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Re: IF it's 34 here.....(Florida)...............
#72138 12/17/04 08:28 PM
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That's good to know about the new AWD vehicles. I figured all that stuff to be merely marketing hype.

Maybe all the snake-oil audio vultures have made me overly cynical?

Re: IF it's 34 here.....(Florida)...............
#72139 12/17/04 09:16 PM
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In my personal experience w/ hydroplaning, most instances resolve themselves almost immediately, as long as the driver doesn't freak out and try to over-compensate. You're driving a very heavy vehicle that wants to be on the ground. If you lose that traction, take the foot off the gas and don't slam on the breaks. The car will get it's traction back. Again, it's when the people around you spaz out and slam the breaks or jerk the wheel real quickly that the problems arise.

I could be completely wrong about this, but it seems to me that every time that I hydroplane it seems to resolve when I let off the gas and simply control the wheel, not overadjust.....Who knows, maybe I've just been lucky.

Now, when it comes to ice or black ice, I have to surrender to the powers that be. Even with experience, you're really just not going to stop a car that's gone into a solid slide on ice. Small patches are one thing, but heaving coverings are another thing. I had seen plenty of cars slide out up in the North in the snow, but that's nothing compared to what I've seen down here w/ the ice storms. The cars really can't correct once they're in a good slide...you just have to bend over and kiss it good-bye. Each year we get to see footage of transit buses sliding into cars and the like. It make for good TV....as long as you're not the one inside.

Re: IF it's 34 here.....(Florida)...............
#72140 12/17/04 10:11 PM
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During our most recent El Nino I watched an SUV with oversized tires hydroplane right across two lanes and onto the shoulder of the 57. He turned his tires carefully this and way and that, but it didn't affect the direction his car was going! There was about 4-6" of standing water on the 57 at that time.

Re: IF it's 34 here.....(Florida)...............
#72141 12/17/04 10:42 PM
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Yes...letting off the gas will usually correct it...but why not slow down so it never happens in the first place? Just a thought.

I was heading north on the 5 just as you enter the San Jacquin valley. The sky just completely opened up. I've never in my life seen rain like that before. Being as we were in SoCal, cars and trucks were flying past us. I slowed down to about 30mph...then finally simply pulled over. You just plain couldn't see well enough. Within 5 minutes the rain stopped and I started on my way again. In less than a one mile stretch I counted 11 cars and trucks off the road in the ditch. I waved at some as I drive by with a big smile on my face.

Idiots.



Re: IF it's 34 here.....(Florida)...............
#72142 12/17/04 10:49 PM
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That reminds me. Why is it that "The 5" out in Cali is the only road I know of in the US that isn't just called by it's number. Around here, we would say get on 95S (one of our main highways), not The 95S. I was in San Diego back in February and thought this was kind of odd. Didn't know if there was a reason, or if it was just one of those things that people started saying it that way, so now everyone says it that way.

Re: IF it's 34 here.....(Florida)...............
#72143 12/17/04 10:52 PM
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Ah! This is actually a subject I'm perversely interested in. It's only "the 5" in Southern California, where most freeways are commonly referred to as "the #" In Northern California, it's "5" and all freeways are referred to as "#". Hence, "the 405" and "580."

Wow, that was pretty boring, wasn't it?


I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
Re: IF it's 34 here.....(Florida)...............
#72144 12/17/04 11:07 PM
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One theory on that I've come up with is that out here in Cali, they call them "freeways". Where back East we always called them Interstates.

The word "interstate" always came first, and we'd often shorten "Interstate 95" to "I95".

Out here the use of the word "freeway" comes second. For example, "The 405 freeway". It gets shortened to "the 405".

Just my theory...and as you can tell, I've spent far too much time wondering about it myself.






Re: IF it's 34 here.....(Florida)...............
#72145 12/17/04 11:13 PM
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Ooh, good point. I've heard the 5 referred to as "I-5", but I'm not sure where the people who refer to it that way call home.


I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
Re: IF it's 34 here.....(Florida)...............
#72146 12/18/04 01:31 PM
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Alright...I'll buy that. Another mystery of the world solved! I guess the North Ca. people just shorten it all the way (like the "I" gets dropped around here) and just call it the number.

Re: IF it's 34 here.....(Florida)...............
#72147 12/18/04 02:43 PM
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I think that makes perfect sense, Craig, and I suspect you're absolutely right. "The 405 freeway" would logically get shortened to "the 405." "Interstate 95" would logically get shortened to "I95," then ultimately to just "95."

Here in Cleveland, we mostly just use the number, or the number with "I" in front of it. " If you're coming in on I90, take it to 271, go to I480, then get off 480 at Clague, etc."

Being a speech major in college, I love, and am fascinated by, the diversity of terms used around the country. I enjoy learning what areas of the country call it "pop," and what areas call it "soda." And will those of you in the Northeast please clarify what a "frappe" is? I can't remember if it's what we here in the Midwest call a "soda" or a "milkshake, or a "malted."

Who, here, has NEVER heard the term "tree lawn"? Those who have may say so, but please don't reveal what it is. I'm curious to see how widespread, or narrow, the usage of a term like that is.

And while I'm asking questions, would somebody explain to me how Cleveland, which is 500 miles from New York City, and 2500 miles from San Francisco is included in the "Midwest"? Just guessing, I'd suspect the term started back when anything West of the Mississippi was considered "the West."

Sorry. It's obviously a lazy Saturday morning, with not much to do.


Jack

"People generally quarrel because they cannot argue." - G. K. Chesterton
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