We were stupid to drive through the state of Virginia on Monday, when the combination of winter storms and the traditional regional practice of doing nothing about them messed us both over for over 20 hours.
The storm dumped over a foot of snow in parts of eastern Virginia, with more than a foot falling in Maryland. This was not good because anyone who has lived along that stretch knows that the area reacts to winter weather in two different ways: panic and recklessness. The region is always unprepared for snow, which means that if there is a couple inches of snow in DC, the U.S. government will be stuck. The recklessness comes in when drivers who are not used to winter weather act like black ice is a speed enhancer.
That is normal. The state Department of transportation failed to take basic steps like pretreating roads with salt and snow removal crews were overwhelmed, which caused a spectacular disaster on Monday. Thousands of drivers were stuck in standstill traffic on I-95 on Monday because of the monument to the nightmare cult of car ownership. Some spent over 24 hours trapped there, running dangerously low on food, drink, and gas as temperatures dipped into the teens. No one died.
The majority of the blame has been directed at VDOT, but I have another reason to be angry: I blame the internet company for a 20 hour-plus hellhole ride that included a 10 hour stint on I-95. Specifically, the maps of the two companies.
We left a hotel in Virginia Beach at 11:30 a.m. on Monday to head to DC. We heard of trouble on the roads further north, but we were given a good estimate on the trip up front. My partner said that it noted the possibility of six to seven-hour delays when put in navigation mode. We made a bad bet that the situation would improve as the snow stopped.
I can't drive because my license expired. As we slowly crept our way to inexorable doom on I-95, I mostly served as a witness and navigation helpers.
We switched to an alternate route that was suggested by the internet company, but it was still necessary to hop on to I-95. We stopped at a Chili's and downloaded a navigation app. We considered taking a different path up Route 301, but both websites agreed that I-95 would be quicker. This would have been a good time to check the news and see if the status of the suggested route was already becoming a national news story or if state officials were warning people to steer clear. We relied on the estimated delays, which fluctuated wildly.
Hundreds of people were stuck on stretches of I-95 in our path for most of the day, until we reached Falmouth near Fredericksburg. Under the impression that it was more clever than it really was, Waze tried to get us around a block by taking some side roads. The only problem was that these side roads were unplowed, covered in snow and ice, and quickly being flooded by hundreds of other drivers who had clearly come up with the same idea. We got trapped for the first time because we neglected to go down a particularly alarming road suggested by Waze, but while trying to pass a car on another unplowed street, our right tires got stuck in a snowbank. The road was packed with cars getting stuck, and a good Samaritan came out with shovels, but we had to dig out a van first. By the time we got out, it had been over two hours.
The good Samaritan mentioned that apps must have been to blame for the situation unfolding off his driveway because it had been quiet all day.
We were advised to go north on Route 1 by Waze, but then they told us to go to I-95. This was a terrible mistake of judgement, as we were led into a trap with no other way out. Its estimated delay time was low. This was bullshit. We were greeted on I-95 by a sheen of black ice and trapped cars as far as we could see. Three and a half hours to get less than 10 miles north to a hotel is what Waze gave us.
Some weird thoughts might come to your mind when you are stuck on black ice for hours, periodically firing up the engine to get the front seats above freezing before turning it back off to save gas. It's completely illogical, conspiratorial thoughts like, "Hey, maybe getting me stuck here, endless refreshing Waze and looking for hotels on Google Maps, was what Google wanted the whole time." It was at least a change of mental dialogue from previous questions like, "Has Virginia ever heard of goddamn salt" or "Will the state troopers arrest me for peeing on the side of the road?"
The Washington Post hindsight of the I-95 fiasco makes certain things more sense. The VDOT was slow to acknowledge how bad the situation was, and it didn't admit a "complete blockade" of traffic until midnight, after drivers had been trapped for hours. I-95 wasn't officially shut down until three hours after that. I-95 was recommended by both Google Maps and Waze until then.
During unpredictable conditions, the team works as quickly as possible to update routes using details from local authorities, feedback from drivers, and sudden changes to driving trends. We displayed a winter storm warning and stopped the route through I-95 after we verified that it was closed. Everyone is encouraged to stay alert and attentive when driving in bad weather.
The maps of old are not like the ones of today. The active actor is you when you use a paper map. You need to chart the route. No one blames the map for their lost location. By their design, navigation apps give users a comfortable illusion of who is in charge. If you let them chart you a route, they will march you along it Lemmings-style, even if you are not very good at it. They will never tell you that it is a better idea not to drive in extreme situations.
We were in control. We could have stopped our losses at any time. Found a place to stay. We let the program push us onwards and onwards, ignoring the consequences until it was too late. It is cold comfort that thousands of other people did the same thing.
There is a lesson to be learned here. Let me know what app I can download to figure it out.
