I'm happy you weren't hurt (Jake, too) but so sorry about the accident. I've heard of black ice but, thankfully, haven't experienced it. What a shock that must've been for you.
(((Linda)))

How scary!! Glad both you and Jake are okay.

I hit a patch of black ice about 30 years ago and ended up in a ditch.

I'm sorry this happend, and such bad timing with Christmas and all. Glad you weren't hurt though.

I hit black ice driving to work. I was doing under 30, hit the ice and spun around 180 degrees, my bumper hit the center guard rail. Just a few scratches on the car,
but man was I shook up. I continued to work at a very slow speed.

glad you and especially jake too were not hurt! dogs can get very badly hurt and often die from their injuries in car accidents, unless they are buckled in. our vet who is a friend of my dh is a huge advocate of them after having to go to many accident sites for patients. please please consider one for him and keep him in the back seat away from a front air bag.

i was in a terrible head on accident on the chicago expressways on april 1 (aprils fools day no less) 1990. i had just left my college campus to go to my apartment after a very late study session for an exam the next day. it was mild, foggy and misty and april! i slowed down just before my exit and approached a hill and i saw sparks flying ahead. a girl had lost control at the bottom of the hill and being an idiot kept driving in the opposite direction of traffic up the hill, scrapping the guard rail. we hit at 65 mph with such force the cassette in the dash hit the back window & split in half. the back window was also cracked by a can of pop that had been in the center console cup holder and flew backwards. i had a few seconds to brace myself against the steering wheel and brakes. i spun around into the middle lanes, very lucky no one was coming along. i slammed on the gas, thru all this my wonderful cadillac never ever lost traction, and got into the shoulder and started to get out of the car when i noticed a huge group of semi's and cars sliding down the hill towards me. jumped back in and just as i was buckling my seat belt they all hit me. my only injury came from them hitting my side my neck snapped and hurt for weeks. there were alot of injured people but i attribute my safety to my wonderful car that cost more than $10K to fix and my quick thinking. my biggest lesson from that is too ALWAYS have the best, heaviest, safest car. i happened to have a physics course after that semester and we spent a week studying the forces involved in that crash LOL. ~ liz

Thanks for the reminder Liz. I have been thinking about getting a harness for Jake so that he is buckled in. Unfortunately, my truck doesn't have a back seat and I often wonder if I should turn off the passenger air bag.
My DS got a harness buckle thing for his dog after DS was in an accident a few years ago. Fortunately, his dog was not with him the day of his accident.

Yikes Linda!!! The damages are nothing compared to you and Jake getting hurt or worse!
Both my DD's have hit ice tho and one actually did over $1,000 damage to her car on the way down into the ditch. She spun and fishtailed first and called me crying.
DD#2 just hit black ice last winter, she was going about 50-60mph when she hit it too. She said she spun around with the passenger side facing oncoming traffic, tried to straighten out and then the car spun around the other way with her door facing the on coming traffic. She was trying to get it under control and hit the edge of the pavement/gass and it threw her into the ditch. She said she still had her foot on the clutch when the car bottomed out in the ditch and died. She was so shook! A car load of kids came along and a teenager drove the car right out of the ditch, no snow. But she was shaking so bad couldn't drive. Another guy stopped and took her the rest of the way to work about 9 miles.
Its awful frightening and I sure hope you never experience it again!

Linda, I know how scary that can be! And the $$ expense is no fun either. But I'm glad you and your dog are okay.

Linda, do you have any sand bags in the bed of your truck. It gives it more weight/traction in the back end. I won't even go outside in icy weather.
Leslie

Leslie, I have 4 sand tubes in the truck bed but I will add one more tomorrow morning before I go to work. I have 3 extra sand tubes in the garage.
It wasn't even icy today but I hear that overpasses and underpasses get the black ice the worst. I will be avoiding them whenever possible.

Glad you (and Jake) weren't hurt! My dd hit ice last January and called crying and trying to explain about flipping the truck...3 times! She stopped flipping when the box of the truck hit and pulled out a brick lamp post, about 2' x 2', that HAD been planted into the ground about 4 ft. Thankfully, she went across the road as she fishtailed then flipped, because on her side of the road was a drop off into trees. If she'd gone down there, it could have been hours before someone saw her. As it turned out, she only had bruises on her shoulder and hip from the seat belt. There wasn't even any frost on the ground, so none of us even thought it might be icy.

Experienced it once, and hopefully not again!

Linda,

As others said, we're really glad that you and Jake both escaped without a scratch.

Plus ... that no one else was injured - or killed - or had damage to their vehicle(s), as well.

When you feel losing traction, foot off of throttle, or at least reduce pressure.

Usually don't brake, as that tends to break what little traction there may be between your tires and the pavement/road surface. May be useful if using ABS.

Unless there is real danger in that direction, turn front wheels in direction of skid, i.e. if rear is sliding to the left, turn the front wheels to the left, as well. As vehicle direction straightens, turn wheel to keep front wheels going toward your direction of travel.

You're trying to get the front of the vehicle back in its usual place ahead of the back end, with the back end as close as possible to straight behind it.

As your vehicle recovers to the original direction of travel, usually the rear will keep swinging, going into a skid on the other side.

Again, keep your front wheels turned so that they are going toward the direction of travel of the vehicle.

As the amount of swinging decreases, apply brakes lightly, especially if you have ABS ones.

It is hugely important to be alert and as soon as you detect a skid, turn the front wheels to go in that direction.

When I was returning with son from Windsor a couple of weeks ago, at night, on Canada's busiest freeway, after soft snowfall (which is really slippery - very cold, "dry" snow is not nearly so slippery) and some rain, a couple of times we were in the passing lane, where there was more snow and ice, while passing others.

Son was upset by my small corrections of the steering wheel as we were involved in slight changes of direction due to the slippery conditions. I told him that those small corrections are what keeps one from getting into serious trouble.

We were fortunate - there were only two vehicles that had taken to the ditch. Sometimes in such conditions there are half a dozen or so in the space of somewhat over 100 miles (or less).

If you know someone who is skilled at driving on ice, maybe sometime when there's some conditions of that kind, get that person to give you some guidance, showing you, then getting you to do it, on a surface which is icy but where there are no obstacles, e.g. shopping plaza late at night, or a non-travelled rural road (with gentle slope into ditches).

Or take a defensive driving course where they offer such training.

Sometimes a split second of earlier awareness of brewing trouble can help one avoid a peck of trouble.

Sorry that you have received such an unpleasant Christmas present, this year.

I hope that you chose the higher deductible a few years ago, so that you had a few years' rate reduction value to help pay the costs of repairs.

When one partially self-insures, like that, it's a good idea to hold on to the reduction in the premium paid, to add it to one's savings/emergency fund, to help cover such problems when they appear.

I hope that you can cover your transportation needs in this busy holiday season without too much disruption or expense, (e.g. rental vehicle).

Good wishes to you and yours.

ole joyful

another tip if you drive an automatic car/truck and you are slowly sliding into the back of someone else because you can't stop using the brakes, shift the car in neutral (NOT park) and it will stop the wheels from turning and reduce the skid (keep applying the brake as you do this.)

Diane (who is not missing the snow and icy conditions one little bit!!)

Glad you're OK, Linda!

The truck can be fixed--at least you and Jake weren't hurt, and you didn't hurt anyone else. Driving on icy roads is so scary and I try to avoid them whenever possible.

Hugs!

Nobody says you have to fix the truck right now, Linda. Since it's still very drivable, you can wait til spring or whenever there isn't as much of a financial strain.

The import thing is ... of course ... that you and Jake were not hurt.

I've run into black ice several times, since I grew up in central Kansas and have lived here in KC the past 20 years. It's treacherous.

I use the Neutral gear too when stopping on slick roads. Also, do not use cruise control, or even have it turned on in icy weather. It can cause problems too.
Leslie

I feel your angst, Kiddo!!! My first experience with black ice several years ago landed my DD and I in a ditch with the full sized Bronco laying on its side. Had a guy stop to help us and he had to reach in and pull me straight up out of the car. DD got the back window down and crawled out of it. The whole time we were sliding I kept looking at trees and huge rocks and wondering where we were gonna hit and how hard we were gonna be going. Talk about seeing your life rush before your eyes....

Not a pleasant experience, I know. Sure am glad that you're okay and are able to tell us all about the experience!!

Linda, glad that you and Jake are OK. I lived in a Chicago suburb for more than 50 years and I never head of black ice. Worst experience I had was driving in freezing rain where the idiots behind me thought that they could continue to do the speed limit. Liz, glad that you were OK in your crash also.

we used to live in seattle, and all those hills! wasn't speeding, and tried to make a left turn....just slid the wrong way! learned real quick to come to a complete stop then turn! (no stop sign) i also kept a bag of fireplace ash in the car, just in case, for traction.