Does Snow Change Your Travel Plans?

Posted on Nov 25, 2021 in Safety | Comments Off on Does Snow Change Your Travel Plans?

There was a debate at my house last night involving safety and weather-related travel, and I declared myself the winner, but now I’m not so sure.

My wife, of course, had a good case.

Here’s the situation: On Saturday we had made plans to go out Sunday evening and buy a day bed from a woman who listed it for sale on Craigslist. It was a great bed and priced at just $75. A steal! The problem didn’t arise until later, when Sunday brought about 10 inches of snow and many miles of unplowed roads. I argued that, even with our all-wheel-drive vehicle, making the trip wasn’t worth the safety risk. My lovely wife, on the other hand, said she’d never changed travel plans because of weather and wanted to go get the bed.

Why did I begin to question myself? Because I saw an F1 driver racing his car in the snow. If he could do that, I surely could lumber slowly through a mild snowstorm.

The car in the video above is a Nurburgring Formula car that has a 1.2-liter 4-cylinder engine that makes about 140 horsepower. Weighing just over 1,000 pounds, it isn’t exactly built to tackle slick, snowy roads. It appears, however, to be wearing nice little snow tires, and the little racer never even spins.

The Audi Q7 that would have embarked on the journey last night weighs about 6,000 pounds and is built to tackle slick, snowy roads. It’s currently wearing plain all-season Hankooks.

By the time I saw this video and talked myself out of being afraid of a little snow, the lady with the bed said she’d moved on to another buyer. An hour later, though, she sent a text asking if we could meet her tomorrow.

We excitedly answered in the affirmative, and barring another snowstorm, we’ll go get our bed and put this little disagreement behind us.