Darn that reduced coefficient of friction.

The video's from two years ago, Jan 16, 2007.

Yeah, it was also bad in Portland last year when I visited my friends there. They rarely get snow, so they don't have a lot of experience plowing or driving in in. When they do, they're caught unprepared every time.

Video is old, but illustrative. Hills + ice + inexperience do not mix. I speculate the 2007 experience influenced the shutdown and chains required this time around.

Video is old, and from Seattle not Portland...

Someguy: It's Portland. The video and all of the other information available about it says so. It isn't Seattle. Just because it's the King5 station in Seattle doesn't mean it's in Seattle.

If we didn't drive on icy roads in Denver, there are entire weeks we'd just be trapped in our homes (and weeks inbetween that it gets up to 60 -- fun weather we have here).

There were many stupid mistakes made made in that video, and I'm willing to bet some poor choices in tires as well. And that one guy was gunning his engine in between impacts. I almost think he was crashing into people on purpose.

In the days before global warming when there was more ice around Denver, I used to drive metal studded snow tires just for such conditions. Actually, was it global warming that switched me away from metal studs or just better quality radial snow tires? Probably the latter. I forget.

The original news story from Portland at the link below. My friend just moved to Portland & was told it almost never snows there, then they rec'd a foot of snow just before Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ratn_Wl8XU

"I almost think he was crashing into people on purpose".

Finally something about this post that relates to defending oneself. If one could not get out of the way and some idiot was deliberately running into cars and people, one should be allowed to take out the culprit using deadly force. I know there are numerous video's online about cops that do!