Why it’s important to drive according to the conditions and to know your car’s limits.
Presumed New Hampshire resident and Redditor /u/MikeyOTB shared dashcam footage from his manager from earlier last month (Jan. 24, 2024).
The footage shows the surprising moment a driver on a highway in Surry, NH decided to speed and overtake on icy, slippery roads and ended up losing control and crashing instead.
Check out /u/MikeyOTB’s manager’s dashcam footage below.
[OC] someone tried passing my manager in a 40mph zone during a freezing rain storm
byu/MikeyOTB inIdiotsInCars
The incident occurred in the 200 block of New Hampshire Route 12 just after Park Dr. (exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As you can see in the dashcam footage and according to the description, it was a cold, wintry day which made the roads icy and slippery.
The speed limit in this area is normally 40 MPH.
OP’s manager is driving along this two-lane road in the early evening when all of a sudden a driver in a White Mazda RX-8 decides to speed past them and overtake going way above 40 MPH.
The Mazda loses traction and the RX-8 skids out of control, crashing into a steel roped guard rail placed there for that exact reason.
“The guy who crashed ended up being totally fine (seatbelts save lives) and my manager waited with him til the police and EMTs arrived.”
“He ended up getting out and started picking pieces out of the road. He luckily knew right away he was the idiot in this situation.”
Note how quickly and safely OP’s manager stopped.
Commenters contribute that to his manager’s car having decent tires.
While many in the comments argued about why exactly the Mazda lost control, incorrectly blaming it being RWD, many agreed that the two contributing factors here were excessive speed for the conditions and likely bad tires.
“Tires, brakes, and ABS are the most important things here. It has nothing to do with drivetrain at all. AWD is useful in the corners and up the hill. Not during the braking,” Apospisla commented.
Another helpful suggestion worth keeping in mind and doing when safe is to find out what your car will do when it loses traction.
“There’s a simpler approach: brake hard where it’s safe and see what happens,” /u/bondafidebob suggested.
“I don’t care what you drive, your brakes will get you to the limit of traction easier than your engine, and this gives you more info about what braking is going to be like no matter what kind of drivetrain your car has.”
This is a reminder to not only take it easy when the conditions reduce road traction but to make sure that you and your car are ready for loss of traction situations; that means making sure your car is in tip-top shape (maintenance is up-to-date, and the right tires are installed) and you know how your car reacts when you lose control.
It goes without saying, but it’s better to find out your car needs new tires and handles in a way you don’t expect in an emergency situation before an accident rather than after.
