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People driving way to fast on the ice !!!


Tom1616

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I was just wondering why people have to drive as fast as they do on the ice ? I was on Lake O'Dowds last night , I walked out with my son . Set up my portable , ice about 12 inches where I was . Some people were driving on the ice fast , some seemed like 40-50 miles an hour and the water was splashing through the holes in my house from the waves they were creating !! If they were driving slower the ice was just cracking , no waves . Why do people think they have to do this ?

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Odowd is really fun on friday and saturday nights when the high school games are over. Be out there around 10 PM on those nights. the High Schoolers put on quite the donut show. not to mention the partying that goes on in their parents ice houses. I would say 95% of the people driving to fast are fueled by alcohol.

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Its not just an Odowd thing either.. people drive to fast all the time on the lake it seems.. I rarely drive over 15 mph on lakes.. #1 I dont want to crate that "wave" so that hte ice can break and you go swiming.. and I want controll of my vehicle. I would hate to hit someone and hurt them.

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My opinion (and it is just an opinion) is if you are exceeding 20 mph on the ice you are either:

1) a (Contact Us Please)

2) a dumb kid

3) uneducated that you do create an under ice wave

4) have total disregard for yourself and others.

If someone can explain to me what you accomplish by going 50 mph across a 500 acre lake, maybe I'll understand the reasoning.

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Was out on sugar lake this past weekend and i was pulling my wheeled house out, and i was taking my time because the ice was making all kinds of noise, when all of a sudden this guy in a half ton chevy, comes flying by me at about 30-40 mph, and i felt sick to my stomach because i knew there was a huge wave under the ice from him and it went right under me, all was fine but i had my 3 year old son with me and it made me nervous as H*#&, when i finally measured the ice, we had 14", but that in my opinion is border line for a full size truck with a 7x12 wheel house to be on in the first place, let alone have this (Contact Us Please) fly by me within 30 feet. so slow down out there folks.

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OK,

I have to ask the question. What were you doing with your 3 year old on 12-14 inchs of ice in a car/truck? Hope you were pulling the wheeled house with a wheeler. I am not judging, OK I'm am. I would never put my kids a risk in that condition......

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Funny, we got into a discussion about this topic when out on the ice this weekend. I was mentioning to a friend how a truck traveling at a high rate across the ice could create a wave....but he was not totally buying it. There was 16" of ice I would say.

What affects can this wave have.....and what damage can it cause? Does it differ on the depth of ice there is?

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Underneath you the ice is "Bowed down" That's the best way I can describe it. As you move it's like (kinda) a boat moving through the water. The bowed down ice "pushes" the water underneath it. Voila, a wave. The really bad part is when dudes come screaming to the landing. The wave hits in front of them and can actually cause a blow out of ice right at the shore line.

I agree with Ray in that there are a lot of people out there who are not educated as to the wave they are creating.

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I am not quite sure what the parameters are for speed and weight, but I have heard that traveling at a specific speed for a sustained amount of time will create the conditions needed for the pressure of the wave to actually overcome the strength of the ice ahead of the vehicle. There was something about tanks in the arctic going through ice that was 10 feet thick. Granted, seawater and sea ice has different properties, but physics are physics, and the same principles are applied to fresh water. Does this justify driving fast? No way. I personally try to vary my speed slightly, somewhere between 15 and 25 mph, and always stay clear of people and structures unless going real slow. Granted, when I was a younger man, I didn't quite have as much wisdom......

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If you ever hear of a TV show on Nat. Geo.,Disc.Hist.chanels called something like Ice Highway,? Ice Drivers? Its about driving bigrigs over lakes some 50-100 miles long in Alaska Canada,As supply routes.They mention the ice wave and I believe its the slower speeds that create the dangerous wave conditions! I dont recall but I think it was the 10-18MPH range that was dangerous? Don't quote me, but I'm close.Those Boys FLY!Its safer. Going slower creates that ice depression, that sends the wave, the time there spooked the most is when they have to slow down to run to shore,which most times goes up hill there for the slow down.Watch the show its on a few times each year,Its interesting.I also thought slow best!but I've changed my mind,Of course 30-40-MPH is too fast.

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I remember seeing that show as well. And, I remember the optimum speed deal also. However, I am pretty sure the speed was not very fast. I know they talked extensively about when the guys drove too fast it would blow the ice up in front of them when the wave hit shallow water or the shore.

It was a great show. Now I want to see it again.

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"Denison's Ice Road" by Edith Iglauer is a book about this and she is referenced in the film: Ice Road Truckers. It was made in 2000, last played on Discovery in 2003. If anyone is interested.

I can't see going slow being the issue, but it's not to far fetched for there to be a sweet spot between too fast and too slow. At a certain speed to weight ratio you might be compounding these waves making one wave grow in front of you.

I have no idea what I just said.

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Cool topic. I found this on a site when I searched on Denison Ice Roads Lake Driving...

"NOTE, --- If a driver does not like, or can not control his speed over the ice at 25 km (15 mph) or the posted speed, for hours and hours at a time, this is no place for him to be. Safety is paramount, and it could mean a life and death situation. This is no place for the impatient turnpike hot-rodder. On the ice roads, speed really does KILL."

15 mph seems to be their posted speed on the real ice roads for big rigs.

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i remember seeing that show as well, really good. on another note, i was on mille lacs this weekend and looked out the window of my shack to see a big dodge doing about 40 plowing through snowdrifts and bouncing off uneven ice. what is so important that people need to get there a couple minutes faster? granted the guy was a couple hundred yards from me so i didnt think i was in danger, but next time it could be closer. i just dont understand it.

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I too was on O'dowd on sunday around 13"-14" inches. saw to vehicles goin proubly 30-35 mph and the one was right behind the other. pretty stupid if you ask me. they stopped a little more than 100 yards away from me and when they got out they were teenagers.

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This link was posted in another thread but I found it interesting.

"A load deflects the ice slightly into a bowl shape. When you drive on floating ice, this moving bowl generates waves in the water. If the speed of the waves equals the vehicle speed, the ice-sheet deflection is increased and the ice is much more likely to break. The problem is more serious for thin ice and shallow water. In general you avoid this danger by driving below 15 mph."

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