Massive Blizzard Paralyses East Coast Of USA

[Arthur Little]

Fierce snowstorms ... the worst for 20 years, have hit the Eastern United States ... with Washington DC - where the 'White House' has "turned even whiter" - being particularly badly affected by drifts of
up to 21/2 ft deep recorded in parts of the nation's Capital ... bringing the City's MAIN transport systems to a standstill!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35374741

[Trefor]

Apart from those living in the mountainous areas, the average US driver is terrible in the snow. They think their 4WD pickup truck is invincible. The problem is there is usually ice under the snow as they get very cold weather. You can guess the rest.

[Michael Parnham]

They should lower the tyre pressures to 15lb psi, one of the tricks of off roaders also keep revs as low as possible

[Arthur Little]

They should lower the tyre pressures to 15lb psi, one of the tricks of off roaders also keep revs as low as possible

Hmm ... I didn't know that, Michael ... d'they still use chains nowadays?

[Michael Parnham]

Hmm ... I didn't know that, Michael ... d'they still use chains nowadays?

Experienced off road drivers don't use snow chains in snow they use years of knowledge and common sense, I did 9 years of off roading during the 90's when at that time I owned a Jeep CJ7 with a 350 AMC 5.9 v8 engine and could tackle any terrain including hill climbing on soft sand and also serious hill climbing in snowy conditions, the trick was to maintain idle speed and lower tyre pressures and one almost never got stuck, the downhill runs were the most dangerous but always successful at lowest possible revs in lowest gear. Hope you understand all this Arthur!

[Arthur Little]

Experienced off road drivers don't use snow chains in snow they use years of knowledge and common sense, I did 9 years of off roading during the 90's when at that time I owned a Jeep CJ7 with a 350 AMC 5.9 v8 engine and could tackle any terrain including hill climbing on soft sand and also serious hill climbing in snowy conditions, the trick was to maintain idle speed and lower tyre pressures and one almost never got stuck, the downhill runs were the most dangerous but always successful at lowest possible revs in lowest gear. Hope you understand all this Arthur!

Thank you for your explanation, Michael ... the thing is - as I had mentioned on Simon's thread - I'm not a driver myself, and ... ... know even less about the "mechanics" of ANY kind of vehicle, to be frank. But I do remember my dad fitting chains to the wheels of his Austin travelling shop for delivering groceries to customers in outlying farm areas during the heavy snowfalls of the 1950s & early 60s and wondered whether the practice continued into modern times.

[SimonH]

Still used Arthur, in fact it's illegal not to carry them on certain roads in France and Switzerland

[Arthur Little]

Still used Arthur, in fact it's illegal not to carry them on certain roads in France and Switzerland

... thanks to you too, Simon for your input.

[Michael Parnham]

Thank you for your explanation, Michael ... the thing is - as I had mentioned on Simon's thread - I'm not a driver myself, and ... ... know even less about the "mechanics" of ANY kind of vehicle, to be frank. But I do remember my dad fitting chains to the wheels of his Austin travelling shop for delivering groceries to customers in outlying farm areas during the heavy snowfalls of the 1950s & early 60s and wondered whether the practice continued into modern times.

I would think people who live in hilly rural area's would possibly still use chains when the occasion arises!