I have a friend that works in San Jose and lives in the mountains nearby. In the winter time it is not uncommon for his neighbors to wait until he goes to work and then follow him.
The neighborhood is a private dirt road several miles long. He lives at the end. The first one out in the morning after a storm better have 4wd and a chainsaw. He not only has to cut the tree that fell across the road, but he as to drag it out of the way. If he did have 4wd, then he might be able to drag it with 2wd, but he would spend more time cutting it up into smaller pieces.
When a redwood tree falls across the road it is a fair amount of work to clear it.
I was at home when the Loma Prieta Quake hit, about 5 miles from my house as the crow flies. Though it did not do substantial damage to the houses in my neighborhood I am suer everyone is familiar with what they saw on TV. With 4wd it is just a little easer to get through some situations of closed roads. Some roads not far from my house had a crack in the road that was 3 feet wide and 30 feet deep. That becomes something interesting to drive across or around.
I hope I never have a neighbor ask to borrow my truck to transport a family member to the hospital because the roads are impassible with their car.
Not everyone needs 4wd. But in some locations it sure is nice when some of your friends and neighbors have one.
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