It snowed today. Well, it was just teensy flakes mixed in with rain early this afternoon in Philadelphia. Ryan and I left Philadelphia (Alyssa is having a sleepover at Dan’s aunt’s house for the weekend) around 3:15pm, and by the time I made it to a mall somewhere past the Upper Darby/Broomall area it was all snow, the big, fat, wet flakes that feel like raindrops. I was in the mall for about an hour. First I went to Victoria’s Secret, where a $31 purchase (body wash and a Christmas present for my brother-in-law’s girlfriend) came to $9 (SWEET!) because of coupons. Then I went over to Lane Bryant to spend a $50 gift card that the company sent me so I could review some of their holiday new arrivals. While I was there I practically weeped with joy when I realized that my normal shirt sizes were too BIG, and I had to go grab smaller sizes. Then it was into Target (yes, this mall had a connected Target… how awesome is that?!) for a package of bubble wrap.
We left the mall right around 5:00pm, and my GPS estimated that the drive home would take 57 minutes. Well, the visibility was shit at that point. The snow was beginning to lay on vehicles and on grass, and the snowflakes were thick and coming down fast and almost sideways, directly at my windshield. I think my top speed was about 40 on the highways, and once I reached more rural routes it dropped to 25-30. I’m all for going the speed limit, but when the falling snow and fog is so bad that I can barely see the lane markers and vehicles in front of me? And lets not forget the fact that Penndot slacked on pre-treating and clearing the roads. Ugh. Seriously, what the hell is it with SUV drivers thinking that because they’re in an SUV that has 4-wheel drive they’re immune to getting into an accident? I was tailgated on three separate occasions by dickwads in SUVs, and on the last two occasions I was on a rural road that allowed passing, so there was absolutely no excuse to ride my ass when I’m going 30 with my damn hazards on. I know that at SUV height the car seats in my car are perfectly visible… are these people really surprised that I would be so cautious?
All in all, it took me a nervewracking hour and a half to get home.
I would seriously not have felt bad at all if any of those assholes wound up slipping and flying off the road, and perhaps taking a tumble or two (unless kids were in their vehicles — kids shouldn’t have to suffer because of dumb ass parents). It’s an SUV, not a massive truck that weighs too much to slide on snow and slush. Speaking of which, I’m pretty sure I saw at least one Penndot truck that slid off the road last year… what does that tell you??
I’ll openly admit I am one of those SUV drivers. People in PA cannot drive in the snow! They freak out over the dusting we got yesterday like its the end of the world and everyone is going to die so I need to go 5 miles an hour on a road that not only has been cleared, but also has about 3 days of salt on it! I HATE how people drive in this state whether its snow or rain. They just don’t know how to!
Maybe it’s because I’m from New England and I’m used to a foot of snow on the ground going 50 on a twisty-turny narrow New England road and thinking nothing of it…
I think some people with four wheel drive believe that there is a four wheel drive fairy that goes around sprinkling their tires with magic no-slip-will-save-your-dumbass-from-your-own-driving dust. Why else would they drive like morons despite obvious hazardous conditions?
@Kate: I agree that there’s no reason to drive slower than molasses on a treated, cleared road. But I can assure you the roads I was driving on were not pre-treated nor cleared. We also got about 3″ worth of snow on Saturday evening. It was a mess!
We got a bit of snow where I live. But I live in Mississippi so it wasn’t that much (maybe 1 to 2 in) but it was nice while it lasted. It had rained the day before so most of it didn’t stick to the roads so they weren’t that messy.
I was one of those crazed SUV drivers, but have since settled down.. especially now with children in the vehicle with me. Plus I think it helped that I got into an accident once while driving in the snow/ice!