Whiteout pileup (with narration by person filming).

[Dashmellow]

I've never heard of vehicles having only one reverse lamp. Vehicles driven in the US traditionally have two.

 

[mentadent]

Good on you for pulling into motel.

My Ford just has one reverse lamp.

 

[Dashmellow]

Good on you for pulling into motel.

My Ford just has one reverse lamp.

Where I live out in the countryside there are no streetlights and so one is often in pitch darkness, so having good reverse lamps becomes a vital requirement. In the older truck I used to own I even replaced the original incandescent reverse lamps with quartz halogen bulbs and was happy to see such an improvement when backing up.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah the name of the game for Aussies are floods and bush fires, both of which can bring out "nasties" that make a flood of mice seem like a walk in a park.
I dont mind waist high water to cross to get to the shop, but if there is a "saltie" in there, them i am staying home.

Severe rain events are also on the up in Denmark, same are wind generated floods, and things are done, but probably too little too late, as that is generally the name of the game here.

My little red car also just have 2 reversing light,,,,, i think that is pretty common on low cost cars.
I do once in a while see cars with extra high beams and also some times extra reversing lights ( 2 ) but these are also the people living out in the sticks, you dont see that with city folks unless they are 4 X 4 fanatics / poser adventure drivers.

 

[LateralNW]

Yeah, you are right about the Semi's. Some of them drive like maniacs and they end up jack-knifing out on the major highways. Many of these guys are under a lot of pressure to keep to a tight schedule and it just makes things worse from a safety standpoint.

Black Ice freaks me out. Where I live, I encounter it all the time and often you just can't see it even when you are trying to be vigilant. It's even worse on the many of dirt roads like the one I live on because you usually can't see the stuff. One night, I was driving a friend home who lives in a house in a remote location on a dirt road out in the woods along a river. We were chatting and I was taking it easy, not driving very fast, maybe 20 miles per hour (32km/h). Suddenly, with no warning, we started spinning out of control and did a full 360 in my truck. All of sudden I had zero traction. NONE! Amazingly, we didn't hit anything and came to a stop when we skidded off the ice. Another foot or so and we would have T-boned into a tree. If we had gone the other way we would have ended up in the river. It seems that part of the road had flooded with about an inch of water and frozen over with a light dusting of snow on it so you couldn't see the black ice at all.

That flood is astonishing! Unfortunately, despite what the Brits may say, it looks as if 500 year floods are becoming pretty common around the world these days. That term doesn't mean anything anymore.

EDIT: Actually, since we're talking about black ice and winter traction, I've had an interesting experience this winter. Last November, heading into the winter I needed to buy a new set of tires for my truck. I bought a new set of the same brand and model tires I've been running previously because I've had good experience with them and they are priced well, (Cooper Discoverer AT3) but they've really upped their game with the new 4S version. Previously, they were M&S rated (Mud & Snow, as were all the tires I've always run) but the newer ones have the "Mountain/Snowflake Symbol"instead of the M&S marking on the sidewall. The Mountain/Snowflake Symbol meets more stringent winter traction performance requirements and has been rated for “severe snow service" which includes snowy, slippery roads and low temperature or freezing roads. I've been blown away by the performance difference. In many situations this winter where I would have engaged 4 wheel drive, I didn't need it, like even when my driveway was sheer ice! The tires definitely felt more sure footed when I was driving in difficult snowy and icy conditions this winter. Same with the mud! ( I still slow down when the conditions are treacherous though, regardless of how good these tires perform).

You can read more about the Mountain/Snowflake symbol rating HERE.

Mountain/Snowflake severe weather rated symbol
View attachment 60191

Me being a city slicker most of the year with the good roads in my state I only have to purchase one type of tire for the life of the tire.

Until recently I never realised some countries have winter and summer tyres.
Must be hard to manage if you're on a budget.

A 500 year event means to me that the world weather pattern has changed where the powerful weather bureau computer models are less accurate. Or need to be run more often due to the speed of the weather changes.

I expect the weather to only get worse.

That flood video was about a month ago and today they are talking about the second wave that hit Lismore with the weather bureau talking about how the damage this time didn't break the 10 metre levy wall! A 10 Metre wall!

I think that ice video will happen more often. Hopefully without all the vehicles crashing.

 

[kamkar]

Well in the 90ties driving my 1986 Opel kaddet GT ( a not so hot German 5 door hatchback ), that car i only used Michelin all year tires on, and it wasent half bad on those, it was in that car and well over 1 foot of powder snow on the motorway i overtook snow plows and many 100 M of slow moving cars behind that.
They was all doing 50 - 60 kmh, i was doing 80 - 90

Granted i had to be extremely on the ball all the time, even when i did get out of the deep snow in the left lane, but i had severe chest pains after 75 KM driving like that, had to pull over and relax a little.

Up here the time ( hours / days ) it rain every year are not changing much, it is the amount or rain that fall that are going up.
Days ago this month became the most sunny March on record for over 100 years since we started to take notes on the weather.

 

[LateralNW]

Yeah the name of the game for Aussies are floods and bush fires, both of which can bring out "nasties" that make a flood of mice seem like a walk in a park.
I dont mind waist high water to cross to get to the shop, but if there is a "saltie" in there, them i am staying home.

Severe rain events are also on the up in Denmark, same are wind generated floods, and things are done, but probably too little too late, as that is generally the name of the game here.

My little red car also just have 2 reversing light,,,,, i think that is pretty common on low cost cars.
I do once in a while see cars with extra high beams and also some times extra reversing lights ( 2 ) but these are also the people living out in the sticks, you dont see that with city folks unless they are 4 X 4 fanatics / poser adventure drivers.

If a saltie is found on the east coast it would be a disaster. Good by tourists. Forget about enjoying the beautiful beaches.
Fortunately at this stage they are in the "Top End" ie Far North.
The problem with floods and high water is many. Sewage, bacteria, mould, snakes, destruction to road, railway and paths.

 

[kamkar]

Well it is the northern parts of your country that intrigue me the most, but i am fortunately also too old for beach days and open sea swimming.
I can do Bondi beach in a lawn chair under a parasol with a cold one, oogling the sheilas and dream about when i was a young fellow.

 

[Dashmellow]

Me being a city slicker most of the year with the good roads in my state I only have to purchase one type of tire for the life of the tire.

Until recently I never realised some countries have winter and summer tyres.
Must be hard to manage if you're on a budget.

In my case, the truck tires I described, although "Winter Rated", are considered "all season" so I can run them year round. They are very versatile, as they offer great off road performance (which I need for the type of dirt roads I live on and working out on my rural property) but they are also pretty quiet and comfortable as a highway tire. Interestingly, even though they offer great winter performance due in part to the softer, grippier rubber compound they are made from, these new ones are rated for 65,0000 miles of service compared to the older model of the same tire that was rated for 50,000 miles.

 

[Nigel]

Until recently I never realised some countries have winter and summer tyres.
Must be hard to manage if you're on a budget.

You still use the same amount of rubber - since the tyres are only on the car half the time they last twice as long, and the winter rubber tends to be cheaper.
In many countries you just swap them twice a year, with everyone swapping at the same time so that people who are late swapping don't crash into people who are early because of the differences in grip resulting in different stopping distances!

 

[Dashmellow]

Until recently I never realised some countries have winter and summer tyres.
Must be hard to manage if you're on a budget.

You still use the same amount of rubber - since the tyres are only on the car half the time they last twice as long, and the winter rubber tends to be cheaper.

While you may be correct @Nigel that running two sets of tires half the time lasts twice as long, but @LateralNW is correct that it costs more. The reason is the additional cost of having your mechanic swap your tires twice a year. The cost of mounting and balancing can be considerable.

Years ago, before I started driving pick-up trucks I did a tire swap every season like everyone else. Eventually, I purchased an extra set of used rims from a junk yard so I could keep the winter and summer tires mounted and balanced permanently and only needed to swap and rotate them myself each season.

 

[LateralNW]

While you may be correct @Nigel that running two sets of tires half the time lasts twice as long, but @LateralNW is correct that it costs more. The reason is the additional cost of having your mechanic swap your tires twice a year. The cost of mounting and balancing can be considerable.

Years ago, before I started driving pick-up trucks I did a tire swap every season like everyone else. Eventually, I purchased an extra set of used rims from a junk yard so I could keep the winter and summer tires mounted and balanced permanently and only needed to swap and rotate them myself each season.

All good points from you and @Nigel
Spare set of wheels is a great idea but I wonder if they need to be aligned when fitted. I have Soarer (I want to rebuild) and it requires a 4 wheel alignment.
I believe over time tyres go off eg they become harder as they get older. It wouldn't happen over a yearly swap I wouldn't think and I might be wrong as it might have applied to older rubber technologies.

 

[Dashmellow]

All good points from you and @Nigel
Spare set of wheels is a great idea but I wonder if they need to be aligned when fitted. I have Soarer (I want to rebuild) and it requires a 4 wheel alignment.
I believe over time tyres go off eg they become harder as they get older. It wouldn't happen over a yearly swap I wouldn't think and I might be wrong as it might have applied to older rubber technologies.

As far as I am aware there would be no need to align the wheels every time you swap tire tires. For example, there is no need to do an alignment every time you rotate your tires. I never did that back when I was changing the summer and winter tires that where on their own rims and never had any problems with the tires.

 

[Nigel]

All good points from you and @Nigel
Spare set of wheels is a great idea but I wonder if they need to be aligned when fitted. I have Soarer (I want to rebuild) and it requires a 4 wheel alignment.
I believe over time tyres go off eg they become harder as they get older. It wouldn't happen over a yearly swap I wouldn't think and I might be wrong as it might have applied to older rubber technologies.

A winter set of wheels is often a good idea anyway since you can then use narrower and higher profile winter tyres more suitable for snow, and on some cars it is actually necessary to be able to fit the manufacturer recommended winter tyres. Also removing a tyre from the rim is not good for the structure of the tyre, you don't want to do it too many times.

I believe most people do swap just the tyres though, since it does not cost much - around £40, or half the cost of a tank of fuel!

No need for alignment, it is the wheel hubs (to which the wheels are attached) that are aligned, not the tyres or wheels.
They do need balancing, which is half the cost, but since regular balancing will extend tyre life, that is not a bad idea once a year anyway.
Tyres do get old, mainly through sitting in the sun. If you store them flat in the dark for half the year then they should be good for 10 years from the date of manufacture. (always buy newly manufactured tyres!)

 

[Dashmellow]

it does not cost much - around £40, or half the cost of a tank of fuel!

The cost of a tank of fuel has become a rather expensive proposition these days! And a tank of fuel is many, many miles of driving. For many, spending that much twice a year can be a burdensome extra expense. The median hourly earnings for full-time employees in the United Kingdom is £15.15/hr, so to change out the tires twice a year would take 5.28 hours of labor or more than half a days work. Perhaps that would be a trivial expense for you but certainly not for everyone.

Another consideration, when posting to an international forum you might pause to consider that wages and labor costs in different parts of the world may be different than where you live.

 

[Nigel]

Another consideration, when posting to an international forum you might pause to consider that wages and labor costs in different parts of the world may be different than where you live.

Most places will work out at around the same number of hours of labor to pay for it, since the main cost is the time required, and in most places it will take the same amount of time. Also, the equivalent in tanks of fuel will be roughly similar in many places, USA being an exception with unusually cheap fuel relative to income.

 

[Dashmellow]

USA being an exception with unusually cheap fuel relative to income.

Since the war in Ukraine broke out that may not be so true. Many are struggling to keep their tanks full as their paychecks are not keeping up.

Plus, as usual you fail to understand how things work in the United States in terms of how big this country is, so you indulge in an imaginary stereotype of some sort of monolith. Gas prices vary widely depending upon which part of the country you live in. People who live nearest to oil refineries pay the lowest costs for fuel whereas people who live in locations where fuel needs to be transported long distances pay much higher prices. In some cases this reaches extremes such as in Alaska or Hawaii but it also applies to very large western states like Wyoming as one example. It even applies to places like Vermont where most of our gasoline and other petroleum fuels are refined in New Jersey which is about 200 miles away or so. That same gallon of gas is far cheaper in New Jersey.

Another factor is fuel taxes which also vary state to state.

And yet another factor is that in many instances wages can vary by region and industry across this vast nation.

For some odd reason you never seem to "get" how big this country is yet to listen to you one would believe that everything is the same wherever you go, and that's just not true, Nigel. Your entire perspective on most everything is always based on your provincial comparison to the UK. Yet we have eleven states that are far bigger in area than all of the UK! Alaska alone is more than 7 times bigger than the UK! Texas is almost 3 times the size of the UK.

Also amusing how you conveniently ignored the entire first section of my post. Hardly the first time.

The cost of a tank of fuel has become a rather expensive proposition these days! And a tank of fuel is many, many miles of driving. For many, spending that much twice a year can be a burdensome extra expense. The median hourly earnings for full-time employees in the United Kingdom is £15.15/hr, so to change out the tires twice a year would take 5.28 hours of labor or more than half a days work. Perhaps that would be a trivial expense for you but certainly not for everyone.

 

[DT MI]

....Another factor is fuel taxes which also vary state to state....

Taxes are the prime reason why (most?) European countries have such high fuel prices - they do it to themselves.

The chart in this article in The Atlantic shows clearly why there's such a difference in prices. Instead of blaming the US for having such low prices the focus should change and blame the local politicians who are artificially inflating the price of fuel with taxes that are greater than the cost of the product.

Gas Prices Around the World: Cheaper Than Water and $10 a Gallon

What goes into the price of gas in Europe, Asia, and the United States

www.theatlantic.com

 

[Dashmellow]

Taxes are the prime reason why (most?) European countries have such high fuel prices - they do it to themselves.

You make a very interesting point.

When you stop to think about it, the price of a barrel a crude oil in the US is exactly the same as a barrel of crude oil in Europe. Currently, as of today, a barrel of Brent crude oil in the U.S. is $ 107 (USD) and a barrel Brent crude in Europe is the same at
€ 96.65 (EUR). There's also WTI (West Texas Intermediate) which is s spot grade for futures trading, not a location and this is slightly lower but more or less negligible to the final cost of a gallon of gas.

Once it gets refined the only way to account for such a drastic difference in the price of gasoline/petrol would be taxes. And transportation costs would be far lower in Europe than much of the U.S.

 

[dash riposki]

That's not a 'whiteout', just reduced visibility conditions.

50-60 percent of the truckers are as clueless as 95% of the car drivers.
The white 'swift' truck you see joining the pileup is a large (15000 trucks?) company that 'trains' new drivers. The person 'training' the new driver is only required to have 6 months experience, (which may not include ever seeing snow or mountains).