VIDEO: Adventures on ice in the Pacific Northwest
Ice is one of those things that people can never seem to figure out. For some reason they just keep on driving, no matter what the conditions might be. These Portlanders, apparently, are no different than the rest of us. They learn the hard way that when everything is frozen, the laws of physics rule and a low coefficient of friction leads to wrecked cars. Lots of 'em.
The first vehicle in this video offers us the best example of a driver making an accident much, much worse than it otherwise would be. If you listen closely, you can hear that the accelerator remains depressed in a desperate attempt to regain control. This single vehicle manages to impact with its surroundings eight times in a scant 40 seconds. You'll have to watch the video for the rest of the fun... at least everyone heeds the warnings from the rooftop videographers and no one gets hurt.
[Source: YouTube]
Thanks for the tip, John!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tiago do Vale 6:41PM (1/18/2007)
Why does anybody get a driving licence in the US?
Shouldn't at leat someone teach them that breaking only makes it worse?
What about teaching them to leave the car at home, on days as that one?
Sometimes I just can't understand what's going on there...
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Rmi 6:43PM (1/18/2007)
The hilarious mix between ice and summer tires :-D
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David Jones 6:53PM (1/18/2007)
Those of you who've lived in Portland will see something the camera captures poorly... that's one hell of a hill they're on, you can see it if you wait for the station wagon that almost makes it in the full version.
They shouldn't have been doing that hill in the first place, but it's not *quite* as bad as it looks for what the driver was doing.
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Jayson 6:55PM (1/18/2007)
When it is snowing or icy, park your car somewhere where no one can run into it.
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Tjodleiv 6:56PM (1/18/2007)
Americans are bad drivers to begin with, ad snow + ice and you have a catastrophe.
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fordman 6:57PM (1/18/2007)
two things
I agree with #4
And who yells the "help"?
Is it the guy that pressed the accelerator then goes backwards and hits the car?
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Ryan34 7:02PM (1/18/2007)
The wagon that makes it down at the end is a Subaru outback. The worlds best car for snow and ice.
However, as usual, people that drive Subarus think they are invincible. They push their cars a bit harder and still get into a wreck.
What a shame.
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JapDot 7:08PM (1/18/2007)
Have some sympathy for these people. The snow in Seattle is usually slush and melts in a day. We got dry light Midwestern snow, and then freezing temperatures for a week so it didn't go away. Now imagine your grandmother needs her medication, or the baby is out of diapers, or more likely your out of coffee. Although I guess you could choose a less hilly route, and we do kind of suck at driving in the snow. Those hot rear wheel drive cars aren’t so great on ice and snow. Now you see why front wheel drive is still so popular. Half the country is covered in snow for the better part of 3 months.
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felonious monk 7:10PM (1/18/2007)
Residents of PNW think Californians are the worst drivers. Having lived in both places (PNW mostly), I'd say the former are worse than the latter. They may be more used to adverse weather conditions, but that doesn't mean they know what to do in it. This video is proof.
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Lucas 7:55PM (1/18/2007)
Somebody just *has* to edit this video and add pinball machine sounds to it.
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Bret 8:05PM (1/18/2007)
Combine light snow on top of black ice and a steep hill, and it won't matter how good of a driver you are or where you got your license or what kind of tires you have.
Look at the cars that slid down the hill for several hundred feet/meters. I'm quite sure Newton's First Law applies the world over, especially on black ice. Does not matter what kind of car you drive or how superior a driver you think you are.
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ryan 8:13PM (1/18/2007)
I'm just really glad its not a Canadian driving right there (but maybe it is) cause if Canadians are so bad driving when the conditions are normal i cant even imagine what it is like in these kind of conditions.
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drew 8:19PM (1/18/2007)
This is right by my high school and on the same block as my athletic club and our baseball stadium. This video has played on our news stations here maybe 300 times during the snowstorm. As for the grade of the hill, its not that steep at all. the driver kept hitting the gas after he hit things and thought that iit would help him get control (they interviewed him and hes an old guy that should NOT be driving) I can give you an ideea of the steepness, its a 1 or 2% downgrade and i can sprint up the hill and feel almost no fatigue. But that said this guy is really stupid. (cant you tell that we dont get much snow driving experience here in ptown?)
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John B 8:20PM (1/18/2007)
Just asking, but I wonder how many of the drivers in the video had winter tires. As #4 said, just park your car in those conditions.
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Will OConnor 8:26PM (1/18/2007)
Reminds me of curling in the Olympics - they should have had some guys with brooms controlling where the cars wound up!
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tbanks 8:36PM (1/18/2007)
the funny thing is... i live in a part of of WA that has an incredible difference in weather... the elevation changed 2500 in just a few miles... oh... and it snowed here a week and a half ago, and we still have snow here so its not like the weather in WA is always easy...
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SeanO 8:45PM (1/18/2007)
Ha...
That first guy reminds me of folks new to yachts when they get in trouble docking. They gun it hoping for control and end up making everything WAY worse then it would have been otherwise. Wish I had a yacht to crash.
#7. That Subaru sure made it down!!! I'm not sure the Subie did any better than any of the others, guy, except he aimed better in the beginning. I'm a huge Subaru fan/owner, but Ice+hill = better have something with tracks... Great video!!!
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pk 8:59PM (1/18/2007)
yup lots of americans are shitty drivers but we have conditions in the northeast a few times a year (okay maybe not this year) and the majority of the people on the road here know better then to keep getting on the "go" pedal after careening off every car on the block.
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Fabulo 9:17PM (1/18/2007)
I live in Portland and I can attest that it snows for 3 days every other years. Drivers don't have any clue how to react. On those days, you stay home. I personally can drive on snow and ice, but I'm more afaid to:
1) other drivers who can't
2) walk, slip and break a leg
Also, forget about the hills. It's obvious the road is more than slick, and it does not mix well with hills.
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Ryan C. 10:04PM (1/18/2007)
WTF are all you Subie freaks talking about? The wagon in the end didn't make it down unscathed. It crashed just like all the other cars. AWD doesn't help with stopping. Get real!
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