Sunday Driving: Yesterday Was Powder; Today Is Ice
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Falls Church Times Staff
February 7, 2010
Around 6 a.m. Sunday morning I drove out of my cul-de-sac in my daughter’s red “fire truck.” At the intersection with Gundry Drive the headlights of a snow plow approached. Timing is everything. The plow threw a mini-mountain of snow in front of the exit from the cul-de-sac, but Big Red was up to the challenge. We crunched through the barrier and followed the plow. My neighbors with cars parked on the street will not be driving today — their vehicles are buried under a 3-foot wall of icy plowed snow.
Arriving at Broad Street, I marveled at how different the conditions are today. Saturday was a soft, magical, world of powder. Today is harsher — colder, icier, and more dangerous. The sounds are very different also. Yesterday’s hushed stillness has been replaced with grating, scraping noises.
My commute on I-66 was not as pleasant, either. Yesterday I had the road to myself, driving about 25 mph. Today I upped the speed close to 35, but nevertheless was passed by numerous vehicles, seemingly in a hurry and driving way too fast for conditions.
For that matter, I was peeved yesterday afternoon as well when I drove home on I-66. A phalanx of snow-plowing big trucks were clearing the road, the first one on the far left, progressively flanked by others, with the last one on the far right, with strobe lights flashing and big signs stating “STAY BACK 100 FEET.” I joined the single line of traffic behind the trucks, only to see one, and then another, and then another car pass the line on the right, apparently thinking they could somehow break through the formation of snow plows.
So — if you’re feeling stir-crazy and in the mood for a Sunday morning drive, be advised — there are a lot of idiots out there, most of them in cars with their right foot on the gas pedal.
Most streets appear to have been plowed enough so that ordinary cars can venture out onto icy surfaces and run into things.
It’s going to be an interesting, and rugged, Sunday. And Monday. And Tuesday.
Stay safe.
By George Southern
February 7, 2010
George, reading your story of those in a hurry reminds me of what I always say to myself when someone passes me on the shoulder, or does something dangerous – “they must be more important than me.” The only saving grace is the occasional state trooper that gets to hear why they are so important.
Your story makes the assumption that people have all been plowed. The cul-de-sac I live on has not been touched by a plow and always seems to be the last one plowed. I am just hoping to get out before the snow starts again Tues or be again shoved to the back of the line when the cycle starts again…