Why are we so crap at snow?

More snow, yay! Day off work, yay! Chance to drive the Series III in it, yay! (maybe)
 
IceBone said:
On motorway @ motorway speeds.
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On what kind of tyres? I'd be scared to death driving with 'bald' summer tyres on the motorway in snow... :blink:

Here is some real snow for you: :tease:

https://pic.armedcats.net/a/ah/ahpadt/2009/02/05/IMG_0006.jpg
 
Was that a road? It's started snowing again here, already about 6 inches on the ground.

http://img15.imageshack.**/img15/7507/dsc0152gsir0.jpg
http://img15.imageshack.**/img15/4341/dsc0149gsqv4.jpg
 
Yeah I have all terrain patterns so I'm fine. ^_^
 
Fixed penalty on that.
 
Nah, my car was just like that when I arrived at uni and I had cleaned it completely before setting off. It was really belting down.
 
Thats against the law over here! Its funny seeing assholes in big SUVs being ticketed for it!
 
In Salt Lake you can build up quite the collection of snow just stopping at the lights. Once I came out to shovel the drive and the only thing I could see on my 245DL was the antenna. The snow was piled up to the trim, the trip strip piled up to the tops of the doors, which reached the roof, which was now about 3 feet taller than it was before.

In 4 hours.

Pussies.
 
Its started snowing again where i am in the UK. I expect the roads and such to be closed in something like 10 Mins :p

It hasn't stopped snowing since 11pm last night...
 
How is it possible for such a tiny bit of snow creating so much chaos on the roads?
I just dont get it. Where I live the snow usually starts falling around october, and it stays until the end of april.

Brits must be rubbish drivers :p

We do get some trouble in traffic with heavy snowfalls, but those are all caused by polish lorries. Thats only like one road that clogs up while the lorry puts chains on tho, it doesnt bring the whole road network to a halt.
 
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I really want it to snow for 1 day here...hell, it is cold enough during the night

But if I had to take my choice of snow for a month or the 70 degree mid days, I would choose what I have now.
 
You lot have to remember that as far as London is concerned this is extreme weather. It only snows here about once every other year. Most years that will be about 30 minutes of instantly melting 'snowfall'. The last time I can remember it settling was about 4 years ago when we got about 5cm in a few hours (and was melted in about the same time). So there really is no point in having any winter tyres for your car, you'll never use them. Imagine this: It snows so you rush out to your car and fit your snow tyres (assuming you can find them under 5 years of crap in the garage); by the time you've finished fitting them the snow has melted. I hope you have plenty of firefighting equipment to put out those forest fires in Helsinki.

This year is extra-ordinary (another word for rare see) for London; 20cm (8in) in 12 hours and it staying for a good couple of days. The only snow I can see from my window now, after the rain, is 2 badly melted and deformed snowmen.

Sure the media blow it all out of proportion which in turn gives people an excuse to play it up which feeds the media. "What's that you say the transport system is so fucked so I shouldn't leave the house to go to work? That's fine by me.", Headline: London Grinds to a Halt in Worst Weather Ever! Credit Crunch Exacerbated by Workshy Londoners.

I was 'out' on Sunday. When I woke up on Monday Morning (Mmmm bacon sarnies) I was keen to go out and play and she was keen to see if she could get to work, so we went to see how delayed the Northern Line was. It wasn't really bad at all Northbound from Tooting. So she got to work (and was the only one from her team to do so) easily and I had a 7 minute wait at Bank for the Central Line, which wasn't that packed for 9:30 on a Monday.

I saw kids out playing. I saw cars tiptoeing down side streets. I saw shop owners clearing their shopfronts. I didn't see any carnage.

I can predict why the buses weren't running. LTR drivers are awful in good weather, having binary leg muscles. There would certainly have been bus carnage, with injuries to bystanders and passengers... jackknifed bendy buses... it would have been awful.

Oh and to the guy that suggested that the Tube has a roof: only the Victoria Line is wholly underground.
 
kurthest said:
How is it possible for such a tiny bit of snow creating so much chaos on the roads?
I just dont get it. Where I live the snow usually starts falling around october, and it stays until the end of april.

Brits must be rubbish drivers :p

We do get some trouble in traffic with heavy snowfalls, but those are all caused by polish lorries. Thats only like one road that clogs up while the lorry puts chains on tho, it doesnt bring the whole road network to a halt.
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its not that brits are rubbish drivers, its because the people who like to complain are more vocal about it than those who just get on with it.
then there's the media that always picks up on something that goes wrong, much like the grit thing going on at the moment and just make matters worse and add more fuel to the people who complain. they'll probably be blaming this on global warming next.

its like what will young said in Question Time last night, people really should just stop complaining about something out of their hands and enjoy it for what it is, grown people running around throwing snowballs at each other and behave like children.
 
nate_bartlet said:
its not that brits are rubbish drivers, its because the people who like to complain are more vocal about it than those who just get on with it.
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Well, something must be wrong when such a tiny amount of snow can wreck havoc on the roads like that. Busses not running? Why?
I get that you dont have snow all winter like up here, but still, you would think people would know how to drive on snow.
And you would think that people that dont know how to handle a car on the snow, or dont have the right tires on, would not take their car out their garage when the conditions are that way.

Do you have to practise driving under such conditions when you are learning how to drive for your drivinglicense?
Everyone in Norway has to do a course on an extremely slippery track (imitates the friction on ice and snow), with plastic cars placed around the track to learn how cars handle under such conditions in order to get their license.
 
kurthest said:
We do get some trouble in traffic with heavy snowfalls, but those are all caused by polish lorries. Thats only like one road that clogs up while the lorry puts chains on tho, it doesnt bring the whole road network to a halt.
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I salute the norwegian police on this matter. In this country, lorries/trucks are the only ones who get away with running on summer tyres in the winter. I don't know which nut decided this was a good idea, but that's the way it is. In Norway however, if the police stop you and find out that you have unsuitable tires or no snow chains they will keep you there until you remedy the situation. Luckily for the driver, the police sells snow chains. Very expensive snow chains.

I've heard this from a trucker driving between our two countries.
 
kurthest said:
I get that you dont have snow all winter like up here, but still, you would think people would know how to drive on snow.
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Why? Do you know how to drive an airboat?

kurthest said:
And you would think that people that dont know how to handle a car on the snow, or dont have the right tires on, would not take their car out their garage when the conditions are that way.
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So you agree that the buses were right to stop running.

kurthest said:
Do you have to practise driving under such conditions when you are learning how to drive for your drivinglicense?
Everyone in Norway has to do a course on an extremely slippery track (imitates the friction on ice and snow), with plastic cars placed around the track to learn how cars handle under such conditions in order to get their license.
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Don't be silly, why would we bother?
 
Meio said:
Why? Do you know how to drive an airboat?

So you agree that the buses were right to stop running.

Don't be silly, why would we bother?
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It's not that hard to drive on snow, and it's included in the theory test, and maybe the highway code so most people should be able to adapt.

As has been said many times, this snow is unusual but not unheard of, an attempt should have been made to get the busses out.

Skidpan time as part of learning to drive would be very useful - even if you don't get a lot of snow in London there is a fair amount up here regularly enough - and even in the south slippery, wet or icy roads are common, so people should know how to cope with a skid.
 
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