Do you drive?

Snow63 · Sep 27, 2016

Got studded snow tires for the winter driving today! Yay! And pretty expensive ones too :eek:

Almost $70 each! 4 in total

Since it's not physically possible to drive on usual tires in Russia during snow season which will start in a month or two!

elbkup · Sep 27, 2016

Snow63 said:
Got studded snow tires for the winter driving today! Yay! And pretty expensive ones too Almost $70 each! 4 in total

Since it's not physically possible to drive on usual tires in Russia during snow season which will start in a month or two!

Studded tires are illegal where I live during non winter months... is the same true in Russia? Winters are really not so bad here... Canada just north of us is another story. I bought 4 new tires last fall about the same price but they were "all weather" not studded tires... during really really bad winter weather I just stay home or walk where I need to go with my dog (who loves the snow!)

Snow63 · Sep 27, 2016

elbkup said:
Studded tires are illegal where I live during non winter months... is the same true in Russia? Winters are really not so bad here... Canada just north of us is another story. I bought 4 new tires last fall about the same price but they were "all weather" not studded tires... during really really bad winter weather I just stay home or walk where I need to go with my dog (who loves the snow!)

They are illegal here too for a warm seasons. And usual tires are also illegal during cold season. But as far as I know they became illegal not so long ago.

Anyway, it's absolutely not possible to safely drive without studded tires where I live. Snow storms are so usual that it can be storming with different intensity every day for weeks! And there's a lot of ice everywhere. Last winter I got drifted from the road even on studded tires while driving 50 kmph, thank God everything ended up alright.
Night temperature remains lower than -20 C degrees (up to -40 C degrees), and considering that I usually drive to work at abour 6-00 a.m. during winter and snow is everywhere I just HAVE to buy good tires. My life literally depends on them.

elbkup · Sep 27, 2016

Snow63 said:
They are illegal here too for a warm seasons. And usual tires are also illegal during cold season. But as far as I know they became illegal not so long ago.

Anyway, it's absolutely not possible to safely drive without studded tires where I live. Snow storms are so usual that it can be storming with different intensity every day for weeks! And there's a lot of ice everywhere. Last winter I got drifted from the road even on studded tires while driving 50 kmph, thank God everything ended up alright.
Night temperature remains lower than -20 C degrees (up to -40 C degrees), and considering that I usually drive to work at abour 6-00 a.m. during winter and snow is everywhere I just HAVE to buy good tires. My life literally depends on them.

I believe you! Last winter there was a post in Yulia'S fan fest a set of short films she had put on her Instagram about acts of kindness people did during snowstorms there. I was dumbfounded by the horrible white out conditions. And I can identify with early morning departures for as we did the same thing for years-- 50 miles one way - but we went South in the morning (often it would be snowing at home and raining or ice at our destination reversed in the evening... but nothing like a hair-raising skid on the highway when snow wraps around your wheels like cottage cheese..
Glad you got the tires.. Seriously we need you to stay safe... so you can report to all of us here on GS.
:agree:

Mrs. P · Sep 27, 2016

My husband does not like studded tires. Namely cause people drive on them when it's not snowing out and ruin the roads.

dorispulaski · Sep 27, 2016

When we lived in northern Vermont, we always used studded snow tires. Many of the roads we drove on were dirt/gravel, so the studded snows were a winter necessity.

And don't ask about mud season driving on those dirt roads!

Stories
http://www.scenesofvermont.com/mud/index.cfm

Do not miss this classic photo of mud season
http://www.stingrayforums.com/forum...arage/25129-vermont-mud-season-mud-season.png

Photos
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=vermont+mud+season&FORM=HDRSC2

Snow63 · Sep 28, 2016

dorispulaski said:
When we lived in northern Vermont, we always used studded snow tires. Many of the roads we drove on were dirt/gravel, so the studded snows were a winter necessity.

And don't ask about mud season driving on those dirt roads!

Stories
http://www.scenesofvermont.com/mud/index.cfm

Do not miss this classic photo of mud season
http://www.stingrayforums.com/forum...arage/25129-vermont-mud-season-mud-season.png

Photos
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=vermont+mud+season&FORM=HDRSC2

Mrs. P said:
My husband does not like studded tires. Namely cause people drive on them when it's not snowing out and ruin the roads.

That's what happens to you in Russia if you are not using studded tires, and it's not single cases, it actually happens every day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9J3boBQ19Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3ZiKjTqhtg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2IV_qFM9to

So yeah, it is a neccesity

And pardon me if I don't care if my tires ruin the road. :biggrin:

Besides it was proven long time ago (at least in Russia) that the main road desctuction comes from often temperature change from above 0 C degrees to below 0 C degrees. And it happens literally everyday late autumn and spring seasons.

But I know that in Moscow, for example, there's always clean roads so people use studless winter tires (not everyone). Not sure what they're gonna do if they would want to travel outside of town, though :biggrin:

Ladskater · Oct 11, 2016

Yes and No. I drive a 2005 Honda Civic - fully automatic. It was brand new when I bought it, still in great shape. I used to drive a standard car (stick shift) but because of bad back issues switched to automatic. I also used to drive everyday to work, but this year and last I started to commute to work by transit. My commute takes over an hour each way. Driving would be worse as the traffic in my area is horrific each morning and afternoon. Taking transit sometimes gets to me but it beats sitting in traffic and getting in horrible traffic jams and possibly a "fender bender". I only use my car for pleasure now - errands, shopping etc. My husband shares my car now. He also has a civic but has taken it off the road since his retirement. We have a nice garage to keep both cars from the bad weather.

xibsuarz · Oct 12, 2016

Reading people's comments about how they only got a few miles above the speed limit makes me feel so bad about myself. I take something that could be considered a highway on my way to school everyday, and when there is traffic in the morning I usually stay well within the limits. When I'm not driving along that route I usually drive 5-8 miles above the limit if the traffic allows it. But if I'm in that highway with relatively low traffic, I go up to 35 miles above the speed limit and there are still cars who drive past me :slink:

samkrut@mail.ru · Jan 9, 2017

In Moscow most people drive 20 km/h above the limit as cameras are tuned to that: there is no money fine 0-20. However, you have to watch not to get +21. I used to received tickets for 82-83 km/h. Now I am trying to be more careful: new radar detectors show even the latest generation of cameras.

In fact I always take a radar detector when travelling by car in the USA. And never in Europe. Right now we are having winter holidays in French Alps. I know if a trafic patrol finds a radar detector here, I may have serious issues. That's why I have not brought it here. France on the other hand generously warns about camera locations on highways. One just have to slow down to a limit for a kilometer or so. But even while safely bypassing camerass my friends did not recommend to speed more than +30 km/h - there are occasional patrols in addition to cameras who catch serious speeders.

In Italy they tend to measure average speed. That's a killer.

P.S. Good to not have politics section any more - we can discuss normal life now.

loopy · Jan 9, 2017

elbkup said:
So,,,,,,, two years ago, after YEARS driving stick shift, I bought a car with automatic transmission... Concerned lest I might forget I was driving automatic, I repeated to myself over & over "left foot on floor left on floor"... and everything has gone just fine UNTIL two days ago. Approaching a right turn near my home (which I've done thousands of times in the automatic) I promptly shifted into third gear to take the corner ... except I was driving an automatic and put the car in PARK!!! Took me a couple of seconds to figure out what happened as my wheels whined and spun... but I was shaking scared. Fortunately no one was behind me!! The brain is a funny thing (gulp).... guess, in addition to my "left foot on floor" mantra, I must now add "right hand on wheel" has this ever happened to anyone else? Just curious....

No - we laugh at work that a manual transmission is the best of theft deterrents! I have a story about driving though. When I was a teen one of my friends was from Asia and he spent the entire summer there. He came to pick me up from work and started driving on the wrong side of the road. His driving brain had not yet adjusted. It was super scary because we were in a construction zone but luckily it was really late and we were not in an accident.

elbkup · Jan 9, 2017

loopy said:
No - we laugh at work that a manual transmission is the best of theft deterrents! I have a story about driving though. When I was a teen one of my friends was from Asia and he spent the entire summer there. He came to pick me up from work and started driving on the wrong side of the road. His driving brain had not yet adjusted. It was super scary because we were in a construction zone but luckily it was really late and we were not in an accident.

Gosh! Have never attempted left lane drIving because the thought scares me witless.... but some people I know seem to make such adjustments quickly and easily... your friend probably did better than I would have in the same circumstance but that must have been nerve-crunching. :shocked:

Also, pedestrians from right lane countries need to be aware when stepping off curbs in left lane countries; nearly every sidewalk at a London intersection has painted on it in big bold white letters "PEDESTRIANS LOOK LEFT"!!

NanaPat · Jan 9, 2017

elbkup said:
Also, pedestrians from right lane countries need to be aware when stepping off curbs in left lane countries; nearly every sidewalk at a London intersection has painted on it in big bold white letters "PEDESTRIANS LOOK LEFT"!!

I was absolutely terrified to cross the street as a pedestrian in New Delhi. Besides the look left business, the traffic is very mixed and chaotic. So my crossing strategy was to wait for a middle--class middle-aged woman in a sari and cross with her. The age and sari was to make sure I could keep up with her; the age was some assurance that she had some road-crossing skills. Hey, it worked! I crossed many roads that way without incident.

elbkup · Jan 9, 2017

NanaPat said:
I was absolutely terrified to cross the street as a pedestrian in New Delhi. Besides the look left business, the traffic is very mixed and chaotic. So my crossing strategy was to wait for a middle--class middle-aged woman in a sari and cross with her. The age and sari was to make sure I could keep up with her; the age was some assurance that she had some road-crossing skills. Hey, it worked! I crossed many roads that way without incident.

. Very resourceful !!! Traffic is like that in Rome too. I usually crossed closely behind someone who looked like they knew what they were doing :biggrin:

topaz emerald · Jan 10, 2017

iluvtodd said:
I drive a Toyota Corolla. I really like it, and am fortunate that I don't have to deal with expressway driving for most of my driving needs.

My first car was a Corolla too

Cherry color. Dad got it it for me (used) as a graduation gift. It's now passed to my youngest brother, lol

He wanted to buy himself a brand new car after he came out the military, but I told him, save your money and wait until you get a good job. The paint's all chipped now, but the car still runs good.

iluvtodd · Jan 10, 2017

^ We passed on my previous Corolla to one of our nieces, and she enjoyed/appreciated driving it for several years. When it's time for a new car, I would happily buy a new Corolla.

gravy · Jan 10, 2017

As someone born and raised in Oslo, I never learned to drive until I moved to Los Angeles for undergrad because it's such a tiny city and our trams, buses, and trains are good enough to not only get around the capital but the rest of Norway for trips.

Being from such a small city like Oslo though, it was a very interesting experience learning to drive in Los Angeles (my stints in Madrid and Moscow where my mom and dad are from, respectively, have nothing on LA traffic). :laugh:

I passed the driving test on my first try, but I hated driving around which sucked because it was necessary since LA public transportation is the worst. My first car was a black, second-hand 2006 Volkswagen Rabbit; it had bluetooth capabilities and didn't have the cassette player that I was so accustomed to from driving around with my parents as a kid and so I named him Microchippy because he was so advanced.

Microchippy died a tragic death when I was driving down the 405 and the dooshbag in front of me floored his brakes at 70 MPH because some whacky hallucinated animal had crossed the road. Thankfully the freeway was empty and I swerved to not him but ended up crashing into the highway barrier. Said dooshbag was later arrested for DUI and thankfully it was my last month in LA.

Returned home to Norway and then ended up moving back to California, but this time SF. Bought a used beige 2001 Honda Civic "just in case" and it has not moved from my garage since I bought it in late 2015 because SF public transportation/Uber is awesome because it's not that huge a city.

Mrs. P · Jan 10, 2017

I got snow tires (Bridgestone Blizzaks for those wondering: http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire-brand/blizzak and I will say it has made a HUGE difference. We've been getting TONS of snow here in Washington state (the eastern part; Seattle and Western enrons doesn't have snow, though it's quite cold over there), so it's been really handy. My in-laws live on a ridge so driving there can be scary in the winter. With the tires it was a lot better, though still touch and go in some parts.

Dee4707 · Jan 17, 2017

I had to renew my driver's license so there is a test on the computer so I studied for a couple of nights before I went. When I got at the DMV, I was ready to take my test and felt so proud of myself. When I got up to the counter, the clerk said since you're renewing and you don't have any points against your license you don't need to take the test. I said OK...but I wanted to say but I'm prepared to take the test. :laugh:

The clerk did say I would have to take an eye test. To be honest I really couldn't see the letters or numbers so the clerk said....just do your best. I started ....5, 7, B. The clerk said there are no numbers on the line. She asked me if I wore glasses and I said only to read fine print. I didn't want to put them on because they put it on your license and if you're pulled over and don't have them on....your fined. She said raise your hand on the side you see the blinking light, I passed!!!! :cheer:

karne · Jan 17, 2017

^I have the glasses denotion on my licence, but that is because I shudder to think how dangerous I would be driving without them. I wear them all the time.

Do you drive?

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.

elbkup

Power without conscience is a savage weapon

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.

elbkup

Power without conscience is a savage weapon

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl

Snow63

Pray one day we'll open our eyes.

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~

xibsuarz

[email protected]

Medalist

loopy

elbkup

Power without conscience is a savage weapon

NanaPat

elbkup

Power without conscience is a savage weapon

topaz emerald

Match Penalty

iluvtodd

gravy

¿No ven quién soy yo?

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode

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