Slip-Slidin' Away

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

Related:
Click here for more Breakdowns

Comments

[brad justinen]

Hilarious!

[Stephen Jacobsen]

Pretty Scary, I can't imagine that on a school day with my bus full of little kids...

[Liam]

They never heard of wheel chains I suppose.

[Gerard]

Lol why dont they get out of their cars instead of trying to drive away.

People are funny creatures

[motorcycle oil]

A few years ago, it was difficult to find synthetic motor oils, and equally difficult to find someone who admitted to using them. Nowadays, however, you can find synthetic motor oils on the shelves of Wal-Mart, and other retailers, and the number of people turning to synthetic motor oils, particularly in light of the recent events affecting fuel prices, has risen greatly.

So why do people use synthetic motor oils rather than sticking with the old petroleum based stand-bys which are admittedly cheaper?

1. Let's start with the cost per quart issue. Synthetic motor oils ARE more expensive at purchase. However, these oils last longer, requiring fewer oil changes. As a synthetic motor oil outlasts several changes of petroleum based lubricants, the ultimate out-of-pocket cost of the lubricant is less. This cost savings becomes even greater if you have someone else change your oil for you rather than doing it yourself!

[Marcia L.]

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!!!

[Jon]

thats my grandfather!

[Car Loans]

Interesting article. Any idea on where I can get more information on this?

[soft play]

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.

[garmin portable friction mount]

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.

[divisas forex]

hello good info

[shower water filter]

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
http://www.purewaterhq.com/shower-filters.html

[buy steroids]

great article. No comments.

[scoremore]

A synthetic motor oil outlasts several changes of petroleum based lubricants, the ultimate out-of-pocket cost of the lubricant is less, I liked your blog it’s very interesting, your information had helped me very much, Please keep on posting the related information regarding this Article.

[kamagra]

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

[Viagra Online]

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.

[generic viagra]

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.

[unsecured business funding]

I didn’t understand till yet that why do people use synthetic motor oils rather than sticking with the old petroleum based stand-bys which are admittedly cheaper?

[leather hamsa bracelet]

A high coefficient of friction means the two surfaces don’t like to slide.

[conference table]

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.

[women bracelets]

why don't they just stop driving, sop trying to drive, they'll just keep hitting into things

[buy cellular phone]

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?

[reception desk]

A high coefficient of friction means the two surfaces don’t like to slide.

[wishbone bracelets]

Oh and where are the snow plows, my city would have them out in 20 seconds

[recycling cell phones]

I am very afraid of this Ice Attack. I had well exp of this as I had suffered in last Dec.