Hoke drives to Miss Daisy, on the morning of an ice storm. He tells her he knows how to drive on ice. Back in the 50s,there was only rear wheel drive. No traction control,or ABS brakes. The tires were nowhere as good as modern ones. It would have been very hard or impossible to drive safely on icy roads.
sharewow you must be young
yeah, people were able to drive on ice and the world turned before traction control and ABS.... ROFL
LOL!
And his car probably had drum brakes and was carbureted - and probably weighed half again as much as many modern passenger cars. Then again, that extra weight probably helped dig in a bit in the deep stuff.
My goodness, how did anyone driving those 60's era muscle cars ever survive to tell the tale?
My first car didn't have ABS or traction control. It didn't even have power steering, much less air bags. Shoulder belts were a retrofit.
Hoke did what I used to do: drive slowly and steadily, leaving plenty of following distance while allowing plenty of distance to stop. Back then, if the brakes started to lock up (you could feel it right up through the peddle when they were about to), you'd pump them to simulate what ABS now does really fast with the help of a computer. Then, when starting off, you'd take it nice and easy on the gas and start off in 2nd gear. Even the most punchy muscle car could be tamed back that way.
Now days, people just romp on the gas, then press it harder when the wheels start to spin. They drive too fast and rely on the technology to allow them to maintain control or stop.
For decades, I drove a manual transmission vehicle, learning to use the transmission to help me stop with minimal braking, gently rocking the car from reverse to forward when stuck and giving it nice steady acceleration when climbing slippery hills. Other than one time getting stuck in a snow bank coming down a steep, unplowed mountain road one winter, the only incident I had in the winter was someone turning left in front of me at a slippery intersection. I managed to almost completely avoid the wreck with some careful maneuvering, but still got tagged in the process. However, instead of my T-boning the other driver with my nearly 5000lb pickup, both cars got away with only minor damage that left both of them driveable. The other insurance company was more than happy to pay for my damages and rental car expenses as opposed to totaling at least one vehicle - possibly two - and paying medical claims.
Now days, I drive an automatic transmission Jeep (no manual option in that model, though it has optional paddle shifters) that has ABS to pump the brakes, it starts off in 2nd in snow mode and uses the transmission to minimize braking when it's slippery.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Oh yeah: It's got 8 air bags just in case someone else doesn't know how to use that stuff on their own car.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
How can anyone possibly believe that nobody ever drove in the wintertime before the 1980s? Could anybody actually think the entire world stopped moving when it snowed, and just sat around waiting for spring?
Sorry, kid, but I drove cars on snow and ice long before they had front wheel drive, or anti-lock brakes. They even had ... gasp!!! ... manual transmissions! And guess what! People managed just fine. We didn't even wear crash helmets! Imagine that!
Jesus H. Christ, use your head.
Well said jcosyn-1. Not only did people drive on icy roads back then but we had fewer accidents too. Probably because everyone drove much more carefully and weren't busy talking on cellphones.
shareAs another not-so-young poster, I'm getting a kick out of this thread. I can go even one better. In my case it's not only a matter of being able to remember older car technology, but I'm still actually using it! I am presently driving a 1989 pickup truck as my main vehicle. I will admit it has anti-lock brakes. But it is rear wheel drive only. And "traction control"? I don't even know what that is!
Not that I couldn't afford something newer, but I'm a believer in being resourceful and making things last. Some people I talk to act like they can't believe it's possible a vehicle that age could even run, let alone operate with any dependability. But I drove it from Indiana to Savannah, Georgia a few months ago and it didn't miss a lick.
Let's take a moment to look where the movie was set. And you get the feeling that the people lived and died in that town.
Now I have been all over America, including in the South during one of their rare snows. I have yet to see a southerner really know how to drive in the snow. Being from Chicago, what I witnessed were a few hundred panicked motorists with no clue how to control their vehicles.
If there was anything completely unrealistic about this film it was that Morgan's character, a low country southerner from birth, knew how to handle a car in the snow.
Unless you're a transplant from a state with seasons, everyone in the South is lost in the snow & ice.
Atlanta gets snow about once a year on average. Some winters you'll get snow there 2-3 times, some none at all. It never lasts more than a few days
shareThis is true...but we have a history of ice storms here too. We all remember them and talk about them until everyone else is sick of hearing abou it!
Hoke drove a delivery truck. Yes, Atlanta rarely gets ice compared to Northern states, but It does get ice several times a year. He drove the truck for like 30 years. Also, milk was delivered to your doorstep early in the morning before the sun had a chance to melt off the ice. He would have had way more experience than everyone else.
But the difference was..... back in those days..... phones weren't smart.....
people were!
And, it's also very possible that Hoke had chains on his tires or snow tires...
shareBack in the 50's you had to learn to drive on ice yourself. The car couldn't do it for you. You didn't show up at work you didn't get paid. BTW I learned to drive in the 80's with a car with no ABS and can drive on ice rather well I think.
shareThe cars in the 50's weighed a ton and had the weight to drive through ice and snow, unlike the light-weight cars today.
share