Getting thru chain control without chains

[mspohr]

I remember seeing snow once, I think it was 2002 or was it 2003?

I spent one winter on an Indian reservation near Sierra Blanca in New Mexico. It's a ski area up a mountain but the town is down the hill and it's usually dry. Every weekend it was jammed with Texans who would put their chains on in town on dry pavement and drive up the mountain to ski. They kept them on all weekend. Snow is a strange and wonderful thing to Texans.

 

[Tree95]

In California, whenever there is chain control, they set up a checkpoint and stop every car to check their tires and 4WD and they will turn you around if you don't pass.

On I 80, I've never gotten anything more than a wave nor slowed to a stop in any vehicle I've ever taken through chain controls. Nor any vehicle in which I've been a passenger . This includes vehicles with chains, 4wd with M+S tires, and 4wd with snow tires. There's no way the Caltrans dude could see the marks on the tires to know they were appropriate, and there's no way he knew if I had chains in the car or not. There's usually a 60 to 90 minute backup at the checkpoints; they don't have time to make every car stop without creating even more massive backups. The morons in their cars with no awd and no chains cause enough delays. If you look "good enough" from a distance, they'll wave you through. And, then fine you thousands of dollars if you're in an incident without proper equipment.

 

[Wuggado?]

On I 80, I've never gotten anything more than a wave nor slowed to a stop in any vehicle I've ever taken through chain controls. Nor any vehicle in which I've been a passenger . This includes vehicles with chains, 4wd with M+S tires, and 4wd with snow tires. There's no way the Caltrans dude could see the marks on the tires to know they were appropriate, and there's no way he knew if I had chains in the car or not. There's usually a 60 to 90 minute backup at the checkpoints; they don't have time to make every car stop without creating even more massive backups. The morons in their cars with no awd and no chains cause enough delays. If you look "good enough" from a distance, they'll wave you through. And, then fine you thousands of dollars if you're in an incident without proper equipment.

My guess is it's more a question of whether you have 4wd or not. If not, they better see chains on the car. I always just hold up 4 fingers to indicate 4wd and they wave me thru.