Ice Driving Dangers

Posted by MNAngler On March - 4 - 2010

It has been widely reported that, by Minnesota law, permanent/unattended ice houses in the Southern two-thirds of Minnesota will have had to be off the ice by midnight, March 1. The Northern third of Minnesota has until March 15. The Waseca County News reported the same in their own article.

But what made the Waseca County News article interesting is their warning about driving on ice. They said the following:

The DNR recommends vehicles stay off the ice for 24 hours after a cold snap, as a rapid drop in temperature makes ice brittle. And when you are out on the ice in a vehicle, drive less than 15 miles per hour.

The reason behind this is because a car or truck moving on ice creates waves, just like a boat in the summer. According to the DNR, if the waves speed is the same as the vehicle speed a critical velocity is reached that can lead to ice failure.

Ice failure? That doesn’t sound pleasant.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my first experience driving on ice. If I had this information, I would have been a lot less cavalier about going out there. I’ve been a driver on the ice a few times since my post. I can’t say if I drove over 15 miles per hour, but I certainly had a false sense of security believing I was completely safe on 2 ft of ice. I’ll be a lot more cautious about where and when I drive from now on.

2 Responses to “Ice Driving Dangers”

  1. IceRoadTrucker says:

    They talk about the waves that vehicles on ice can create in the History channel’s “Ice Road Truckers” series. I hope the new season will be starting soon.

  2. William K says:

    Hello Minnesota Angler, I really enjoy reading your blog. If only there were more out there like this. I started my own freshwater fishing blog about a month ago. Here: http://blog.anglerwise.com Tell me what you think. I would love to do some kind of link sharing with you. Contact me if interested.

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