Living in areas of the US, with snow and ice during winter, drivers learn how to cope with freezing temperatures and bad road conditions.
In my job I will travel through states that don’t get much in the way of a freeze followed by a state that does have severe winter conditions. Sometimes in the same day.
I will let you in on a little secret that can make your travel safer and let you know when to start looking for a place to get off the road.
The secret is in the mirrors of big trucks.
If you want to know what is ahead of you on the highways you know to look at the oncoming traffic. When you see them coming at you covered in snow while your vehicle has been relatively dry you can be assured you are going into snow.
Today we traveled through Tennessee on I-40 from Memphis toward Nashville. The forecasts have been for rain and freezing rain turning to ice. Looking at the outside mirror on my side it wasn’t freezing yet.
When it is safe for you to do so, look at the outside mirror housing and bracket of big trucks as they pass you, or coming at you from the opposite direction if they are close enough.
The left of the two photos is the mirror bracket. The top and bottom brackets hold the mirror to the truck’s frame or door. This piece is metal, usually aluminum. Metal will get colder more quickly than the plastic housing of standard car and pickup truck mirrors.
The trucks are higher than the cars and are in the slip stream or air currents more than cars are. This means the aluminum is exposed to the cold air more than you are. When the outside air temperatures are freezing, or below, you will see a rim of ice form on the metal bracket. Wet snow and rainy conditions can cause the mirror bracket to have an ice build up of nearly half an inch.
The photo on the right in the above picture is the mirror housing. In big trucks there are electric bundles to power the mirrors to adjust. There is also a heating element in the housing to keep the mirrors dry. The electricity used to power each component does not give off heat.
Like the metal brackets the mirror housing, although plastic, is in the wind. Ice will build up on the housing. Sometimes just on the leading edge and other times the entire piece will be covered in a thick coat of ice or snow.
When you see the build up increasing as you are passed by big trucks it is time to begin thinking about getting off the road. In some cases it may already be too late.
If you have to drive in freezing conditions give the vehicle in front of you lots of room. Maybe now would be a good time to remind you of the “Three Second Rule”.
As the back end of the vehicle in front of you passes a bridge abutment, speed limit sign, or exit marker sign begin counting ….. one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand. If the hood of your vehicle reaches the bridge abutment, or speed limit sign you used as a marker, BEFORE you can count to three one thousand back off. Slow down until you safely count to three one thousand at the next marker.
You have a choice. Drive safely and arrive at your destination a little ticked at me for slowing you down. Or find yourself waiting in the median or in the trees, in a very cold vehicle, while you wait for the tow truck to get you hauled out and the ambulance to carry you to a hospital.
I can live with you being PO’d at me. I see way too many wrecks. I seriously don’t want to pass you all wadded up somewhere on the roads I travel.
Drive safely. You have a spouse or significant other waiting at home for a hug and some love to shower you with. You might also have some children that are waiting to hear your voice as you read the bed time story to them.
Leslie
Foolishness and Mayhem 
January 16th, 2013 at 10:59 am
Far too many people don’t drive to suit the road conditions – idiots that drive far too fast on icy roads or in fog/low cloud situations because they can. At the moment we are in a freezing zone! We had a little snow on Sunday which fast melted away on Monday and then everything froze up solid so our part of the driveway/track is like a skating rink although the main track is not so bad. We have had freezing temperatures every night and hardly any day time thaw and now there is a nasty snow storm on its way for the early hours of Friday morning – how much we get remains to be seen! Let us hope this freezing/snowy weather system does not last long.
Keep warm and safe )
Love and hugs
Lynn xx
January 18th, 2013 at 2:45 pm
The fire lasts as long as wood/coal is put on 🙂 It all depends on how cold it is on whether we have the open fire going in the daytime but we tend to let it go out at night and relight the following day unless there is a big enough piece of wood on there that smoulders away overnight and just needs a few sticks to bring it back to life again the next day. The Rayburn on the other hand – the one that heats the kitchen, provides hot water and cooking facilities – is going from early morning till bedtime. The Rayburn has been converted to burn waste motor oil so we don’t keep it going overnight as it is difficult to regulate the temperature and we would hate it to suddenly soar so high it shattered the Rayburn which is built from Cast Iron. When we burnt just wood on it then we would bank it up well before going to bed and Rod would ‘feed’ it in the night when he did his nightly bathroom runs!!
I am not really so ill just trying to fight off a head cold which leaves me with pounding headaches and shivering bouts – think my immune system is very good so it tends to fight this bugs well but sometimes actually having the bug and getting it over with is better than constantly having your body in battle 🙂
Love and hugs
Lynn xx