Good thing the cars in this video are all moving slowly. Add a little more speed, and the scene would be a driver’s worst nightmare. Imagine a car pileup in front of you on a snowy day, your own skidding wheels and, seconds later, the inevitable crash…
Consider—the reason people can control their cars is that it’s very hard to slide a tire across pavement. Technically speaking, this is because tires are built to have a high coefficient of friction when pressed on a paved road. The coefficient of friction is essentially a ratio of the force it takes to slide two surfaces across each other to the force they’re being pressed together with. A high coefficient of friction means the two surfaces don’t like to slide; a low coefficient of friction means it’s easy. For example, let’s say you’re speeding down the highway and you see a police officer, so you step on your brakes. The amount of force it would take for your car to skid is the weight of your car (the force pressing the car to the road) multiplied by the coefficient of friction. When the pavement is dry, the coefficient of friction is high, so you can apply a lot of braking force without skidding.
On the fateful snowy day in our video, things worked a little differently. When these people pressed the brakes, the heat generated by the tire-on-ice friction created a thin film of water over the frozen surface. The coefficient of friction for tires on ice with a thin film of water between them is pretty much zip, resulting in—you guessed it—auto Ice Capades. It took almost no braking force for the cars to skid and, once skidding, they continued in a uniform motion, on a decline, until they found something that could apply enough force to stop them. The most convenient thing, as it all too often is, was another car.
There’s not a whole lot you can do in a situation like this besides try to steer out of the line of other cars and gently brake in the hopes that your antilock system helps the wheels grip again. What didn’t seem to work was when one guy jumped out of his car, grabbed the door, and tried to stop it himself. Maybe he can bench-press a few, but it’s doubtful he could have competed against the villainous combination of ice, rubber and a low coefficient of friction. —Katherine Ryder
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Hilarious!
Posted by: brad justinen | January 27, 2007 at 09:46 PM
Pretty Scary, I can't imagine that on a school day with my bus full of little kids...
Posted by: Stephen Jacobsen | January 28, 2007 at 10:25 PM
They never heard of wheel chains I suppose.
Posted by: Liam | February 02, 2007 at 10:22 AM
Lol why dont they get out of their cars instead of trying to drive away.
People are funny creatures
Posted by: Gerard | March 13, 2007 at 01:35 AM
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Posted by: motorcycle oil | March 15, 2007 at 11:37 AM
They're idiots! They know for a fact that it's too slippery and still they are trying to drive their car. What is this a game show or something...they are like bump cars on the carnival! whew!!!
Posted by: Marcia L. | July 25, 2007 at 10:28 PM
thats my grandfather!
Posted by: Jon | September 19, 2007 at 08:02 PM
Interesting article. Any idea on where I can get more information on this?
Posted by: Car Loans | June 13, 2008 at 06:57 PM
We barely get snow in Texas. It's so hard to imagine how life is going to be if it's snowy all the time.
Posted by: soft play | November 09, 2009 at 03:57 PM
that can obviously happen whenever there are raining of snow in your country, thats why authorities are always make sure that this don happen again.
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Posted by: divisas forex | February 02, 2010 at 01:36 PM
They're idiots! They know for a fact that it's too slippery and still they are trying to drive their car. What is this a game show or something...they are like bump cars on the carnival! whew!!!
johnson
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Posted by: scoremore | November 15, 2010 at 07:44 AM
I had friend who starts to accelerate in a high way until the police start chase him and them he just when slowly for a 50 miles that was so funny hehe
Posted by: kamagra | November 15, 2010 at 04:17 PM
This video is amazing, I have not idea how catastrophic is the ice during the winter. I mean, I have watch some news about this, but honestly I never analyzed the real consequences of this natural disaster.
Posted by: Viagra Online | November 16, 2010 at 10:44 AM
Ever winter I watch and watch videos and cars doing the same stuff, when people will realize that rubber and ice dont go hand in hand, at least put some chains on the tires.
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Posted by: unsecured business funding | December 27, 2010 at 02:31 AM
A high coefficient of friction means the two surfaces don’t like to slide.
Posted by: leather hamsa bracelet | December 27, 2010 at 03:57 AM
It’s obvious that it will happen whenever there are raining of snow in your country, thats why authorities are always make sure that this don happen again.
Posted by: conference table | December 30, 2010 at 07:42 AM
why don't they just stop driving, sop trying to drive, they'll just keep hitting into things
Posted by: women bracelets | January 11, 2011 at 01:12 AM
I have one question in my mind that why did the first guy HIT THE GAS? Why were people even DRIVING in this if you can barely walk on it?
Posted by: buy cellular phone | January 12, 2011 at 01:31 AM
A high coefficient of friction means the two surfaces don’t like to slide.
Posted by: reception desk | January 12, 2011 at 06:02 AM
Oh and where are the snow plows, my city would have them out in 20 seconds
Posted by: wishbone bracelets | January 19, 2011 at 03:44 AM
I am very afraid of this Ice Attack. I had well exp of this as I had suffered in last Dec.
Posted by: recycling cell phones | January 19, 2011 at 08:18 AM