If anyone is driving like a fool it's people with anti-lock brakes, traction control, and allthe other fun toys that make them over-confident. You can always blame drivers, and for the most part you're right, BUT... Some vehicles STINK on icy roads, and some are above average. Bad tires will ALWAYS stink on ice, no matter who is driving. The pickup I drive is one that is terrible on ice. On an icy day I can count multiple examples of the same model in the ditch, outnumbering all other cars put together. No, I'm not making excuses for having taken a snow bath myself, (never happened to me), because I KNOW this thing is not good for snow. Then again, I never said it HAS to be. Every vehicle has it's own character in winter conditions and you gotta know your ride.
Trying to guess the Elio's handling characteristics is probably just that, a guess. Lighter is BAD for traction. Then again less mass does mean less latteral force to counter in curves. Single rear wheel might mean more weight per square inch of tire surface. Then again, if the rear wheel does break traction there is no second chance. But it might grip well enough to not have an issue, long as you don't over do it. It might be an awesome snow beast, then again it might stink. We won't know till its on the road in real world conditions. But even if it wasn't so great, so what? Lots of other cars ain't great for snow either.
