Originally Posted by
CargoDane
It's just a name for a thin sheet of ice on a surface that may not be that visible. And on asphalt, it does look black due to the thinness of it.
No. It the name a thin sheet of ice on a surface that is perfectly visible. The road looks “black” because the light is reflecting off the ice and the pavement is black. If the road is concrete, do you call it “gray ice”?
If the road is wet, shiny and the temperature is below freeing, anyone in any vehicle should expect ice and for the friction between the tires and the road to be much less. “Black ice” is used an excuse for driving too fast for the conditions.
I have crashed on a bicycle on ice many, many times. I have
never said that I shouldn’t have known that the road was icy. I knew what I was doing each and every time I crashed and why I crashed.
I even spun a 35’ delivery truck bed once on ice. As soon as the truck started to spin, I knew that it was my fault and I was going too fast for the conditions. You really have a lot of time to think about stuff when you are spinning on that long an arm.