How to Drive When it’s Raining or Snowing Outside

I live in Arizona,  in the great Southwest of the United States. If there is one thing that most drivers of southwestern states seem to have in common, it must be a marked ignorance of how to operate a car safely in either rainy or snowy conditions. If you live in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, or other states in this part of the country, you likely know what I’m talking about: cars driving into flooded washes, and being swept away or being flooded themselves, requiring expensive rescues from Law enforcement or fire departments. Vehicles in ditches on the side of the road due to sliding off the road because they either braked too late or turned too hard on a wet or icy road. Or the numerous fender-benders that are visible on streets or freeways anytime the weather turns bad. The reason there are so many accidents in these conditions, and how to avoid them, is the subject of today’s article.

First off, let’s tackle why the accidents occur. They occur because of one fundamental reason: people do not change how they drive when the weather turns bad. If you take a look at the way most people drive when it’s sunny and bright, and compare it to when they drive when it’s rainy or snowy, you will notice one glaring difference: the fact that there is no difference, usually! Most people accelerate, brake, and turn when it’s raining or snowing just the same as they would if the sun was shining and the road was dry. This is the major factor that contributes to accidents and getting stuck when the weather turns bad. The reason people don’t change how they drive in bad weather, in my opinion, is that people do not respect the weather.  Look at our cars now, they are virtually accident proof, they can park themselves, and they have lane departure warnings and automatic braking. A person could be forgiven for believing that they really don’t have to focus anymore when it comes to driving. It is as if those scenes from the Will Smith movie, I Robot, have almost come to pass. If you’ve never seen that movie, it is about a future time where robots serve humanity in great quantities, and how they go wrong. Why that is pertinent here is that the cars in this world drive themselves. People get in their cars, tell the car where to go, and then kick back, eat, sleep, read the paper, or do anything except drive. While that’s the future in this movie, that future is not too far away, with companies such as Google and Uber working on autonomous (self-driving) cars.

But why is the fact that we are coming closer and closer to autonomous cars an issue? Simply because when we no longer feel we need to focus on the roads or driving as much as we used to, we lose respect, and fear, for the road and what we drive in. This happens when it is sunny, and it happens when the weather is bad. Drivers don’t worry about having to focus on the need to increase their braking distance during the rain and snow, because they have Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS) and autonomous braking, so the car will do the work for them. They don’t have to worry about accidents, because the car they drive was a top safety pick from the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety). In short, drivers seem to feel today that the focus that should be given to the road, which needs to be heightened during bad weather, is not necessary. The wrecks and the flooded cars that litter the landscape during a storm state differently, however.

OK, so the cause of this situation is a lack of respect for bad weather, and an overconfidence in what the car can do. So what is the cure? The cure consists of three parts: 1. Slow Down 2. Treat every acceleration, turn, and braking event as if it were happening in an ice rink. 3. Respect the power of the weather and the fact that the road has much less traction than it does when it’s sunny out. Let’s take these one at a time.

Slow down. This is the major cause of most accidents by far. My standard rule of thumb is to drop my speed anywhere from five to ten miles per hour anytime the weather gets bad. If visibility drops to a bad level, I reduce speed more, or I don’t drive.  The reason this helps is because bad weather takes away not only visibility, but traction. The road surface you drive on when the weather is bad has much less traction than it does when it is dry out, due to water, snow, or ice being on the road surface, and those elements lessening the traction tires get from the road. As a result, slowing down allows your car to grip the road better, and it allows you to have more reaction time to deal with unexpected events. And as I said already, there will be people spinning out, going in to ditches, or going through red lights and Stop signs because they aren’t changing how they drive. By slowing down, you give yourself more time to react to sudden emergencies, and you give your car more room to stop or get out of the way if you need to react to another driver’s mistake. Just make sure that as you slow down, you don’t forget about your rear view mirror. Remember, the other drivers aren’t going to slow down, so you could have a situation coming up behind you due to a bad driver. Keep your focus both forward and backwards, and get off the road if you need to due to bad weather, or a bad driver behind you.

Every acceleration in rainy or snowy conditions needs to be treated as if you are driving on ice. This means that whenever you push the gas pedal down, press the brake pedal, or turn the steering wheel, you must do it very smoothly. No jerky motions. No sudden starts or stops. Remember, your tires are not as firmly in contact with the road when it’s raining or snowing because there is either water on the road, or snow, or both depending on what’s going on. If you’ve ever gone ice skating, you’ve likely seen someone fall down and slide on the ice for awhile. The same thing will happen to your car if you do not appreciate the lowered traction available to your car in these conditions. Making sure that accelerating, braking, and turning are all down as if you were on ice will make sure that you are able to operate the car with as much control as possible because you won’t be causing your car to lose traction by being too aggressive. It also helps you by making you have the mindset that, at any time, your car could lose traction and slide. This will be invaluable in case you do hit a patch of ice or a puddle that makes you slide. Since you are already in the mindset that it could happen, you will be able to take corrective action with the car, and not be caught off guard like most people are who don’t modify their driving practices in bad weather.

Rain, snow, fog, any sort of inclement weather has killed thousands of drivers throughout the years. Yet none of that is the weather’s fault. People die in inclement weather because they don’t respect it. People tend to drive in snow as if there is no possibility of ice being on the road. People drive in the rain as if the possibility of hitting a big puddle or a wash and damaging the engine can’t happen. People drive in the fog not thinking of the fact that maybe the fog will make it hard to see lane lines and that at any time, another driver, or they themselves, could stray in to another lane because the fog is too thick to allow the driver to see the road clearly.  Drivers who do not see these possibilities do not see them because they don’t appreciate the weather. If you need proof of the danger of the weather, ask any sailor or commercial fisherman. In fact in Gloucester, Massachusetts, one of America’s first ports, there is a plaque and a statue in the town which memorializes all those sailors from Gloucester who have died at sea since the 1600s. The number of men who have died, according to the plaque, is over 5,300, almost all of them due to weather in some way, shape, or form.  That should be testimony enough to the need to respect nature, and not take its dangers for granted. Until next time….

Let it Be....

No, you haven't mistakenly stumbled upon a blog for a Beatle's fan page, but this does have something to do with the song, Let it Be. That song, in case you aren't familiar with it, is a song that extols the virtues of not taking anything too seriously, and that no matter how bad things are right now, they will get better. Here are some lyrics from the song:

And though the night is cloudy,

There is still a light that shines on me,

Shine until tomorrow, let it be.

O, I wake up to the sound of music

Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be

Let it be, let it be,

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

This part of the song, from the third stanza, details that no matter how dark the night, light is still there, and that no matter how tough the night, there is still sweet music to wake up to to fulfill your spirit. In short, nothing bad lasts forever, and there is always hope.

I was thinking about this today when something happened to me, something that I'd usually be pretty upset with, but today handled much differently. Today coming back from the store, I had an experience that reminded me of how important it is to sometimes just let it be and not stress about things. I was driving in the left lane, approaching the left turn lane for the side street that would take me to my home. About an eighth of a mile before the side street, a painter's truck pulls out from a convenience store on the left side of the road, and turns in to the center left turn lane. Initially, I thought he would pull in there and either wait, or try to speed up, pull in to the left lane, and get in front of me. He started to speed up just a bit, then slowed, and traveled in the center left turn lane about ten miles an hour slower than the speed limit. He knew the center left turn lane turned in to the left turn lane, so I'm assuming he thought why get in to traffic when he had to turn anyways? So he stayed in that lane, going slowly, and made his way in to the left turn lane. I was also going to turn left as I said earlier, but because of having to slow down due to not only not knowing what he was going to do, but also needing to turn myself, I ended up missing the green light as my slow moving painter friend slowly made his way to the end of the left turn lane. By this point, the light was yellow, then red, and both me and him were waiting for the light to change. There is no doubt in my mind had he not gotten in to the center lane, but waited for me to go by and then turned, I would have made that light, and not been held up.

For a brief instance, I was annoyed at the selfishness of this driver, but then it occurred to me that being held up was not going to be a big deal. I wasn't rushing home for any reason, I wasn't going to be late for anything, and the light was going to change soon, and both of us would be able to go. In that moment I realized that what many drivers tend to get upset over: slow drivers, being cut off, drivers not using turn signals, minor things like that, are really nothing to get upset over. yes, I would have liked to have made the light, I would have liked it had the painter been a bit more considerate, but his actions might have cost me four minutes of time. Nothing worth getting my blood pressure up or doing something stupid like flipping him off or tailgating him to show how upset I was.

No matter what happens while driving, whether it is something that nature does, something that another driver does, or something dumb that you as a driver has done, there is, as the song says, still a light that shines on you.  Nothing is as bad as it seems, and no action from another driver, no matter how careless or seemingly harmful, can ruin your day if you don't let it. My advice to you is to let things be. If a driver is driving slow, be calm and considerate of that person. Maybe they are driving terrified. Maybe they know that if they do the speed limit, damage could be done to their car so they are going slowly to prevent that. Maybe something bad happened in their life, and they are driving and processing that at the same time. If a person pulls out in front of you, maybe they are having an argument with their kids, and not totally focused on what they are doing. Sure, they should be doing a better job of driving, but emotions do tend to take over, and when they run high, a lot of times drivers don't make the best decisions. Maybe that person who is tailgating you just got laid off or his wife left him. I can go on and on with the situations, as I'm sure you can, too, if you take a minute and think about it. But whatever it is that another driver has done to you, it isn't worth stressing out and making your mood, and your day, rotten. Take the Beatle's advice, and just Let it  Be. You will be calmer, and happier, in the long run if you do. Until next time...

Got Gas?

At first glance, writing an article about something as mundane as pumping gas might seem a bit unnecessary. After all, we do it so often that we rarely stop to think about it while we do it. Instead, we are on our phones, looking around, or talking to other people while we pump. But that can be a huge mistake. In a New York Times article from 2006, it is said that almost 200 fires while pumping gas occurring during the time period of 1992 through 2006. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/automobiles/27STATIC.html). To put this in a bit of perspective, you must also take in to account  that, according to the The Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing, a membership group for convenience and gas stores, claims that 40 million Americans fuel up on a daily basis. So the danger is not that great, but if you are that one person who has a situation while pumping gas, you won’t be concerned with the fact that the odds are in your favor, you will just know that something’s wrong. Let’s see how to pump gas in such a way as to make sure it’s safe.

First off, the basics: Know where your gas filler is (the pipe you pump the gas in to). If you have a car built within the last ten or fifteen years, you can usually find it by the arrow that is near your gas gauge, like this gauge:

 The left arrow on the above gauge tells you that your gas filler is on the left side of the car, so that is the side of the pump you will pull up to to fuel up. On an older car, you will simply have to memorize it, or do it the old fashioned way: get out and look! Once you know where the filler is, pull up to the proper side and stop your car. Put the car in park, and turn the car off. I don’t care if the temperature is 100 above or 100 below 0. You never, ever, ever, ever fill a car up with the engine running. We will get in to why in just a bit. Once the car is off, and you are at the proper pump, get out of the car and lock it behind you. This is very important because of a recent trend called “sliding,” which occurs almost universally to women(it’s almost always a woman because men don’t carry purses, they carry wallets, and those are much harder to steal without someone noticing!). Sliders will pull up to a car that is pumping gas, open the front passenger door, and take the woman’s purse while she is pumping gas. If you think this is too far-fetched to be real, take a look at how observant you are the next time you pump gas. If you are like most people, you are staring at the pump, staring off in to space, or looking at your cell phone. Few people are as aware of their surroundings as they should be to prevent sliding. Locking all your doors makes sure that sliding is not something you need to worry about.

Ok, so you are at the proper pump, you have exited the vehicle (with wallet or purse in hand, of course), and now you have locked the vehicle. Now you have a choice. If you are paying with a debit or credit card, you can pay at the pump. If you go this route, be very observant of the people around you. You will need to enter your PIN if it’s a debit card, and if someone sees your PIN, it won’t take much for them to attempt to grab the card and used it, so make sure you put your hand over the number keypad when entering your PIN. This is good advice whenever you have to submit your PIN, to be honest.

One question that might come up now is what are the advantages and disadvantages of going inside the store to pay. I would say the advantages of going inside are primarily safety related. If you don’t feel safe pumping gas with the people who are around you, you can always lock your car doors, go inside, pretend to shop, and then when you notice that the people that spooked you are gone, you can use your debit card or cash to pay for your gas inside the store, then pump it. Whatever you decide, don’t feel bad about going inside. The main thing that gets most people in trouble is not listening to that still, small voice that talks to them all the time. If it’s saying go inside, then go inside. Safety is always better than pride any day.

Gas has been paid for, now it’s time to pump. This is usually the easiest thing about getting gas. You choose your option (usually ranging from unleaded, the cheapest gas, to premium, the most expensive), push the  button, and when the pump tells you to, release the pump handle from the cradle, push or pull the lever up, put the pump into the filler, and pump your gas. (By the way, don’t get premium gas unless your car specifically calls for it. Doing so is pretty much the same thing as serving prime rib to your dogs instead of just stew meat. Sure, your dogs will love it, but it’s more money than you really need to spend).

You’re pumping now, and this is where the danger can really come in to play. As stated in the first paragraph, there have been almost 200 static-related fires since 1992. Almost all of these happened because the person pumping gas was leaning against the car, rubbed up against it or shuffled their feet while the went to get back in the car, then got out, and touched the metal of the pump. This caused a spark, as really heavy static shocks will do (and most readers will be familiar with this: during the winter or any time of the year in certain houses, you will get shocked by touching anything metal. The stronger the shock, the more electricity you will see, and the more pain you will feel). If the static discharge is strong, and the static is discharged right by gas fumes, you can imagine it would not take long to catch those sparks on fire. So to avoid this, stay outside of your car while you are fueling. It doesn’t take the long to fill your tank, and you want to be outside to watch what is going on. I find the time while I fuel to be a good time to walk around my car and check the car out. I look at the tires, windshield, body, everything. If nothing else, you can use this time to clean the windows using the squeegee and cleaning solution most gas stations have on hand. Again though, do not enter the car until you are all done with fueling and the gas cap is back on.

To fuel the car, take off the gas cap, place it someplace you won’t forget it (never place it on the gas pump or anyplace outside of your car; placing gas caps on fuel pumps or the ground near a fuel pump is one of the main ways that you get to go buy a new fuel cap!). Now put the gas in your car. One thing you can do is use the automatic feature that most fuel pumps have. This automatic feature is simply a level that you can wedge into place to keep the fuel flowing without you having to hold the pump. Don’t worry about overfilling. Once the tank is full, the level clicks off automatically, stopping the gas before it can overflow.

Once you have finished fueling, you will know because the pump will click, indicating it is full. Do not  top off your tank. Topping off is done by trying to get more fuel in to the tank. This can cause potential engine problems and check engine lights to come on. Now find your gas cap, and tighten it according to the instructions on the  cap. Some want it tightened until you hear multiple clicks, some only want you to tighten it until you hear one click. Whatever your cap says, follow it to avoid a potential engine light coming on.

The last thing you have to decide is whether or not you want a receipt. If you do, get it from the pump or the salesperson inside the store. As always, be observant about your car. Walk back to it in such a way as to be able to see around it to notice anyone who might be hiding there. And yes, these kinds of carjacking situations do happen. Any criminal will look for the easiest target. If he or she sees you talking on your cell phone and not paying attention to what’s going on around you, they will lock on to you in case they need a car. Don’t be this person, be observant.

Get to the car, unlock it, get inside, lock the doors again, start the car, buckle your seat belt, put the car in drive, and conquer the day. Until next time…