See what happens when it rains in Desert Hell?

[Deserted]

I was driving on one of the local freeways this afternoon when I saw THE FLASHING RED AND BLUE LIGHTS OF DOOM ahead of me. (Fortunately, they were on the other side of the freeway.)

So I cruised past the wreck... and past it... and past it... and past it! Seriously, there were wrecked cars everywhere, stretched over about a mile. As I kept going, I discovered that side of the freeway was closed for 5 miles!

Once I got home, I looked it up on the news... and I was shocked at what I read: it wasn't just one massive pileup, but 3:

eight cars were involved in a crash on the freeway around 1:45 p.m.
[...]
Around the same time, 11 cars were involved in a separate crash
[...]
Additionally, there was a multi-car crash on the off-ramp

All this because the magic water was falling from the sky, and idiot drivers are idiots. People think I'm joking when I say that when it rains here, people die, no matter how light it is.

[csquared]

Here in the Atlanta area, we have a saying:

How do you make an idiot driver? Just add water.

PS. Send water our way. We have not had a measurable rainfall since later September.

[Swordsman422]

csquared, were you in Atlanta for Snowpocalypse? That was fun. One of my friends had to walk 12 miles home after his car got stuck in a traffic jam on HWY 92.

I dunno how it happens down here, but why in the hell do Southern drivers drive stupider when the weather is bad? "Well, I normally drive twenty over, but there's black ice. Better add an extra ten miles an hour just to be safe."

[Crossbow]

Combine idiot drivers and rainfall in an area that hasn't had any in a long time and you're going to get a lot of accidents. It's not just drivers forgetting how to deal with it. Asphalt builds up oils during dry spells and when it does rain (especially heavy) they come to the surface and make the road more slippery than expected. New pavement is even more problematic.

Have you ever seen a white film on new asphalt right after a rain? That's essentially soap.

I've fallen victim to it myself. Heavy rainstorm on a road that had been repaved recently. I had just started from a stoplight so I might have made it up to 25 mph and put the brakes on about 40 yards from a stopped car. I might as well have been on a skating rink. Seriously, my car never slowed down. My car was totaled (Ok, 150K miles and the airbags went off), and theirs was banged up pretty bad.

[eltf177]

Throw in leaves and you have the perfect disaster in the making...

[EricKei]

Even a brief rainfall can be an issue -- especially if it's heavy. NOLA was and/or is known for these, esp. during the summer. 5 minutes of rain = oil on the streets re-liquifies and mixes with the standing water. Need a persistent heavy rain afterwards to get rid of it!

[Lovecats]

Here in the Atlanta area, we have a saying:

How do you make an idiot driver? Just add water.

PS. Send water our way. We have not had a measurable rainfall since later September.

And please send some to NC. I really can't remember our last rain. Now eastern NC doesn't need it right now but in the Western part of the state and the mtns we sure do.

[csquared]

csquared, were you in Atlanta for Snowpocalypse?

I stayed home. The Wife went into work. Took her 13 hours to get home (30 miles). That did include a five hour layover at a Waffle House.

Asphalt builds up oils during dry spells and when it does rain (especially heavy) they come to the surface and make the road more slippery than expected. New pavement is even more problematic.

So true.

[Slave to the Phone]

I have lived in different states. I have driven in different weather in different states. Desert Hell is the only state I have ever lived in that I've dreaded driving in a light rain.

The roads get slick because of all of the time with no rain, windshield wiper blades disintegrate due to the sun and most people that live here aren't from here, so they bring their own driving habits into the mix. Not to mention that there are at least 250 good riding days where I live, the valley gets 300. We are all used to good driving weather.

When something starts to fall from the sky, it can be really bad.

Deserted, consider yourself lucky that you don't live up north. 9 snowflakes on someone's windshield is cause for a 3 town panic panic over an epic storm. We get to add overloaded cars and mom vans to all of the above.

[notalwaysright]

People here don't seem to be able to tell the difference between normal rain and torrential downpour. Specifically, when it's raining so hard that the wipers won't keep up even on the fastest setting, maybe slow down? I think people are overconfident rain drivers. "Haha, this is the PNW, it rains all the time I'm used to it!" Um, we get misty, foggy, light rain. We rarely get hard downpours,* and you absolutely do need to slow down on the highway. We are terrible snow drivers, just the worst.


*This year is an exception, we've had some really hard rain. The stereotype for here is rain, but it should be "cloudy," since that is more accurate.

[MoonCat]

9 snowflakes on someone's windshield is cause for a 3 town panic panic over an epic storm.

Have you been watching our weather reports? :P

That's what happens here too. Peeps, we have had SEVEN FEET of snow in this region, once in 2001 and again in 2014! Compared to that, there is no reason to get worked up about a flurry or two, but every time there is snow in the forecast, the weather reporters go into crazy mode.

[eltf177]

Deserted, consider yourself lucky that you don't live up north. 9 snowflakes on someone's windshield is cause for a 3 town panic panic over an epic storm

All of them heading to the nearest grocery store to stock up lest they run out of food and have to resort to cannibalism...

Within hours every store in the region is out of the following:

1) Any snow shovels and salt they still had in stock
2) Milk
3) Bread
4) Eggs
5) Bottled Water
6) Toilet Paper

[gerund]

I used to live in Cairns, North Queensland. For 3-4 months every summer there are torrential downpours. The rain is not measured in inches, but in yards (or meters).

Still every year the first little shower after winter and there would be cars crashed everywhere. I went out to the northern beaches one spring and there was a few drops of rain while I was out there. On the trip home there was a car parked in the middle of every roundabout. (There are four of them)

As well I have seen a taxi driver charged with driving without due care and attention. His excuse? "It was raining so hard that I couldn't see anything"

1. That happened all the time. We all had to deal with it, mostly by pulling to the side of the road and waiting for it to slow down enough that we could see.

2. The magistrate said to him "That's what you've been charged with." and when he said "Huh?" the magistrate suggested he get a lawyer to explain it to him. He got a maximum fine.

Most people in that town could drive in rain, but some just lost their minds every time it started after a few dry months.

[Valentinian]

csquared, were you in Atlanta for Snowpocalypse? That was fun. One of my friends had to walk 12 miles home after his car got stuck in a traffic jam on HWY 92.

I dunno how it happens down here, but why in the hell do Southern drivers drive stupider when the weather is bad? "Well, I normally drive twenty over, but there's black ice. Better add an extra ten miles an hour just to be safe."

"Gosh, it's dangerous to be out in this - better get home FAST!"

[Pixelated]

Here in My Hometown, you don't have to add water ... idiot drivers are just part of the local population.

And every year when the rain turns into that weird white stuff, people seem to have developed collective amnesia about what it means ... as in, it means ICE ON THE ROADS. But nope ... "I always drive 60, what's the problem??" (That's 60 km per hour; not sure what it works out to in mph, but either way, it's not a speed you should be doing on slick or icy roads.)