Despite growing up in Massachusetts and spending seven years in Michigan, I cannot stand winter, which is why I happily moved to Los Angeles a few years ago. I hate the cold and wind, I hate the slush, I hate having to get bundled up. But the one thing I miss is driving in the snow — specifically drifting around at every chance I got. (I had an NA Miata on Blizzaks, so basically every moment was an opportunity.) However, it’s not always a good idea — especially not when you’re trying to pass a semi with snow plow coming in the opposite lane.
As fun as hooning around in the snow can be, you still need to be careful and respectful of other drivers on the road, as one Subaru WRX owner in New York recently discovered. The state’s Department of Transportation posted a video to social media that was taken from a snowplow’s dash cam, showing a WRX drifting around a semi truck in the oncoming lane to pass on a two-lane road before smacking into the plow’s plow.
Look, I know that it’s super annoying to be stuck behind a slow-moving semi truck regardless of the situation, and it’s even worse in the winter. I know that it can also be dangerous to stay behind a truck like that in the snow, but you still shouldn’t attempt to pass until it is absolutely safe to do so. In this case, it obviously wasn’t. Not only did the WRX driver do an (admittedly cool looking) drift as it passed the semi — not the safest way to execute a pass regardless of weather — but it started the overtake when going downhill around a corner. Making matters worse, the WRX didn’t have a clear view ahead — just look at the rooster tails coming off both the truck and the Subaru.
The plow was doing 32 mph when the WRX hit it, which is a pretty substantial amount of speed for a situation like this, and the Subaru looks to be going at least that quick if not substantially faster. Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident, which is pretty surprising given that the plow hit the WRX directly at the B-pillar area on the driver’s side. We don’t have any images of the aftermath, but the entire rear end of the Subaru looks like it got sheared off in the crash.
If you are driving in the snow and absolutely need to pass the person ahead of you, be extra careful. Wait until you have a clear view and a straight stretch of road ahead with no oncoming traffic, give the slower vehicle in front a wide berth when you pass, and try not to pull a sick drift when you do it. But hey, at least the WRX driver used his blinker.