I'm so sorry for that harrowing experience! People can be real jerks, and driving an SUV or pick up truck doesn't make anyone invincible.

I feel much more secure with my AWD-able SUVs, but would never hightail it outa here and drive like a maniac.

It's every snowfall mimi. I stay in when I can and avoid it, but I've been stuck in the house for days now. Thank you for not driving maniacally. I really don't know what gets into them! Shaking my head...

I wonder if we can partly blame it on TV commercials. They have cars zipping around at high speed on any kind of road surface, often with snow flying off the tires. People should know better, of course, but some--especially the young--tend to incorporate things on TV into their reality.

I used to go to a doctor who moved to the northeast from the south. He was in a terrible accident his first winter, and told me later it was his fault because he thought he could do anything in a Jeep. His Jeep slid under a tractor-trailer.

You reminded me... I think I actually yelled (this morning) Don't you know that SUV isn't magic!

The commercials are a really good point. People think "It's time to BAHA!".

It's unbelievably irresponsible.

It isn't the vehicle, but the idiotic drivers who think they are invincible driving these vehicles. I drive an all-wheel drive SUV, but am just as careful as if I was driving a regular car.

Are the drivers all men? I think that being in the south has something to do with it. I would guess that people who live in areas with season-long snow are more experienced and know better. And don't need to show off.

HA! Sushipup, are men the only ones to show off? You have me laughing!!!! If I had to guess (it's a guess, I'm not looking at faces), I'd say younger drivers. I remember being bulletproof at some point. That's always a rude awakening, not being bullet proof.

We were driving home once from visiting DD in Ohio and it started snowing. Temps were below freezing. We had a minivan at the time and DH was in the right lane driving very cautiously. An idiot in an SUV whizzed past us. A little ways in front of us he spun out and lost control. We immediately pulled off the to the side but were almost hit (within a few inches) by a car who slammed on his breaks in an effort not to hit the SUV. Someone else did crash into the SUV.....I hope learned his lesson. Yes, SUV's perform better in snow than sedans, but ice is ice no matter what you're driving.

"Are the drivers all men?"

I have no snow driving experience (and I hope to keep it that way) but I don't think the "stupid drivers in SUVs" phenomenon has a gender component. If it does, it's female.

I do know from friends who go to the Sierra skiing that too many SUV drivers don't realize that while 4 wheel drive is an advantage for going, all cars face the same issues when it comes to stopping.

There's something in the female psyche that has a bad interaction with SUVs and other large vehicles. It's something like "I'm here, I'm safe in this cocoon, no harm can come to me". So they drive as if they're the only car on the road. I too often see SUV drivers, usually women, holding a cellphone in one hand while driving (even though these cars likely have a bluetooth hands free feature), sometimes gesturing with the other hand, and weaving all over the road. Or running stop signs or signals. Sometimes I see someone holding the cell phone in one hand and a cigarette in the other. I'm not sure how they steer, but judging from how many times I've been cut off with an unannounced lane change or a weave into my lane, I'd say that steering is hard when driving that way. The most favored vehicles seem to be those from Lexus and Toyota.

Okay, you cocoon drivers, any comments?

If I didn't know better, I'd say snidely drives an SUV

I have not read any parts of this, but I will offer my observations.

We used to live in the rural portions of Santa Fe, NM. Most of the folks near us had 4-wheel drive. I believe some did that because...and then there were those who really needed it in the bad weather that happened rarely.

On a windy, snowy, or icy day/night, more of those vehicles went off the road than the front wheel drive. My opinion was that the drivers were over-confident and they believed that 4 wheel drive would not allow them to be in a ditch.

Dummies!!!!

Nope! Never had an SUV, never had a truck. Never will.

Nothing larger than a couple of Soccer Mom minivans that were needed through the active years of 3 kids. We got rid of the last one at the first opportunity, when #2 went away to college.

I think it's just that idiots are idiots no matter what. Driving down a mountain behind a red sports car (they're almost always red) in fair weather is frustrating too. The idiots figure their little red sports cars can handle anything and do mountain in Germany, but they don't learn how to downshift so ride their brakes the whole way, never pulling over into the turnouts to let the long lines behind them go by. People in places where there isn't a lot of traffic, compared with congested cities, seem not to know how to merge. Young guys in street versions of race cars rev their engines at stop lights but don't know how to shift, let alone speed shift (you can tell they don't know how to listen to their motors and are clueless about timing) and end up taking the longest to get going next to Kias and Beetles. I'm old fashioned and let people move into my lane or turn into traffic ahead of me and get honked at by the people behind me who think they own the road.

But regarding SUVs in snow, I know a guy from SoCal who was in Colorado in his Suburban some years back. He knows how to drive in snow, carries chains, etc., but got stuck without traction on a patch of ice in town. The deputy sheriff who came to help was most confused. She'd never heard of a Suburban that was two-wheel-drive before!

I agree that it's a mentality thing. Like I've got the biggest and baddest vehicle, so I can do anything.

Driving on snow and ice are totally different things, but so many folks seem to think (and I too think it's because of the commercials) not a problem for me.

I've also observed too many of them chatting on cell phones which is against the law here.

Yeah, I hate little red sports cars. But I loved the little orange sports car I once had, that was different.

Great! I own a red sports car. And a purple sedan. I know how to downshift and speed up through a curve too, so as not to need to brake. And speed shift. Of course, I've been driving it 26 years. I would say second nature, but first is more like it. Guess we all have pet peeves. I loved my daddy's orange Opal GT with flip up headlights. That was awhile ago, so now he drives Fieros. One is yellow and the other is midrenovations. I don't slalom through traffic with either car though.

Rob, I promise you I only get annoyed at little red sports cars when they're riding their brakes on switchbacks, and get equally annoyed if they're white sedans or any other. I think people who rarely drive rent red sports cars to drive up into the mountains or something, however, since that's the usual culprit. Since you know how to drive, I have no issues with your red sports car or purple sedan!

It's totally ok. You wouldn't get annoyed with me, so I didn't take it personally.

Where I live, DH and I have observed that the worse drivers are the one who drive expensive models like Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, Volvo and Porsche. It is like the rules of the road don't apply to them or they think they own the road. Also amazing is how many are driven by high school kids. We see them coming out of the HS parking lot when school gets out.

I've driven vans or SUV's for over 30 years and am a women to boot (snidely) and have always driven safely with both hands on the wheel. I've never put on makeup while driving or talked on the cell phone (keep it off most of the time) and don't smoke. And observed all the rules of the road like I have done for almost 49 years of driving. My latest car has been a Jeep for almost 14 years. I must admit I only have used the 4 -wheel drive a few times off road.

It's different all over!

I drive a 4 wheel drive SUV. I know that while I can maneuver over the snow mounds a lot easier than a 2 wheel drive car, I can NOT stop any faster than any other vehicle out there. Some people who drive 4 wheel drives just think they're invincible and can do anything. I know I can't.

Around here, it doesn't matter what vehicle it is, it is the drivers. Male, female, young, old, doesn't matter. Those who have 4x4's don't always bother to read the owner's manual to find out that 4x4's are useless on ice. Everyone now expects the roads to all be perfectly clear and dry, no matter the weather. They think it is their right to drive as fast and as erratically as they always do.

I was taught to drive by my dad, who worked for the county road crews. I learned very well how to drive in snowy weather! AND when to stay off the roads. We never had 4x4s and I don't now. My kids do, but know that it won't save them on ice, and DS learned that ice and high winds can get you when you don't expect it, when you have had the wind blocked by trees, then enter open areas! He quickly found out where the ditch was with no warning. Thankfully, he was not injured. And he learned to drive in almost blizzard conditions. I have driven a SUV since 2000. Believe me, unless you have a heavy load in the back end, they don't handle well on bad roads. All of the weight is in the front where the engine is. Same for pickup trucks. It isn't the size of the vehicle. It is always the driver.

Speaking of little red sports cars...Several years ago, in a moderate snow storm, we were on our way to my parent's house, where I grew up. I know the road in those conditions, and was driving accordingly. Guess what passed us way too fast? Yep, little red sports car. Younger driver, though not a teenager. We no sooner said someone is going to end up in a ditch, and another mile up the road, that is exactly where he had ended up.

As to stopping, don't get me started. On ANY roads. I pull a trailer. I drive a 30' motor home. How many of those here drive a semi or other large heavy vehicle? WE CAN NOT STOP ON A DIME!!!! Do you have any idea how many times a small car has pulled out in front of me/us with maybe 500' between us, or less? That weight PUSHES you, no matter how hard you are standing on the brake pedal. Would you cross in front of a train like that? I hope not. If it out weighs you by a factor of 10, don't do it!

But give me a bigger vehicle any time over a small one. At least I have a little more vehicle around me for protection.

Around here, most of the vehicles that end up in the ditch are cars, not trucks or SUVs. I'm not out and about enough to comment on the gender of the drivers but I tend to think that men are more adventurous and worry less about dying and injury than women do.

I love my SUV and if it wasn't for it, we would've never gotten home one night after finding out that it had been snowing where we live for hours but it had only started snowing where we were. The highway was closed and we had to take a circuitous, unfamiliar route home in a blizzard and if it wasn't for my SUV, we would not have gotten home to our dogs. We pushed thru 20" of heavy wet snow and passed numerous vehicles off in the ditch or stuck right on the road. A normally 30 minute trip took us 2 1/2 hours and I was so glad to see our dark house, where the power was off but we were so glad to be home. My husband did an excellent job driving that night.

I had to drive last week on snowy roads to get a friend to an appointment. If it had been up to me, I would not have gone out at all. I was the only person driving super cautiously and I kept pulling over to let others pass me. I couldn't tell if the roads were wet or frozen, the temperature was in the teens and I did not trust that I wouldn't spin out. If you've ever hit black ice and lost complete control of the vehicle, you will be forever nervous of it happening again.