I’m in NY State. From what we see here, the ice is only black because of the underlying road surface. Those who allege that it’s like OBSIDIAN??? C’mon, slush is slush. It ain’t obsidian. I was in the middle of a terrible freezing rain storm a few years ago, and was trying to use Rt 287 Northbound to get home. Between Rt. 80 and Rt 87, in Northern Jersey, I lost it. That road is cement ( concrete? One of em ). It’s white, not black. So, I didn’t slip on black ice, I slipped on white ice. Didn’t really matter, it was raining down as water, and freezing on the road as VERY clear ice. I could see the cement ( sic) well, through the maybe 1/4-1/2" of smooth ice. Smooth NOT from wheels spinning, and polishing it ( god help us all ) but from the nature of how the water fell on the very cold, smooth surface.
My car slid backwards, and down the hill- just missing a NJ State Trooper. Whose car then slid backwards into mine. Funny- to see a Trooper get out, and realize he owed ME HIS insurance card. First and only time I’ve been instructed to please drive the WRONG way down a major highway, and try to get off the ramp down the hill.
Cartooniverse
If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel.
There’s no way we could all be talking about different aspects of the same phenomenon, huh? We all agree that black ice is the thin layer of ice that forms on un-sanded roadways after a cold snap with enough moisture. Due to the thinness of the coating, and the action of the sun on any bubbles that may have formed, the ice becomes relatively free of air pockets. It would make sense that such ice is clear; however, most roads I’ve seen aren’t precisely clean and free of debris. (Ever try rollerblading in the street? Look at the wheels afterward and you’ll see what I mean - little bits of sand and grit.) So it would seem natural that the grit would be incorporated into the layer of ice, making it darker. Plus with cars running over it, exhaust and general road dirt would become further ground in to the top.
At any rate, you can’t see it from inside the car, for reasons of light transmission and/or lack of reflectivity; it is a real hazard in the cold. And I agree that it is one of the quickest ways to go from ho-hum to holy shit in a car.