Jim 77

Preface: Nobody hurt. Car repairable.

I was driving along route 30, 8:30 pm sunday. Here in PA we had enough snow on thursday that things are still slick on the roads, but it wasn't a blizzard or otherwise out of the ordinary for winter. I have been driving my car daily, even through the snow. Back to rte 30. I was doing 40-45 in a 45. All alone on the road (thank God for small miracles!) Like an idiot, I was in the right lane (mistake). I am not sure what exactly happened. My front end got away from me. Fast. Either I hit some snow/ice or maybe a chunk of ice fell from my snow filled fender? Anyway, I fishtailed in every direction and unfortunately don't remember exactly my reaction. I crashed into a snow bank, but by this time I was going so slow that I didn't even feel the tug of my seat belt. Broke the signal lens, grill, and spoiler, and cracked the glass by the side marker. I also have a new bad squeeking noise coming from that wheel.
I am so glad this happened on a sunday night, and glad there was a bank of snow between me and the sign I was so close to hitting. There were also people who saw it and helped get everything under control. Most improtantly, the roads were almost empty.
So what to do now? My reaction time and general awareness are not what they should be. Where do I go to find classes to be better prepared in these hopefully rare moments?
And now the reminder: Ice sucks. Careful.

Corey_68

That's the important thing. :yesnod:

Sorry to hear about that, never experienced that in Louisiana. :nonod:

tnt76vette

Sorry to hear but glad you and no one else was hurt. Reaction time on ice is generally about 5 nanoseconds too slow no matter how fast your reaction time, so dont be too hard on yourself OK? Car is fixable, you are healthy (and wiser), and no one else was hurt.....Just write this one off to experience and remember this the next time the snow flys......... :cheers: :cheers:

L48Shark

I can only suggest to everyone to do like I did and preemptively spend the repair costs on an old pickup truck and drive it in poor weather. I picked up my '67 Chevy long-wide for about the cost of a new front clip + labor. Of course, safety is never assured. My '77 Vette was wiped out on a beautiful Friday afternoon by a moron in a truck. Not much your reaction time can do about someone who doesn't look both ways before turning. :mad

Glad you were also not injured. :cheers:

pingdashf

I trade in my corvette during the winter time for a snowboard. In fact, I was in PA boarding thursday because of the same snow storm your mentioned. I highly suggest the board as an alternative to vettes during the winter time around here.

Desertdawg

Sorry to hear you wrecked, but happy that your ok...

Colin

Sorry to hear about the '77. http://www.bsr-inc.com/ Check out that website. They're an excellent driving school that trains a few law enforcement agencies and race car driving basics. Their training applies very well to normal daily driving. I was able to break a lot of bad habits after going through their weekend class.

Colin

stickboy

Sorry to hear about your vette. I just put mine vette away because they put salt/cinders on the roads. I'm not sure what part of 30 you are near, but here in York it seemed like they forgot how to remove the snow :rolleyes: . The roads were horrible.

Alwyn678

I would be Scared to death to drive the vette in theat kind of Weather....... I would seek an alternative car for the winter beater

chevyjeff

VETTES+SNOW=@#$%#^$ :nono:
JUST SAY NO TO SNOW :nonod:

NHvette

I like a steel car in the winter. FWD or 4WD - and heavy with good tires.
A decent steel car can hold up better to the occasional snow bank, too.

Wish you luck - and buy a truck.
:seeya

The Money Pit

I've been a year round driver for 8 years now with no incedents. About two weeks ago the rear end came around on a wet road before it got cold enough to freeze. I parked the Vette. Call it intuition,just a bad feeling or something.
Put 1.60 ockers on it this weekend,and can hardly wait to throttle the hell out of it,but I think I'll wait till spring.

scottw

Sorry to hear about your accident but thank goodness no one was hurt.
I have to agree about an extra car. If you can, buy a 1980 POS and drive it in the snow. If you wreck it, who cares, its a POS as opposed to you 77.

Robert N

Glad nobody was hurt. Sounds to me though there may have been little you could do. I am very experienced (CDL, HazMat license) and have controlled many skids on ice and snow. I have also lost a few. The only rules in a skid - NO BRAKES, get off the gas, make minor steering corrections turning the wheel in the direction of the rear fishtail. Sometimes it happens too fast for any reaction other than instinct. I tend to believe that unless you train for this situation on a regular basis so the response becomes instinctive, know what to do is only partially helpful.

It has been years since I have regularly driven in snow and ice. I am not so sure that I would do any better.

stpman

sorry to hear about your wreck but real glad your OK

My daughter had the same thing happen to her a week ago friday, hit
black ice and slid into the ditch, a little shaken but ok. the damage to the car all repairable (had it fixed in less than a week).

Steve

0Mike69@ECS

Wow Jim!!! I'm sorry to hear that!!!! Ice sucks... In a vette it's pretty much always gonna suck. I'm glad you are ok! It's a rare thing to find 30 empty - so count your blessings...

Dont tell me it was in tredefrin twp right??? They always maintain the roads sooooooo well! :rolleyes: :mad

Now how bads the car???? What kinda squeek is it???? Have you had a chance to climb under there and take a look yet????

Jim 77

Things cleared up after sleeping. I dropped it off for daycare at the mechanic by my work, and it was all checked out (no mechanical damage) by the time I was done.
In the AM I poked around to see if I was comfortable to take it to the shop, and I found my signal lens stuffed in a snowball where the grill used to be! The socket and bulb were also intact, but far from the lens :lol:
The body damage was worse than I thought. Looks like glass and paint are lessons I will learn by spring! It was really cheap paint, anyway...
And there is still that front end work that I really should do.
I had been driving in the snow, and I think it is fun. But, the in-between time is worse. The roads were all clear, except for that one spot. Just enough that I let my guard down. This is where the warning is: don't let your guard down until spring!
Thinking about a winter beater. May be a good idea :rolleyes:
Mike- I think it was 'East Whiteland" township. The roads were well maintained, except for one spot... I crashed in front of someplace that was selling christmas trees, it was a very "Gremlins" moment :lol:
And I saw the "supporting tuner" thread... pretty :cool:

burners

That's a real bummer but I'm glad you are ok. Ice is the most treacherous. I've had my share of experiences and near wrecks. To me it isn't worth it, I'll wait until it warms up or they clear the roads but there are still those unexpected patches like you discovered.

Frank75

Glad you weren't hurt and not too much damage.

Actually, if you're going to drive a rear-wheel drive car in winter, vettes have pretty good weight distribution. :yesnod: You can't do much about ice, though, unless you have studded tires or possibly some of the newer style tires (like the Blizzaks I just put on my Subaru). And be careful of 4WD: everyone thinks it's the solution to all wintertime problems. Given a choice, I've never used it unless it's absolutely necessary. Great for traction, helps while turning, does squat for braking and I've had both front and rear ends out of control (sliding) on ice a couple of times. It's nice to have front and rear axles independent of each other when super-slippery.

killain

I'd say take some defensive driving courses. But there are no real driving courses designed to perpare you for ice, or black ice for that matter. Ice is treacherous and very unforgiving! the best defense against it is parking the car till it's melted. Your lucky you got off as light as you did. :nonod: