Be careful if you're driving anytime soon...

[GfK]

I've just about recovered now from being caught in a mother of a blizzard on a stretch of the A1 between the M18 junction and south to Blyth services a couple of hours ago.

Road appears to be largely untreated and everything is freezing - the wheels on my diesel Ford Focus were spinning in 3rd gear!! It was snowing so hard I couldn't see the front of the car and had to park up on the hard shoulder for almost an hour. Luckily it passed and I got moving again.

I'd often wondered how the hell it was possible for somebody in a car to get stranded in bad weather. I found out tonight.

I pity anybody whos got to drive tomorrow morning. Be careful...

 

[Bachs]

I've been stuck twice since moving up here and it is very scary when you point the car one way and it goes another....especially when you get some idiot up your backside in a 4x4 who thinks he is infallable then finds out he isn't.

My advice would be unless your journey is essential, don't make it.
We are expecting some up here in the North East today.

 

[Boon]

hi guys
i am on holiday until jan 4th thank god, but had to phone the wife's workplace up and speak to the MD and stress 'My wife wont be in today' we are covered in snow and i am not letting her drive 12 miles just for 4 hours work.
Stay warm folks.
Stevannie

 

[busterboy]

Very cold here on the outskirts of Harrogate this morning but not too bad for snow fall..


The untreated roads are an absolute disaster though..:hand:

 

[Matt]

apparently we were in for 4"(Oi!)down here, but its a light dusting this morning, pwetty though, but im not going out there, its cold....

 

[MyPix]

hmm,


stay safe peeps,
and if you go out make sure you take the camera , with a few batteries, and put a blanket in the car

we aint got no snow down here in the south west mind!!!!

MyPix

 

[DJW]

Yep..found a car in a ditch yesterday where it came off a roundabout too fast with ice onthe road

 

[AquilaEagle]

I find it ludicrous how we as a nation cannot cope with a couple of inches of the white stuff.

Look at Scandinavia, Canada, and snowy places, they cope. And so should we

 

[CT]

I find it ludicrous how we as a nation cannot cope with a couple of inches of the white stuff.

Look at Scandinavia, Canada, and snowy places, they cope. And so should we

We had about half an inch of snow recently and my usual commute of 15-20 mins took nearly two hours. Why???? :doh:

 

[Marcel]

We had about half an inch of snow recently and my usual commute of 15-20 mins took nearly two hours. Why???? :doh:

I've been wondering this myself for ages now, why it never used to be this bad. I remember massive snowfalls/drifts, and people just got on with things, and I'm only 28.
Hearing tales from my mums partner of the 'big freeze' in the 50's or whenever it was (that few month long really cold spell).


I did ask on another forum, to be told it was because it's not as cold as it used to be, so things like black ice etc are more and more common.
I say that's just a kop out.

For one, too many people can't drive properly in adverse weather. Too fast, braking too late, wrong use of car controls (fog lights anyone?)
Take bad driving skills out of the equation and I don't think the problem will be half as bad.
The amount of stupidity and completely careless and downright stupid driving I've seen on icy roads leaves me shocked.
Yet when they wrap their cars round trees, and/or kill people, they blame it on the ice?

It REALLY made me laugh yesterday on BBC News, the ticker said

"Severe weather warning, up to 2 cm of snow"....

 

[busterboy]

Hearing tales from my mums partner of the 'big freeze' in the 50's or whenever it was (that few month long really cold spell).

In the 50s there was less than half the traffic there is now though Bod so traffic jams were very rare..

I did ask on another forum, to be told it was because it's not as cold as it used to be, so things like black ice etc are more and more common.

Nonsense...:nut:
I will say that it can be 6" of snow here at 8am in the morning, then by 4pm in the afternoon its all gone...(The climate is definatley changing)..

For one, too many people can't drive properly in adverse weather. Too fast, braking too late, wrong use of car controls (fog lights anyone?)
Take bad driving skills out of the equation and I don't think the problem will be half as bad.
The amount of stupidity and completely careless and downright stupid driving I've seen on icy roads leaves me shocked.
Yet when they wrap their cars round trees, and/or kill people, they blame it on the ice?

Too damn right mate, I would like to bet that 50% of todays drivers have never even driven in deep snow because there hasnt been any (what I call) proper deep snow in many years... Yes we have had quick short blizzards that have left a mess but again its all been gone inside a short time so the majority have no experiance in these conditions..

It REALLY made me laugh yesterday on BBC News, the ticker said

"Severe weather warning, up to 2 cm of snow"....

That about tells it all mate...:doh:

 

[Steep]

Todays vehicles are built for speed and performance, they are much lighter than vehicles of 30 or 40 years ago and consequently find it harder to get a grip.

If you must drive, take a survival kit. It needn't be much, a flask of something hot, a warm blanket gloves and hat a shovel and a camera

I've heard that lowering your tyre pressures a bit makes driving in snow safer but I can't guarantee that.

 

[Matt]

my brother lives in Switzerland, hes in the uk at the moment and finds it highly amusing! He drives Minis in the snow in switzerland, he came over in a Mitsubishi Galant, its go tyres on it that are designed for use in cold weather, no spikes, just compound and treat pattern, consequently he found yesterday to be annoying as he can get about fine, but the rest of the UK cant.

We are just crap at snow, brake when we shouldnt, dont use the gears properly and generally cant drive!

 

[IanC_UK]

I find it ludicrous how we as a nation cannot cope with a couple of inches of the white stuff.

Look at Scandinavia, Canada, and snowy places, they cope. And so should we

I have friends and relatives in canada and the north west USA, they have 2 sets of wheels and tyres, one with summer tyres the other with winter tyres !

Makes light of driving in the conditions, but they get guaranteed winters and summers so they can prepare for it, here we seem to get it all mixed up.

 

[Arkady]

It's because drivers have no winter driving skills.
Because we have very infrequent bad weather, none of us get to practice driving in snowy conditions - maybe one or two days a year every three or four years.

In Scandinavia, they have deep snow every year, so everyone knows how to drive in it. They winterise their cars with snow chains and special coolant and take towing straps and breakdown kit every journey. Everyone does.

And when they get severe weather warnings, they heed them and stay indoors, unlike us who look out the window and say, "Oh, that's not too bad..."