I admit I do not have the statistics readily handy and don't see the point in looking them up right now, but I believe the average commute in St. Louis isn't vastly different than that of the DC area, though admittedly the traffic isn't nearly as bad. I do know folks here who commute 60 miles each way. I personally had jobs here with commutes of 16 miles and 35 miles, though I now have reduced that to 8 miles.

I concur that the roads in the DC area have insufficient capacity for the traffic. That's one of the reasons I left having tired of the traffic jams in Reston trying to go to the grocery store on Saturdays. As for the roads in DC not being constructed for bad weather, I guess global warming can't come soon enough.

You also have to remember that many of the roads/highways in DC are just not built to take bad weather like the Whitehurst Freeway or the skyramp at 395/95.

My younger brother and I were lucky in that our driving instruction was passed on to two uncles. One was a bus driver, the other a state trooper. Both were in agreement that any clown can drive on a dry, sunny day, so they took us out only in foul weather and bad conditions. Black ice in fog was a favorite and would see us on both the MA Pike and winding through the Berkshires on 1.5-lane roads at night.

On a related note, most of my friends and I taught ourselves how to drive in the snow in those nice deserted mall parking lots shortly after they were covered in inch+ snow.

And wasn't that FUN? I started out trail-riding on a 70CC Honda dirt bike when I was 13. Mud-bogging and other off-road fun helps teach you a thing or two about traction, momentum and some of the other physics-type stuff that most drivers probably never think about -- until it's too late.

On a related note, most of my friends and I taught ourselves how to drive in the snow in those nice deserted mall parking lots shortly after they were covered in inch+ snow. Learning how to drive in any weather takes practice, so that's what we did. It's saved my bacon several times in bad weather since.

... matery of the kind of skills necessary ...

Should be mastery of the kind of skills necessary ... to avoid stupid typos!

I grew up outside DC. A little snow, and most of them forget how to drive.

They never knew how to drive to begin with, Bill. Fair weather (and the snail's pace of DC rush-hour traffic) allows the commuter the illusion that he can drive. But real driving -- that is, matery of the kind of skills necessary to avoid disaster in unfavorable conditions -- is not an ability that can be developed by crawling around the Beltway at 20 mph, or by driving the short, familiar route to the nearest shopping center. The average suburban commuter lacks high-order driving skills because he has no opportunity to develop or practice them. That's why the roster of NASCAR champions will never list "Bethesda, Md." as the champion's hometown.

However, there is one notable exception to this observation -- Lexus drivers. Apparently, a significant percentage of the folks who have bought a Lexus were told by the dealers that they won't slip and slide on ice and snow and therefore there is no reason to slow down in hazardous conditions. Not all Lexus drivers mind you, but it does seem as though when one vehicle is driving noticeably faster than everyone else on a road covered with ice, as often as not they are driving a Lexus.

OT - the perfect weight distribution front to back and side to side that make my RX-8 so fun to drive in normal conditions make it almost untenable to drive in these conditions. If I come to a stop on an incline covered with ice it is almost impossible to get enough traction to get started again without sliding off the road. Maybe I should get a Lexus.