Left In Lowell

Snow Storm + Unprepared Drivers = Traffic Problems

12 Responses to “Snow Storm + Unprepared Drivers = Traffic Problems”

1. Prince Charming Says:
   December 14th, 2007 at 4:50 pm

   Unprepared?? Unprepared?? You call blocking intersections unprepared? Taking right-hand turns from the left lane is unprepared? It took me three hours to drive from the Highlands to Pawtucketville and back again. The kids learned a few new words yesterday. We in Lowell have to realize that every time it snows, there are hundreds of newer arrivals who have no idea what that white stuff is, let alone how to drive in it. In the three hours spent sitting on my brakes yesterday, I didn’t see one cop. Strangely enough, there are no Dunkin’s on my line of travel. On the way over the O”Donnell bridge I actually prayed for the river to freeze so that I could cross it. It never ceases to amaze me that “New Englanders” go into a panic when it snows these days. They gave everybody an early release to alleviate the rush hour, but created rush hour squared in the process. We have another one coming this weekend so I’m off to Market Basket now. If anyone hears of an 80 year old lady being assaulted, it’s because she wouldn’t let go of that last loaf of bread. I love bread.

2. Lowelian Says:
   December 14th, 2007 at 9:22 pm

   Took me four times longer to get home, but no problems and I’m to old to get agravated I just sit back turn on the radio and wait.Mimi, if you don’t mind I’d like to correct something in your post that is one of my pet peeves. Your comment about front wheel drive, I believe there is little to no difference between front or rear wheel drive in snow. What makes a front wheel drive car seem better is the weight of the engine over the drive wheels. All anyone with a rear wheel drive has to do is put weight about 100 - 150 lbs should do and you will go anywhere a front wheel drive car will without having to pay the much higher repair bills encountered by autos with front differentials as well as the specialized axels. Years ago I bought 10 4+4+16″ cement blocks for .50c each they small enough to lift easily and don’t take a lot of room. I’ve used the same blocks for years. Just my opinion.

3. -b Says:
   December 15th, 2007 at 1:20 am

   “three hours to drive from the Highlands to Pawtucketville and back again”

   I did Foxboro to Lowell in 4 1/2 hours, and 90% of the trip I had no wipers - they were useless, so I just turned them off. I guess I should feel pretty good…

   Lots of war stories to go around on this one.

4. Eleanor Rigby Says:
   December 15th, 2007 at 2:54 pm

   Lowelian, just a word of caution. I understand what you are saying about additional weight in the trunk, but using cement blocks is probably not the best solution.

   In a high or moderate speed accident those cement blocks could go flying from the trunk, through the back seat into the passenger compartment and cause some serious injuries.

   Try sandbags, tied to the body of the car in the middle so that if there is an accident the bags will either remain stationary or rip in half spilling out the sand and not becoming projectiles.

5. Prince Charming Says:
   December 15th, 2007 at 3:34 pm

   Ellie: that’s awesome advice. Try paper bags of Playsand. You can get those at Home Depot or maybe even Walmart (in the summer).

6. Michael in NH and Pawtucket Says:
   December 15th, 2007 at 10:30 pm

   My manager said that he was leaving at noon and advised the rest of us to do the same. He sent a copy of the weather report with his email. I left Lowell around 12:30 and it was fine until hitting the NH border where speeds were only 40 MPH. Still made it home before the real mess started but it wasn’t a fun drive.

   I’m a fan of front-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive. Front-wheel drive is easier if you don’t know what you’re doing. You just hit the gas to pull your way out of a problem. Rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive require counter-steering when the back-end kicks out. You can put weight in the back but you still have to countersteer when the back-end kicks out. And of course you can kick it out on purpose when you want to do a quick u-turn.

7. K-R-S Says:
   December 15th, 2007 at 11:44 pm

   I find this conversation very interesting!
   First, it took me exactly one hour to get from Rock St. Dracut St. in Pawtucketville to pick up my girls. I spent most of my time on the phone with Mimi, so it went by fast! (Thanks Mimi!).
   Good thing is that no one could go more than 5 miles per hour!

   Secondly, the discussion around differant types of vehicles. Myself, I have a 4wd. and have very little difficulty navigating snowy and icy streets. In the past, have had other vehicles that were front wheel drive (sorry, I come from a “car” fanatic family) and they did me just fine. In fact, the best one I had was a 1983 Volvo Station Wagon.

   Whenever weather like this happens, I’m thrilled I have a vehicle that is rather large ( and has proven to do its job of protecting its occupants) and has 4 wheel drive, particularly when my little ones are in the car (as they were on the day of the “storm”).

8. kelly Says:
   December 16th, 2007 at 11:50 am

   Hey Prince Charming,

   Maybe the cops your complaining about were clearing the streets for people who just don’t understand what parking ban is about. Or they maybe were responding to calls for acccidents for the “newer arrivals” on top of the other hundreds of calls they respond to every day.

9. waittilnextyr Says:
   December 16th, 2007 at 1:05 pm

   Front wheel drive has an advantage when pulling onto a main street from an unplowed side street, as the front wheels can get traction on the cleared street.

   But the real problem is too many vehicles on the roads when it is stormy. We have been pretty lucky in recent years with lighter snowfall, or when it does snow it usually comes on a weekend or at night. In the meantime traffic volume has increased significantly, so the trouble on Thursday was an incident waiting to happen.

10. Michael in NH and Pawtucketville Says:
    December 16th, 2007 at 2:43 pm

    One of the improvements with information technology is that we can optimize limited road capacity and safety with traffic signal timing.

    When something changes that interferes with that timing, though, the optimizations can’t really do much if capacity is beyond strained in sub-optimal conditions.

11. Prince Charming Says:
    December 16th, 2007 at 9:57 pm

    kelly: or maybe not.

12. kelly Says:
    December 17th, 2007 at 1:15 am

    A known fact: The LPD respond to approximately 200 calls per 24 hour day.

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