The Wonders Of Modern Technology

[stevemb]

From a Washington Post account of the latest snow mess:

Salt trucks that might have mitigated the effect of the fresh layer of ice were trapped in the same traffic jams that drivers were. And very quickly those trucks were stuck behind cars that were spinning their wheels on hills and buses with modern technology that caused them to shut down when

Comments

[catsittingstill]

The coefficient of friction between two objects is slightly higher *before* they break loose and start sliding.

I'm pretty sure one of the things ABS does to increase braking efficiency is to brake only with those wheels that aren't already sliding, for example.

I think that's what they're talking about here--buses that can't get traction have a governor on them so they don't just spin their wheels and slide sideways. That is an odd way to put it, though.

[dr_zrfq]

This *is* the Pest we're talking about.

[madfilkentist]

My guess is garbled reporting rather than anything that actually shuts down the engine.

[stevemb]

Given some of what I've seen in the Washington Post, I suspect that's the most likely answer.