Scott Pio's Life

The DC Snow Gridlock of Jan 26 2011

I started my drive home about 6:30pm, thinking the traffic would be subsided, but of course it wasn’t.  I drive a Jeep Wrangler, 4X4 and so I put the 4x4 in gear and started driving.  The parking lot was empty by the time I left, but the roads were completely full.  I started down my path towards Willard Rd.  Took about an hour to get even close to 28.  And then the traffic just stopped for another hour.  I decided I had enough.  So outside the NRO, I decided to turn around.  I drove over the median which had about a foot of snow.  I turned the other direction where there was no traffic and headed towards the highschool.  I got moving and traffic was starting to move.  After about 3 hours in the jeep, I finally got onto 50.  From 50, I needed to drive 7 miles south about where 66 meets 50.  Keep in mind, I only had about a quarter tank of gas.  Im not one to have stranded people on the side of the road, so I made sure to keep the look out.  The first car I came along wasn’t a car, but a big giant Metro bus (one of the red ones).  It was jack knifed on 50 and wasn’t allowing anyone to pass. Cars had to take the slow side road.  I drove over the median and decided to help.  I pulled up behind the bus, got out and talked to the driver.  Asked him if I could help.  He asked how.  I told him, I could get behind him and push the bus with my Wrangler.  We agreed and I got behind him, put the jeep in 4x4 Low which allows for more torque.  I got behind the bus and started pushing and after about 3 minutes of pushing the bus was finally moving again up hill.  So, I said good bye and went on my way.  

The next few cars I helped out were all stuck on the side of the road.  For a scenario of what I regularly did, I got out, told the driver to hold on.  Looked under the drivers car for a tow hook which sadly most cars I found didn’t have.  So if they didn’t have one, I helped push the car and rock the car back and fourth.  If your from the south or just like to go out in jeeps, you know you have to rock the car back and fourth through the mud.  If you do this, you move the car back about a foot and then the driver steps on the gas to move forward another few foot.  After a while the car finds enough momentum to keep pushing through the snow.  If you push on the gas and keep the cars momentum up, the car will just sort of plow through the snow.  So I did this with many of the drivers that didn’t have tow hooks. One of the drivers did in fact and she was a little old lady.  I said hello and no one was helping her out.  She wanted to get onto 28, North, but the ramp wasn’t plowed and she made the mistake to go ahead and try.  So I got out, put my tow rope (always carry one in my Wrangler) on her back hook and began to drag her backwards through the snow.  After I realized we were in the clear, I got out, took my rope off my hook and told her to drive forward.  We would again massage this car for another 5 minutes until it was finally out of the snow.  She wrote down my name and was on her way. While I was talking to her, one of the passengers got out of the bus I rescued and took down my license plate number.  I have no idea why as he ran back to the bus as soon as he had it. 

A truck I found stuck in the snow was an older gentleman.  I looked under his truck and sadly he didn’t have any tow hooks or hitches.  (I also always carry an extra hitch other than mine just in case)  So I couldn’t do much as to help him out.  He told me to get into the driver seat and help get his truck out.  I got into his truck which was rear wheel drive sadly.  So after massaging his truck out of the snow, he got onto the ice and again wasn’t able to move with his rear wheel drive.  While I was driving, I asked him why the heck would he buy a truck without a hitch and tow hooks.  He told me his wife in NYC had bought it.  He was a little furious at her that night.  He got back into his truck and I got back into my jeep and gave him a nudge from behind to get him moving on the ice.  I told him to roll down his windows, listen to his tires spinning and take it slow.  Above all, don’t lose momentum.  Once your moving, don’t stop.  

The last story has to do with a ladies car.  She was deep on the side bank and in the ditch.  She was pretty deep into the ditch. She had 5 guys trying to help her already which they didn’t do much good.  I found her tow hook and began to tow her with my rope.  Took about 5 minutes to get out of the ditch.  But we got her out and she drove to the nearest motel. Hah.  

All in all, my gas light came on, before filling up once.  I was pretty worried I would be walking to the nearest gas station.  I had pulled and pushed 13 different cars and 1 Big Red Metro bus.  I finally was on the home stretch when I decided to cheat a little and take a sidewalk with my jeep.  This was working until an abandoned car on the side of the road blocked my path.  I had stopped (don’t lose momentum) and then began to drive again trying to get back on the road.  My jeep then slide down into a ditch and pinned it self up against a guard rail.  So after about 20 minutes trying to get my jeep out, I decided enough and walked the rest of the way home (about ½ mile).  My shoes were soaked and it was 1:30 AM when I got home.  I had planned to go back out and help other stranded cars, but now that my jeep was stuck, there was no point.  The next morning, I had called up another old employee Kristi S. and asked her to help pull my jeep out with her Wrangler.  We got my jeep out in about 5 minutes and that was the end of that.  My night and day was over. I only took one picture in the morning, not thinking to take pictures through the night. A few points of the story.

1. Only a select few people were actually out of their cars helping others get out of the snow.  This was in fact extremely disappointing.  I imagine if I wasn’t there, those people would have been stuck over night or even had to walk home.  No one was willing to put in the 5 minutes of effort to help others.  I lost some hope that night in the common man.
2. Buy a car that has tow hooks.  If the car you want doesn’t have a tow hook under the body, just say no.  Your car is useless to those that want to help if it doesn’t have a tow hook.
3. Don’t tell your mother your stuck in traffic and are low on gas.
4. People can be extremely upset when you have an advantage to drive where they can’t.  They yell and scream at you.  This is disappointing, but also funny. 

People can be extremely upset when you have an advantage to drive where they can’t.  They yell and scream at you.  This is disappointing, but also funny