AWD paid for itself today

You can find mistakes in the Google maps too.

When conditions are iffy, cross-check. It really helps to compare to a second source, or compare notes with another driver, or listen to callers on local radio. There still is a bit of value to that.

Today was snowy where I live. Lots of things delayed and closed. I was able to use a Pennsylvania State website to locate my local plow and see how recently it had been around. Every inch of the road from my driveway to the local daycare and school is a state road, and PA state plows don't mess around.

 

While that's true, apps use vehicle data traveling those roads to verify, rather than trying to get that information from all kinds of bureaucracies that have different systems that aren't integrated to make it easy to get the information.

This time of year its most commonly seen on Google maps when rural are closed due to snow... The weather warnings from the government will tell you when the road is closed, but Google will sometimes take a day or longer to recognize that road is no longer open due to no vehicle driving it for a specific amount of time.

Or in the case of the OP who was in an area so remote that there's rarely no cell service / no way to know if a road is closed for Winter. Also in areas with cell service, the locals already know that the road is closed for winter so there's almost no use data for that road to know its closed for the winter.

This all comes back to political leadership at the federal level. A new law that standardizes road closure data and related updates so all locations are documented with the exact same format would resolve app maker's over-reliance on vehicle data. Of course we're mostly leaderless at the federal level these days unless you're an LLC or an Oligarch with a team of lobbyists.

 

I must echo the comment that Google suffers some similar problems. Posted a couple examples last winter.

... or months, as in an example I posted last year. Or maybe it mistook some nordic trail skiers and snowshoers as vehicles.

 

It’s just tracking phone locations? As in: could be a dog sledder…

 

... not permitted in that National Park.

Though actually, I think that area still has no cell phone service.

 

Starlink

.

 

I thought that before when I've had to go a different way because snow got too deep...

 

Does Google use that for its road traffic tracking?

 

Took my AWD to Steamboat last Sunday as the polar vortex arrived. Blizzak loaded.
No problems, felt solid.
Also been flogging it up and down Berthoud Pass with ease

 

Just be careful with deeper snow.

 

Sometimes it's so cold all the snow just blows off the road except in certain areas where it will drift Maybe 2 feet thick or so. Plowed through many a drift & eventually the odds caught up. You'd just know (getting high centered on a drift) it'dhappen on a seldom used back road, 25 mph winds, 10°f 4:30am no cell service.
Fortunately we'd stored a shovel in the back for just such horrible conditions.

We used to do a lot of sand dune 4x4 sport'ing. We used to say 4-wheel drive will get you stuck 10% further out than a posi-traction 2x4. And a positraction 2x4 will get you stuck 10% further out than a standard rear end.
We've been off grid & unable to back up on trails that had multiple branches feeding off them - so it was difficult to figure out how to get back. It can be very scary. Drop offs make it even worse.
That said, 2" to 4" of snow .... or even 10" of snow is still not as daunting as black ice. It's the worst. Heading back to town in the 1990's we had a 45° left & then w/in 200 yards, a 45° right. Our 4X4 Explorer going through those 45° downhill dog legs at a cautious speed WITH studded snow tires all around ... we managed to start sliding off towards the 15' downhill slope (farming land at the bottom). Instincts took over, headed into the slope, and gunned it so that we could keep up our momentum crossing the farmers field to a spot where we could get back onto the road successfully. Funny thing was after the snow melted off on that farm, we could drive by and still see the four-wheel drive ruts where we had crossed. Good times!
The thing about true 4-wheel drive (where the REAR axle has an equal amount of horsepower as the FRONT axle) is that it does give you greater traction because the weight of the vehicle shifts backward upon acceleration onto the rear axle. As mentioned above, this allows you to get stuck 10% further out (in many scenarios)

.

 

I wonder if Gen5 did anything to address the known problem of Prius tending to float like a boat in deep snow? Once the snow lifts all four wheels off the ground it won't go nowhere, not even with 4 wheel-drive.

 

My AWD interest is primarily for certain ungroomed roads, e.g. getting to the family farm where the snow piles up, not plowed highways like Berthoud Pass.

Though the spouse is now addicted to the "except 4/AWD" tag on the "Chains required" mountain pass postings.

Growing up in a rural area, before anyone had cell service, a shovel was always a winter essential. Used it numerous times.

Floating like a boat on top of deep snow, is better than sinking into it and getting anchored by many undercarriage protrusions digging deep down into firm snow. Once any vehicle sinks in, it takes vastly more horizontal force to pull out than any normal car traction can produce, as all those sunken undercarriage parts become snow anchors. A smooth boat-like undercarriage can be towed out with much less force.

 

That’s funny because in Oregon the signs flashing say “ chains required. Traction tires allow under 10,000 pounds… 4wd does not count!”

 

In my state, like CA and OR, when (winter) traction tires are required, it does apply to everyone, including 4/AWD. And I do use dedicated winter tires, mounted on a separate set of wheels for the season, though do hear of people who use 4WD as an excuse to not get winter tires.

When the "except 4/AWD" label is attached to the chain requirement, we must still be carrying chains too. Though the time I needed to cross Donner Pass when unexpected circumstances caused a late return before being able to swap on winter tires, combined with an unseasonably early snowfall, the CalTrans check checkpoint attendant did flag my Subaru through without inspection while nearly everyone else was being turned back.

My state does have a posting stage requiring chains even with 4/AWD, but this is rarely used on the primary mountain passes. They usually skip it and go directly to "Road Closed".

 

yup, even 4wd still needs chains here in oregon by law when the lights are flashing. many people dont follow it and end up in tiktok videos in ditches with their jeeps and subarus.

arizona says '' chains or 4wd required'' when going to arizona snowbowl in flagstaff. ive had to pass so many trucks and suvs going up that road with their phoenix summer tires. 5 mph around every curve and i have to '' maybe illegally?'' pass them in my blizzak tire hybrid and they look so confused seeing a small hybrid not sliding when passing

 

Yep... When it comes to traveling through Oregon in a Prius, once it's bad enough that they require chains it's really not worth getting on any major hwy unless you like driving long distances at 10mph in bumper to bumper traffic with lots of diesel fumes and chains on.

I always just drive out to the coast hwy to get through that state when it gets to that point. You can count on the Pacific Ocean to make any major snow event relatively minor compared to further inland.

 

i snowboard so whenever i try to go ride, i go at the crack of dawn or before sunrise with less traffic. mount hood. santiam pass. can easily go 60 mph in the snow with no traffic. but once noon hits, its a bumper to bumper train of scared soccer moms in their subaru suvs going 15 mph with no sight ahead to pass

 

Did you try using the SOS Satellite feature for newer iPhones? I assumed you meant your signal has zero bars. Glad you made it home safely!

 

Oregon's highways when everyone is sleeping and its just you and the truck drivers is so enjoyable, especially because you can't see how horrific unsustainable forestry practices are when you drive at night!