On Slick Pavement ‘The Sliding Wheel Wants to Lead’
When encountering fresh snow, wise drivers sit up, take notice and slow down. Photos: Screenshots from CBS TV newscasts.
“>
When encountering fresh snow, wise drivers sit up, take notice and slow down. Photos: Screenshots from CBS TV newscasts.
“>
Here in the northern tier of states, we’ve had spring-like weather in January and February. Today as I write this, it’s supposed to go to 74 degrees, about 30 higher than normal for the season. Tomorrow it’ll turn colder, the forecasters say, and farther north and west, a snow storm is already sweeping across the land, marking an assertive return of winter.
Driving in snow doesn’t bother me because I grew up in Wisconsin in a time when winters were rough. Among other things, I learned to pump the brakes when trying to stop short on slick surfaces. It worked well on snow but no so well on ice, where going slow was the best tactic.
Pumping the brakes is what modern electronic anti-lock braking does, and it helps control a vehicle on slippery pavement. Suppliers have long said that there’s no need to pump the brake pedal with ABS aboard, and that’s correct if the systems are working properly. I say “systems,” plural, because with a combination vehicle, there’s one system on a tractor and another on the trailer (more if it’s a set of doubles or triples). Each system works independently, but if all are set up right, the vehicle will act as if the systems are linked.
I drove straight trucks while working my way through college and 10 years later I went to a very good school to learn how to drive semis. That was the Fox Valley Technical Institute (now a college) in Appleton, Wis. Ten or 12 years after that, while a staffer at Heavy Duty Trucking, I returned to the school for a refresher on winter driving.
The instructor’s main point, and the one I try to remember, …Read the rest of this story
