Shocked that schools aren't closing!

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[Post New]01/27/2009 12:28
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:The problem is not the snow or weather, it's how people react to it and the fact that they don't know how to handle snow. They drive too slow and irratic and cause accidents. Or they drive normally, which in most cases is too fast while trying to email on blackberry, apply mascara and eat breakfast at the same time. I really think that if people would drive the speed limit, leave more room between cars for breaking, and leave the multitasking for the office, everyone would be ok. Unfortunately, I don't think this is realistic in DC.
All the more reason to keep school buses filled with children off the roads.
[Post New]01/27/2009 12:29
Anonymous
In the Midwest, we would say this is a pretty dusting.
[Post New]01/27/2009 12:36
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:In the Midwest, we would say this is a pretty dusting.


Yep, former Chicagoan here. That said, Chicago has sturdy plows and salt at the ready and knows how to deal from 150+ years of experience with weather like this. It's just not as routine here to get snow, so the municipalities and agencies aren't always as prepped.
[Post New]01/27/2009 12:43
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In the Midwest, we would say this is a pretty dusting.


Yep, former Chicagoan here. That said, Chicago has sturdy plows and salt at the ready and knows how to deal from 150+ years of experience with weather like this. It's just not as routine here to get snow, so the municipalities and agencies aren't always as prepped.


EXACTLY. Frankly, I get pretty pissed off when folks who grew up in cities that get lots of snow implying that we are a punch of wusses. Because we don't normally get snow, we are less equipped to handle it. I worked in the Charlottesville school system in the 1990s, and they didn't close schools one snow day when they should have. Three students ended up in critical care, as they didn't know how to drive in the snow on their way home. A mess.
[Post New]01/27/2009 13:00
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In the Midwest, we would say this is a pretty dusting.


Yep, former Chicagoan here. That said, Chicago has sturdy plows and salt at the ready and knows how to deal from 150+ years of experience with weather like this. It's just not as routine here to get snow, so the municipalities and agencies aren't always as prepped.


EXACTLY. Frankly, I get pretty pissed off when folks who grew up in cities that get lots of snow implying that we are a punch of wusses. Because we don't normally get snow, we are less equipped to handle it. I worked in the Charlottesville school system in the 1990s, and they didn't close schools one snow day when they should have. Three students ended up in critical care, as they didn't know how to drive in the snow on their way home. A mess.



You are a bunch of wusses. Yes, it does not snow as much here, but it does snow - this is not Texas. This is my third winter in DC and we have had snow each time. I think that most of the blame lies with the municpalities - they need to keep the major roads clear and apply salt, but I also think that residents also need to stop acting like the sky is falling becasue there are a few inches of snow on the ground. Oh and lets not get started on the people who think that their sidewalks will shovel themselves!
[Post New]01/27/2009 14:11
Anonymous
Actually, everyone needs to remember that a fair amout of people who live in the DC Metro area don't live here long (say 4 years per term) and often come from areas that never get snow. I myself grew up in LA and was never taugh how to drive in snow and ice. My husband had to take me out in an empty parking lot and teach me what to do. If no body is going to teach these people how to drive in this weather you really can't be suprised that they don't know how to drive in it.

My sister lives in Milwaukee and laughs at us, but she also says she would rather drive through 3 feet of snow there than an inch here.

Just another thought on the whole subject.
[Post New]01/27/2009 14:14
zumbamama
Member Offline
I am a total wuss, I admit it. I hate the cold. I couldn't live any further north than here! But it's all relative—in So Cal people are scared of the rain.
[Post New]01/27/2009 14:16
zumbamama
Member Offline
oops, meant to add, that they are scared of rain but not of earthquakes.
[Post New]01/27/2009 14:25
Anonymous
zumbamama wrote:I am a total wuss, I admit it. I hate the cold. I couldn't live any further north than here! But it's all relative—in So Cal people are scared of the rain.


Thank you. My husband went to college and grad school in Boston. He initially laughed at DC's response to snow in his first few years here. But then after realizing what all the other PP's have said (folks who don't know how to drive in snow, the understandably slow time it takes to clear roads, etc.) he agrees that we need to make sure kids get home from school okay.

We aren't wusses. We are just aware of the fact that snow affects cities in different ways.
[Post New]01/27/2009 14:26
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Actually, everyone needs to remember that a fair amout of people who live in the DC Metro area don't live here long (say 4 years per term) and often come from areas that never get snow. I myself grew up in LA and was never taugh how to drive in snow and ice. My husband had to take me out in an empty parking lot and teach me what to do. If no body is going to teach these people how to drive in this weather you really can't be suprised that they don't know how to drive in it.

My sister lives in Milwaukee and laughs at us, but she also says she would rather drive through 3 feet of snow there than an inch here.

Just another thought on the whole subject.


Right on sister.
[Post New]01/27/2009 14:35
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Actually, everyone needs to remember that a fair amout of people who live in the DC Metro area don't live here long (say 4 years per term) and often come from areas that never get snow. I myself grew up in LA and was never taugh how to drive in snow and ice. My husband had to take me out in an empty parking lot and teach me what to do. If no body is going to teach these people how to drive in this weather you really can't be suprised that they don't know how to drive in it.

My sister lives in Milwaukee and laughs at us, but she also says she would rather drive through 3 feet of snow there than an inch here.

Just another thought on the whole subject.


I understand what you are saying especially since I'm one of those people who never learned either.

However, it is common sense to go slow and drive cautiously (well, defensively) and allow for braking room. Basic drivers-ed courses do indeed touch on inclement weather driving conditions and how to handle a car in a skid, park on an icey (or any) incline or hill, etc.

And basic physics tells you that pick up trucks and the like will fish-tail. And SUVs do not give you permission for driving fast.
[Post New]01/27/2009 14:44
Anonymous
The roads and traffic here can be a total disaster on any given day, without any weather factoring in. Why risk kids in buses and teenagers behind the wheel (not to mention parents and driving their kids around and everyone else)? This a huge metropolitan area served by a public transportation system that fails frequently, so again, why risk it? What's wrong with admitting that there are a lot of people in this area who have zero experience in snow/sleet and calling a snow day?
[Post New]01/27/2009 15:06
Anonymous
GMAB. True it doesn't snow as much as up north but it does snow (and more regularly dump sleet and freezing rain). Driving in this stuff is not a novel concept. It's not like we are in Miami and really don't get snow . . . quit the cop out.

Oh, and by the way, lots of the "Transients" are from up north.
[Post New]01/27/2009 15:38
Anonymous
I don't get the snow plows not being ready thing. Is this only DC you guys are talking about? I've been in VA my whole life and I always see plows lined up and ready the day before the snow hits. I left my house around 9:30 this morning and all major roads had been cleared.
My rant is to people with rear wheel drive vehicles. Definitely stay home! Your car WILL get stuck. I drove by 20 pulled over cars on the Fran-Springfield Pkwy this morning that couldn't make it up the road because it had an incline.
[Post New]01/27/2009 16:19
Anonymous
Good for DC for prepping the roads at 4:00 am. I walk to work and roads were fine - no problem pushing a stroller. Just back from being outside in the afternoon and the roads are still in great condition; saw lots of snowplows and salt trucks.
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