It's 32 degrees and you're driving on the highway...

[Toto'sDad]

" roads are clear but damp, and have a little salt on them"

There's only one correct answer to this and it's the speed limit. It does not matter the car since we really don't have roads over 70 or 75 mph and the vast majority of cars out there will handle that just fine. Why would temp have anything to do with anything? If the roads are clear but damp with salt, then speed limit it is maybe 5-10 over depending on the scene. Of course we'll always take precautions around sharp turns etc..

Another pet peeve I have about rain is why on earth would every state not have a 'Headlights on" law when it's raining? It's so simple and actually one of the good laws. Some states have it and some don't. What all states don't have though is someone telling cigarette smokers to stop throwing out their butts out the car window. It's as if they think they are so small that they're really not trash or littering. I assume they would not throw their McDonald's bag out the window so why the cigarette?

It has been proven many times in the state of California that McDonald's food containers simply cannot be constrained within the confines of an automobile once the food has been consumed.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

Being special isn't always a compliment but, lots of freedom is a big deal here.

I can almost taste the freedom!

 

[Toto'sDad]

Everything I had driven for at least fifteen years before getting my Honda CRv, featured DRL. The Honda did not. Not long after I bought the car, I picked up a buddy who had a flight to catch but wanted to eat breakfast at a stop along the way. I forgot and left the lights on, we tarried, of course the battery went dead. We were running out of time, but at just that moment, a young man pulled into the lot right beside us. He looked competent, so I asked; Do you have any jumper cables? If you do, I'll give you twenty bucks to jump my car off. He did, I paid him, and we made the airport on time. I try to remember that twenty-dollar bill when I park now.

 

[Toto'sDad]

I can almost taste the freedom!

All I can say is it was a good thing you weren't in Oildale when this whole thing went down!

 

[Hiker]

Practice on large surfaces that don't have poles sticking up.

When we were 16 and 17, we spent lots of wintertime sliding sideways ON PURPOSE. You want to be trained when thing go slick, and you will better know your limitations, and those of the Vee-hicle. Woohoo!

 

[studio1087]

I'd go 65. I have an all wheel drive mid size SUV. I'd go 55 if the road felt slippery.

 

[getbent]

All I can say is it was a good thing you weren't in Oildale when this whole thing went down!

they say that like DLR, any day not spent in Oildale is an improved day.

 

[JL_LI]

Truth time. I wouldn't be out on that road, day or night at any speed in my Z4. I have a 330xi with all season tires. You can't see black ice at night. I could brag about acceleration, braking, and cornering, but the fact of the matter is that on glare ice the car would become a 3600 lb. unguided projectile. I'd drive it in an emergency. Otherwise it would stay home next to the Z4. The truckers are paid to deliver a load. I'm retired. I'm worth more alive at home.

 

[Toto'sDad]

they say that like DLR, any day not spent in Oildale is an improved day.

On the way back from the golf course that we play quite often, if you drive through Hart Park, the quickest route back to the northwest where we live is through a small section of Oildale. It's shall we say, quite entertaining.

 

[kbold]

Down our way, 32C is warm enough to put the air con on.

.... and I was thinking of salt spray from the ocean.
Maybe a good time to stop and go for a swim. Surf's up if there's that much salt spray.

 

[ZackyDog]

You can't see black ice at night. I could brag about acceleration, braking, and cornering, but the fact of the matter is that on glare ice the car would become a 3600 lb. unguided projectile. I'd drive it in an emergency. Otherwise it would stay home next to the Z4. The truckers are paid to deliver a load. I'm retired. I'm worth more alive at home.

Thank you.

 

[Kandinskyesque]

We only have two seasons: July and Winter.

If it's 32 degrees Centigrade then I'm in the wrong country.
32 Fahrenheit then it's Wednesday so 41+mph because I'm probably running late and it will be the wife's fault.

 

[jfgesquire]

I'd go 65. I have an all wheel drive mid size SUV. I'd go 55 if the road felt slippery.

awd has almost* nothing to do with lateral control and stopping distance - those two factors come down almost entirely to the tread pattern and compound.

* torque vectoring does help in certain circumstances, with differential based better than brake based systems.

 

[jfgesquire]

I'd have to check if my Volvo lights have an off option but it is a valuable feature to have a switch that allows you to turn off the damn lights!
Kind of strange really to make it illegal to turn off your lights when parked warming up the car or after a jump start trying to charge up the battery?

I remember in the late 80s early 90s going through military gates you HAD TO turn your headlights OFF, otherwise the gate guards can't see inside the car.

How would that work today?

 

[bottlenecker]

Even without salt, at 32F ambient temperature, there willl not be ice on the road.

 

[P Thought]

When it's icy I try to avoid torque or centrifugal load, and use engine and transmission rather than brakes to slow the vehicle as I approach curves or stops. Speed varies, but it's definitely slower when the road is snotty.

 

[jfgesquire]

Even without salt, at 32F ambient temperature, there willl not be ice on the road.

Just because the air is 32° doesn't mean the ground is above freezing.

Where I live in New York the frost line is almost 4 feet deep.

Frost Line Penetration Map In The U.S. - Hammerpedia

The frost line is simply the deepest point in the ground to which ground water will freeze.It’s also referred to as the frost depth. When water changes from liquid ... "Learn More..."

www.hammerpedia.com

And if the temperature was in the teens for a few days with ice already there, and gradually warms up to 32, it's going to stay ice for quite a while, days if the ground temp really low.

 

[bottlenecker]

Just because the air is 32° doesn't mean the ground is above freezing.

Where I live in New York the frost line is almost 4 feet deep.

Frost Line Penetration Map In The U.S. - Hammerpedia

The frost line is simply the deepest point in the ground to which ground water will freeze.It’s also referred to as the frost depth. When water changes from liquid ... "Learn More..."

www.hammerpedia.com

And if the temperature was in the teens for a few days with ice already there, and gradually warms up to 32, it's going to stay ice for quite a while, days if the ground temp really low.

Road surface temperature is almost always higher than ambient, especially if there's traffic.

I've been riding motorcycles as my primary transportation all winter in wisconsin and the midwest for about 25 years now. I still check the road surface regularly with my feet while I ride, but after the first few years I knew exactly where the ice was. Ice hasn't surprised me in two decades, because it follows very consistent patterns. Its not that I'm never wrong, but I assume ice when I'm not sure.

In the OP description, this is a damp road, and ambient temperature is 32F. It will not freeze at this ambient temperature.

 

[beninma]

You said highway.. 32F is not notable at all, traffic will be moving 70-85mph here on the highways every day all winter with temperatures like that.

It was more like 10F for commuting time here this morning. 99% the traffic was moving 70mph (in a 55mph) if traffic itself wasn't slowing anything down on the highway that runs through my town.

All season or winter tires and a driver that knows what they're doing it's just not a problem. The roads are super salted here right now.

I have regularly gone 60+ right through a snowstorm staying away from other cars if there's only an inch or so of snow in the road. Much beyond that and things have to start slowing down. The plows in most states here in New England are very good, so you can be stuck in a snowstorm driving 100+ miles in the highway and there will be enough plows out on the road that snow won't build up much beyond an inch. If it's a really bad storm obviously people stay home to give the plows room to work.

It is no problem to go fast in a straight line even if conditions are slippery. It's only an issue if you need to brake or turn.. so you better be smart enough to gradually slow down to an appropriate speed before you need to turn or brake. Drivers in winter climates know how to do that.

 

[985plowboy]

No chance of that happening around here.
South Louisiana we shut down all the roads for a light frost.