The road can be a dangerous place, especially when the weather gets cold. Unfortunately the driver behind the wheel of this Chevy Tahoe had to learn that lesson the hard way after spinning out on an icy highway, as seen in the following brief video.
Clocking in at just 21 seconds, this video was recently posted to reddit, showing an overcast, snowy late afternoon. According to the comments, the highway in question is Interstate 90 near Snoqualmie in Washington state, with a time stamp showing 5:30 p.m. local time last Friday.
The video is taken from a dash cam from another vehicle cruising in the middle lane. We see a large semi-truck rolling by in the righthand lane. According to a readout in the bottom right corner of the screen, the camera car is traveling at about 45 mph.
In the left lane, we spot a Chevy Tahoe SUV that’s matching the speed of the semi. Unfortunately for the SUV, half of the left lane is covered in snow and ice, making it exceedingly dangerous, especially when traveling at highway speeds.
As the Chevy Tahoe passes the camera car, the SUV starts to lose grip in the rear, pitching to the left as the car swings into the middle lane. The driver attempts to collect the oversteer, but the snow and ice dividing the lanes makes it impossible, sending the SUV into an uncontrollable tank-slapper.
As the SUV fishtails out of control, it appears to tap the semi in the rightmost lane, finally pirouetting and crashing into the leftmost barrier. Pieces of the Chevy Tahoe fly into the air, with a thick mist of snow and ice obscuring the view. The SUV finally comes to a rest facing the wrong way, the front end clearly mangled by the impact.
It’s a nasty crash, and hopefully all involved walked away unscathed.
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Comments
Look like bridge that glazed over.
There’s always that person who thinks they can go faster no matter what. Pure and simple: Too fast for conditions.
When I had my TBSS awd, I plowed through snow but drove cautiously in bad weather. 4wd/awd isn’t a license to drive anyway you want in bad weather.
Guestt: You said it best. So many people out there have a false sense of security because of 4 wd or AWD.
Guest
4wd vehicle’s are usually sold with off-road driving in mind. Big fat tires grabbing large amounts of mud. Throwing it behind you. Giving you forward momentum.
Snow has no weight to it. It’s water mixed with air. You want thinner tires that cut through the snow.
My mother would ask me if we were going to help people in the ditch during the winter, up in Fort Wayne, IN. I always said ‘if anyone should be in that ditch, it should be me’. I was driving a 2014 Chevy Sonic 1.8L FWD. I always started my accelerations in 2nd gear JUST IN CASE of slippage. The Sonic actually drives really well in Snowy conditions
Dan Berning
Speed has very little to do with this accident. In wintery weather vehicle traffic pushes all the ice, snow and slush between the lanes. Forming a burm. An experienced driver knows they have to get all 4 tires across the burm. This guy gets in trouble because he changes lanes too quickly, and starts to straighten out while his front drivers side tire is still in the burm.
So what are my 12.5×35 inch Mud and Snow rated tires for???
You couldn’t be more wrong Peter, big off road snow rated tires are best for, umm snow and mud,its why there is a M+S on the sidewall of my tires, rated for mud and snow
Your not even close, you go ahead with your skinny tire theory and I will tow you out of the next snow drift you get stuck in……. with my big fat (traction grabbing) mud and snow rated tires
Tom
Alaska’s native Inuit people have 20 different words for snow. How many different types of snow are your tires rated for?
Maybe you should tell the people who drive tractor-trailer trucks about these tires. They use tire chains driving through snowy areas
Snow chains are required for those who decide to visit the snow including in Julian and Palomar Mountain. … Chains or traction devices required on all vehicles except 4x4s/AWD vehicles with snow-tread tires on all four wheels (Note: ALL vehicles MUST carry chains)
This is the official CHP Notice^^^^
See the exception for 4×4’s with snow rated tires!
I was able to proceed with my 4×4 on 35’s with M+S rating
I use real life experiences to form my opinions Peter, I have been there and done that, I know because I was there!
M+S rated tires exist, read the notice.
Big Rigs use retreaded tires Peter they may not be rated for snow? I don’t know I am not a truck driver, I do see trucks carrying tire chains though. I am talking about the tires on My own truck. I do not need to look for the facts they are outside on my truck. TIRES ARE RATED FOR SNOW EVER HEAR OF SNOW TIRES.
anyway Peter Your in denial, if you believe snow has no weight, snow tires dont exist .
M+S rated tires exist, look it up.
Tom
How did different tires for mud and snow become. Snow tires don’t exist?
I don’t feel like arguing so I’m going to take your side. May even lead to a new sport like hockey. But instead of thin blades to cut into the Ice, players will wear tennis rackets on their feet.
If you live and drive in winter conditions you should know that when you feel like you’re going to slip you “DON’T TOUCH THE BRAKES AT ALL ” foot off gas pedal to help you keep control of your vehicle. “DON’T TOUCH THE BRAKES “if you do your going to lose it and end up just like the Tahoe,
PS. GOODYEAR has 25 words for the word snow tire………………..
One other thought on this Peter…….
Recently I did some Mountain driving in the snow, Chains were required, except for those who had M+S rated tires…… I had snow rated tires and did not require chains, hmmmmm I wonder why that is??? I did not need chains because I didn’t have those skinny summer rated tires you claim work so well on My vehicle. Traction is about contact with the ground Peter, a bigger contact patch gives you more traction PERIOD!!!! No matter what conditions if you want more traction a fatter tire with a bigger contact patch will provide it, that is why We air Our tires down when off roading, to get a bigger contact patch for more traction.
Most tires today will get you where you need to go with a little common sense and skill.
The greatest issue here in the snow belt of the Great Lakes is the fact so many people are driving on worn out tires. If you look so many cars are on very worn tires and there is no way to get traction if you have little tread.
I have driven for years and been on any number of kinds and types of tires. I always got where I was going accept when I am sitting in traffic for an idiot on a hill spinning the tires as they are worn out.
Tires are expensive and many put them off till they have a more expensive crash.
Today’s tread designs and the new compounding have made most tires very good in snow.
The trouble is often bad tires look much like the good and few do their homework to know what they are buying. Too often it is the cheapest imported tire that has none of the advanced compounding.
Peter G: Having been a police officer and handling many accidents in the cold and snowy winters of Illinois, I must say you are totally wrong. It’s exactly why so many (like in this video) end up in the ditch or in an accident.
Speed has everything to do with it. You are not wrong about the “burm”, but you are wrong otherwise. In fact, I find it funny that your own words say: “because he changes lanes too quickly”. So going too fast?
Dan Berning
So If I’m quickly talking off my jacket, stopped at a red light, and I get rear ended. I would get the ticket because I used the word “quickly”.
Cop logic, no wonder all the black people here in Chicago are pissed.
Peter G: What the heck are you talking about? Trying to fight logic (and the laws of physics) with silly comments? Should I take it that you are just trying to be funny?
And I’m not going to where you are attempting to take this. I’m not a police officer any more. It’s in my past and for good reason as I could see how things were and I didn’t agree with nor like it. In other words, I was certainly one of the (many) good police officers out there that were/are grouped in with the bad (too many of them). So let’s keep the conversation to the real topic here.
Sorry, at the limits of my public school education. I do not know a way of saying “quickly changing lanes” without using a synonym for the word quick.
Since “quick” can only mean driving a car at a high rate of speed. I am at a loss for words.
I see. A way to say it would be to just say “changing lanes”. Quickly is an adjective that describes how they changed lanes, as in a fast and erratic manner. The speed is a given in this example, where the drivers speed certainly plays a role in this accident happening. Had the driver been going slower, by even 10 mph, the chances are much greater that they would not have had this accident. But because they were driving a 4WD vehicle (maybe in an AWD mode??), they had a false sense of security.
Gorgeous pass Snoqualmie I90. Grandparents used to have a log cabin past Roslyn’s Cafe of Northern Exposure fame. Beautiful area
I know that stretch of I-90 well. It can be treacherous.
That idiot didn’t even hit the brakes to help slow his vehicle when it started to happen.
Hitting the brakes on ice would have made things even worse. I think it was smart not to hit the brakes. Does anyone else agree?
Yes hitting the brakes would have been a big mistake.
What may have started this is he lifted off the gas.
I wager he was driving and the roads were not icy. Then he hit the bridge felt the Tahoe sliding lifted and went into a spin.
Hey Tom. Peter is correct. You do want the thinnest tire available in the snow. You want all the weight of your vehicle dispursed over the narrowest possible patch. That will give you the best traction. But I bet your 35s look cool.
We don’t know what type tire the Tahoe had. We do know he was driving too fast for conditions. Changing lanes at that spot with a berm of snow/ice was dumb. Safest would have been four studded snow tires. They really work. Still might not have prevented this screw up?
A few rears ago i was traveling west on I 90 going through Erie PA. It was very cold, in the 20s. There was a lot of snow in the grass but absolutely none on the road.
I was going a little faster than I should because I trusted in my new Michelin tires traction control, stability control, anti lock brakes, AWD and there was no snow on the road.
What i didn’t know is that I had hit a sheet of black ice.
My exit was coming up, i needed to switch lanes. I press the gas to get around the car beside me. Now I’m sliding sideways to the left then to the right the to the left again cars on my right, the ditch on my left i never touched the brakes but it was just me, my steering wheel and my God. My right rear quarter hit side of a pickup truck but I was finally able to get the car under control again pull over and breath.
Folks with 4WD often forget that everyone has 4 wheel brakes. 4WD may help one not get stuck, but they may not help much slowing down or maintaining control. I’ve been passed many times on that stretch of road by large 4WD trucks and SUVs only to see them in the ditch a few miles down the road.
Jared Smith: Very well said! I laugh constantly about people and their 4WD or AWD false sense of security. As stated above, I was a police officer in snowy Illinois for 10 years. I also grew up on a farm in that area and my dad was the fist in the area to have a true 4WD truck (back in the early 70’s). I’ve sold cars/trucks back in IL and now work in the fleet department at a dealership in CA. From the various areas of experience I have, I’ve seen just how misinformed so many people are about the drive systems and what the benefits are.
I’ve often told people that AWD/4WD is ONLY good for moving forward or rearward. It does nothing for you once the vehicle begins to slide sideways or spin out of control. It does nothing for you once you begin to brake and lose traction. It’s this false sense of security that dealers love to sell the sheep out there.
If cars tr and SUVs are all the same
And everyone’s driving skills are all the same.
Why are we All here? And why don’t we all drive Camrys?
Should just go work as a mechanic at a Toyota dealership. Listen to people tell me how reliable their broken down car is.
Yes I agree. I learned that the hard way.
4 Wheel Drive does not mean 4 Wheel Stop…play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Ignorant logic: Can’t debate subject, go to ignorant Racism.
Brilliant
Speed contributes to *all* wrecks, but that doesn’t mean the cause of all wrecks is speed. So “too fast” is the definition of a wreck, and not really meaningful.
Not all SUV and trucks are 4×4/awd. And not all 4×4 are in AWD all the time. Plenty of people forget to turn it on in mountain passes.
I have seen more 2wd drive vehicles stuck or wrecked in snow, than 4x4s. AWD may not make crashing due to loss of control impossible, but I bet the data says it makes it less probable.
Because of how traction control and stability control work on modern cars/trucks, I bet 4×4/awd vehicles CAN stop better in show and ice in real world conditions. Certainly true of the vehicles I drive.
Rule #1 in Snow and Ice, do not travel at a speed where you have to brake hard…. smooth and steady,, increase brake distance to a ridiculous point then add a little more… be cautious of any change of speed or direction, and as a general rule, don’t be the one passing semis and other vehicles… be the one filming the other idiots.
Winter driving 🚗 on ice is totally different than driving in snow. The type of tires do make a big difference but usually winter accidents are usually caused by speed and not knowing how to correct your driving once you start to lose control.
I can tell you from experience that you have to get the best tires and know what you’re driving abilities limits are . I drove over to Seattle for 16 weeks during the winter last year for chemotherapy and radiation treatment. I drive a 4×4 truck and once last my wife and me coming back home it was blowing snow and ice on the roads and I needed to get over before they shut it down. I was driving around 70 all the way over and had cars and trucks spinning out around us and I didn’t even slip once. Falken ATW 3 hands down best traction tires
I live in Canada and tomorrow (May 20, 2021) they’re forecasting 2cm of snow. It always seems to snow on the May long weekend in Calgary. I suspect that the driver was using cruise control, which is a quick way to get into this trouble. When you’re on snow and ice, cruise control is your enemy, not your friend no matter what kind of tires or drivetrain you have.