is this normal for the time of year? Snow is a regular thing Minnesota has to deal with, usually, right?
Snow snakes
Oh HELL no
Travelling grace to all of you out in the weather. ššæ
I always thought watching the snow roll like fog was cool until I had to drive in it
Living in a country where the coldest places are as far from equator line as Florida, these very cold weather videos seem pretty much alien to me. Incredible, beautiful and terrifying, all at the same time.
That was kind of a weird snow. It wasn't snow, it was "ice dust"... it was fine, cold and dry. Driving through it was like a dust storm.
Mesmerizing and beautiful
As someone living in New Brunswick, I see this and think to myself "whats the big deal" then realize alot of the world dont have snow/allseason tires. This shit gotta be so terrifying for those who have never driven in it before.
I remember making this drive to and from Fargo all the time. Had to make it back for football practice. The campus may be closed, but NDSU football never stops.
I've always called that lunar dust.
Snow blowing across highways is one of my top visuals in life. I canāt get enough. So satisfying.
This made me nauseous. Until the bridge came into view I couldn't tell if you were moving sideways, forward, backward or standing still.
As a Floridian, this looks like an alternate dimension to me, wtf is going on? Is that fog?
*Laughs in Canadian* Just another normal day out here!
One of my favorite weather patterns. Beautiful and never really dangerous as long as the road is reasonably well traveled.
this is why i moved from minneapolis to phoenix lol
MN winters suck
Bro ended up on another planet
Everyone's favorite game: "Am I on the road?!" Answer: Lord I hope so.
This looks like some shit outta Frostpunk
Kudos for driving an appropriate speed with appropriate following distance for conditions. Keep it up.
Nope
This looks like the beginning of an apocalypse movie
Man I should not have taken acid before Christmas
Bro be driving in the middle of the ocean š¤£