31 Jan 14
Additional on Winter Storms:
From a friend in WI:
“Winter conditions here are often life-threatening, because of the cold. Entire stretches of highway have been shut-down, often fifty miles or more. Sometimes, no one can get off for over half a day! Being thus stranded in a stationary car that is running out of gas can be a death-sentence, and has been for some! One thing I’ve learned, and of which I was reminded from looking at Atlanta: you need to stay off of limited-access roads in bad weather. Take roads that give you choices!”
Similar situation in UT:
“Along the Wasatch Front, we’ve built tall, endless sound-barriers, on both sides of our freeways. They represent formidable barriers! This has been duplicated in many other metro areas. Once traffic stops in these corridors, you are hopelessly stuck. You will have to walk for miles to find the end. And, those walls are ingeniously designed so no one can climb over them!”
Comment: In an emergency, where certain freeways are officially designated “Evacuation Routes,” a more descriptive term is “Lemming Lanes!” Getting on one of these in an emergency is the equivalent of voluntarily participating in a “Lock-Down” during an active-murderer episode. The kiss of death!
Additional items for your bad-weather kit:
Trucker’s Road Atlas. It shows all the little roads! Clear, vinyl coating on every page allows you to use marker pens, Spiral-bound, so the pages lay flat. Impervious to spilled coffee and slurpees!
Flashlights
Tow-strap
Wire-cutters. Yes, you may have to drive through fences!
Full tank of gas
The “list” can be endless, but personal preparedness must be a personal imperative for all Operators. VBCs (Victims, by Choice) will predictably be caught unprepared, and are psychologically oriented to do nothing but wait around for someone else to come to their rescue. They will perish, but that is their choice! Not much we can do to help them!
/John
