Oregon’s Stupid No Salt Policy (Portland: leasing, home, buying)

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by ormari

The fact that icy/snowy conditions occur so seldomly is an argument against doing it. Equipping the city and state with equipment to distribute the salt and employing operators to spread it costs money. Importing salt and strategically placing it around the state costs money. Salt storage requires real estate dedicated to the purpose; this also costs money. Given how infrequently these events occur, it is difficult to see that a cost-benefit analysis would justify the practice, even exclusive of the environmental costs.

The fact that it happens infrequently does not negate the argument that a municipality has a duty to provide safe conditions.

[leastprime]

So glad I dont commute to Portland anymore.
I never can understand why people insist in going out when it snows and turns into 1/4 inch of ice.
I used to drive with studded tires on a small compact. I could go practically anywhere. It was the people who didn't have studs that scared me since I was the low mass car.

[leastprime]

Salt has to imported into Oregon.
Gravel is cheaper and readily available. Plus it didn't was off in the first melt.

[eric351982]

Oregon has to be the first or last state to do anything, for better or for worse.

Pumping our own gas, fluoridated water, sales tax, salting roads.

[ormari]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

The fact that it happens infrequently does not negate the argument that a municipality has a duty to provide safe conditions.

Can you point to where in the Oregon Laws it states that municipalities are required to do this?

The Basic Speed Rule puts the burden for safety on the driver: the driver is required to adjust their speed so as to maintain vehicle control based on weather and road conditions. An extreme interpretation of this is that if the roads are too bad to operate safely at any speed, then you should not be on the road.

[MrTomJones]

I'm in 100% opposition of OP.

Do you know how bad salt is for cars dude? Cars last 7 years in salt, instead of easily 20+ when you're not in a salt-use area.

I like my car not rusting to hell, thanks.

[USDefault]

If Portland uses salt a few times a year, the impact on your car: zero. It will not matter. At all.

Cars last 7 years in salt, instead of easily 20+ when you're not in a salt-use area.

Laughably false, made-up nonsense. Cars last just as long on the East coast as they do the west. And if you disagree, then don't drive the two times a year the roads will be salted.

There will be zero impact on cars. Zero impact on the environment.

Bottom line, Oregon government has a responsibility to prevent roads that are ice rinks. Beyond dangerous and life-threatening. Salt is the answer. ODOT knows it, too, which is why they announced today they will be using rock salt on frozen roads. GOOD.

[notnamed]

Yeah most modern cars don't have a big problem with salt. A notable exception being early 2000s Mazdas. Our 2003 Mazda Protege5 was on the verge of becoming a flintstone mobile back in Ohio.

Brought our 2009 RAV4 here from there and first time we had it serviced here they actually noted "bottom covered with surface rust as if driven somewhere that uses salt". Yeah it's there, but it's not a big deal. Though can make getting some nuts off a pain if they get seized up. VW's are near impervious to the stuff with the treatment they do.

[snatale1]

Sodium Chloride (Rock Salt) is cheap and damages everything
Calcium Chloride doesn't damage vegetation, animals or roads but it costs more. Wouldn't be an issue to use it when needed.

[j_k_k]

It's sort of amazing to imagine us finding any difficulty locating abundant quantities of salt (should we decide to use it) when our metro area is about seventy minutes from literally the largest body of salt water on earth. That's like Egypt having to go on Amazon to buy sand.