Traction Salt and the Atlanta Traffic Nightmare of January 2014

Atlanta, Georgia, USA under ideal sunny conditions has horrible traffic jams at rush hour.  Now, add ice and snow to the rush hour traffic with or without the roads being salted by the city . . .  that is how the January 2014 traffic nightmare happened.  (i.e. thousands of car accidents and abandoned cars)

So let's take a look at how salting the roads and sidewalks BEFORE the snow storm can make a difference.  In the picture above,  do you see the clear pathway in the middle of the snowy patches?

Well, I coated that clear area in front of my hair salon entrance with "traction salt" BEFORE the snow hit.  So withOUT any plowing and withOUT any other effort besides putting out the "traction salt,"  my salon entrance remained clear throughout the snow storm in Lake Norman, NC.

Georgia may have received more snow than my area in North Carolina, but clearly from this picture, you can see using my salon entrance as an example that salting the roads and sidewalks before the snow and ice hits makes a 100% difference.

So if all the roads and interstates were properly salted before the snow storm, I really think that Atlanta, Georgia would have had less motor vehicle accidents and less gridlock.

The interstates became a parking lot for two days according to the news reports.  I do not want to imagine getting stuck outside in the cold for an extra six hours on an interstate.  Can you say bathroom? Heat? Gasoline?  Wow!

Thank God for those who opened their stores and homes to strangers for warmth, and for those of you interested in purchasing "traction salt,"  home improvement stores such as Lowe's and Home Depot sell the large sacks for $18 or less.  It is toxic, and  protective gloves should be used to distribute the salt out, but it may be worth it to have on hand.