Snow!!

[Jonny5ive]

Snow on the Island make Jon a happy boy!

Drove for the first time in the snow here on the hills of Victoria! What fun!

My pathfinder was great fun, but no where near as sturdy and comfortable as the Van!

...sorry but I'm on a snow high, I'm an ex-east coaster and I miss the cold white love.

[zissou]

Me too! I drove in from Saanichton last night. My first time driving it in the snow. Cars in the ditches everywhere and the deli just soldiered through. I passed a few delis on the Pat Bay and then again on Blanshard Street around 10:30. You perhaps?

[Jonny5ive]

Nope probably wasn't me... I was in an around the Moss street/cook street/University area.

I left me cell phone at an Xmas work party near Dallas rd and Moss Street. And even though I trust everyone at the party and certainly didn't need my cell phone for bed time I still drove back to get it after we were almost home. It was that fun.

I did see a few other Delicas around too...

[mararmeisto]

Just about to go out into it myself! Wohoo!

I miss the 'smell' of snow, so it was nice when I let the dogs out for a pee last night to be reminded of that smell. After growing up in the Interior and on the Prairies, there's nothing like a good snowfall to jerk on the ol' memory strings.

N.B. I moved this thread to the "Events" forum, 'cause around here, snow IS an event! Hope you don't mind...

[rfahren]

We waited until 11:00 last night and then went out for a few spins... as much untravelled snow as we could find, though not too far afield, and several minutes of donuts and figure eights behind Archie Browning (big lot, no lamp standards) I was a little nervous about how skids would feel in a cab-over , but even in 2WD it handled great (and give me rear-wheel drive over front any day) Too much fun!

The cold sure seemed to have affected the clutch pedal return, but once it was warmed up it was fine. Had to put a bit of de-icer in all the locks... now they're working better than before. And that little plexi shield in front of the fogs sure do trap snow.

Looking forward to the trip north now

[mararmeisto]

The thing I have to get used to is how the LSD pushes the vehicle through the corner differently than I'm used to. It's more like a front wheel drive vehicle pulling through the turn. Other than that, I love this van in the snow, especially in 4WD.

[k8bloomer]

My first time in the snow too - I was a shuttle for my choir yestereday to make it from and to practice. Nice and steady although I still had to stay far behind others - cars were slipping around everywhere. And I question why people tailgate me on unplowed slippery streets?
I'm from Ontario so I know the score in snow driving - a little extra safety measure goes a long way.

[mararmeisto]

My first time in the snow too - I was a shuttle for my choir yestereday to make it from and to practice. Nice and steady although I still had to stay far behind others - cars were slipping around everywhere. And I question why people tailgate me on unplowed slippery streets?
I'm from Ontario so I know the score in snow driving - a little extra safety measure goes a long way.

Problem is, you're from Ontario and know what to do, and I'm from the Prairies and know how this snow thing works, but most Victorians are like deer in the headlights when it comes to the white stuff. Or they suddenly develop a very heavy right foot (and I don't quite know what they're thinking when that happens). I usually tap the brakes a bit more to try to entice them to back off, or drive even slower...

[Chewy]

I've noticed that too, it always seems to be the guy/girl in the dodge durango tailgating me down an icy hill with a light at the bottom (quadra and tolmie to be exact).

[dfnder]

I don't think I could survive driving in Victoria in winter, I lived there for 18 months while going to university and it was excruciating at the best of times. Slow drivers with little or no street sense and to make matters worse I was usually riding my motorcycle which nobody would see. Also common was...
- braking at intersections where the light was still green and no hazards in sight
- signaling one way yet turning another
- making right turns onto the road and bypassing the curb lane to get to the center lane
- parking lot mayhem
My heart goes out to those in Victoria and I hope that it has gotten better since I lived there lol.

When I lived in Vancouver and it snowed I would usually go out for a drive just because I enjoy driving in the snow.

[mararmeisto]

...- braking at intersections where the light was still green and no hazards in sight...

This one bothers me to no end. I get it, when the light has been green for a while you're supposed to 'anticipate' a possible red, but I've seen drivers do this when they are the fourth or fifth car in line just after the light has changed to green. What are they 'anticipating'? I've almost run over a couple of them, and it does seem to be a Victorian thing. Very frustrating!

[Jonny5ive]

Although I completely agree about Victoria Drivers... I will admit that we (they) have an excuse;

Most aren't from here and our roads don't actually make any sense. So we have a bundle of tourists, semi-permanent students and other misc. drivers from the outskirts. Then you add in that our roads are wacky and super old... not like a lot of the prairies. We also have locals that aren't used to the conditions at all, after all we only get snow for a week or so a year. Now that being said, this is not a carte blanche to be doing boneheaded moves or drive like a maniac and blame everything on the above issues.

Now then, what about the Winnipeg drivers? Or Calgary drivers? Or even Ontario (Ottawa and Toronto)? What are their excuses? How is it that every fresh snow fall in most of Canada results in pileups and benders all over the place?

I remember when I lived in Nova Scotia hearing a guy make fun of drivers from Nfld... while in Nfld I heard a guy complain about NS drivers (both get the same similar amounts of snow). Same when I lived in Winnipeg and Montreal. And the drivers in Calgary have no excuse! Their roads are great and they have a great plow system... lived there for 9 years and could never get my head around how many accidents happened before I even left the house in the morning.

It's the Canadian way to bitch aboot other cities drivers... particularly in the snow. Know what I mean there... for sure.. eh?

[konadog]

In defence of some of the antics of Victoria drivers in the snow (I grew up there and left in 96), it should be pointed out that the snow in Victoria at -1 or -2 is not anywhere near the same thing as prairie snow at -30. The stuff in Victoria is generally close to melting temp. and so is very slippery and much harder to drive on than the flour-like cold stuff on the prairies. I've seen lots of cars in snowy Victoria ditches sporting prairie plates Even so, I too am appalled at the reckless, bone-headed stunts I see out there. I generally avoid snow driving whenever possible - Hazel is surefooted enough, but the chuckle-heads in 2wds sporting summer tires and driving (or more often clutching the wheel while doing 360's down a hill towards a busy intersection) as if the ice covered roads are clear and dry scare me

[loki]

chuckle-heads in 2wds sporting summer tires and driving (or more often clutching the wheel while doing 360's down a hill towards a busy intersection) as if the ice covered roads are clear and dry scare me

the funny thing is most of the cars I see in the ditches are SUVs and Pickup trucks, in fact on Sunday I drove to Sidney on sunday (the first day of snow) and all of them where.

[jessef]

When I lived in Vancouver and it snowed I would usually go out for a drive just because I enjoy driving in the snow.

Vancouver is horrible for snow/winter drivers. Absolutely horrible.

Victoria drivers are like seasoned rally racers compared to Vancouver drivers when it comes to snow.

I've lived for years in both cities both downtown's and suburb's.