Snow = crashes, again...

Plant killer, you should get leaf for that lol!

....or....

hopefully you will turn over a new leaf...........

Due to half an inch of the wrong kind of snow on the lines, every Rail Terminal in London will take the piss, charge you exorhbitent prices for every concievable piece of rubbish imaginable undwer the sun, and nobody will complain about it except the tourists, who'll most likely get compensated eventually and indirectly at public expense anyway,innit.


Fritz Von Nothing new there then

Good for business in the week.

Ordinary motorists want to get from A to B...

The ones that won't dare drive will get a taxi cos *we* know how to drive in snow and they don't - and they know it!

The rest of the year the same folks slag us for driving with, er, too much confidence...

I pray for mild weather by the weekend cos snow just slows me down.

We don’t get enough practice. The last time I had to drive through bad snow was December 03. What made it scary was not the poor conditions so much as people slamming their brakes on, tailgating (unbelievable!) and some people in 4WD vehicles who thought the laws of physics didn’t apply to them. I’m doing return trips to London this week, which are enough of a grind without the possibility of bad weather. There’s a light dusting in my part of Somerset this morning – nothing to worry about. I’m now going to check what it’s like down the other end of the M4.

Drive safely folks.

Cheers

Harry

I have a serious amount of work to do in the office; I was here until 1.00am last night. I was praying last night for enough snow so I could cancel my meeting in London today & get some more work done.
It's my lucky day.
I'm off now to get on with it..

LOl re the 4wd comment.
I have driven various 4 wheel drive vehicles and whilst normally they are better on crap weather, when they go they go with no return.

My wife had the rear wheel drive mercedes last night and very carefully placed it on out drive - me I was steady as a rock in my diesel golf until i got on the drive and then - flattened plant or hit a brick wall.

What is is about my drive that resembles antarctica after 1/2 of snow (well thats my excuse and I am sticking to it LOL)

anyway, be careful out there and don't trust to chance any others driving during this weather...

andy c!

The British coach that crashed here in Germany a few days ago killing one and injuring many more, was apparently using non winter tyres (a big issue here and is LAW to do so). The firm involved sites years of accident free experience etc, and deny having wrong tyres (easily proved). If they are lying they should have the bloody book thrown at them big-style, and without British interference either.


Fritz Von Such tyres are very expensive, but are essential, speeding will no doubt be a factor too ( a double whammy so to speak)

Fritz

Seeing as you are sitting on your ass doing nothing, get a shovel and clear it up.

Regards

Mick

It's the tyres. Just about every new care has tyres that are much wider and sportier than 20 years ago, unfortunately they are also complete shit in the snow. This combined with ABS on every car which results in you having NO stopping power at all in snow means many accidents.

Many European countries that have significantly more snow and bad weather are less affected as most cars have winter or snow tyres.

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Fritz

Seeing as you are sitting on your ass doing nothing, get a shovel and clear it up.

Regards

Mick

You really are a card Mick, I's goin for early retirement too moi andsome, innit. I'll gladly shovel snow, but only if you're the gaffer and show me how to hold the shovel !


Fritz Von How to confuse a Plymouth 48er, point to the shovels in the corner and say, 'take yer pick Son'

Fritz is right.

IN many parts of europe that get snow there is a legal requirement to use winter tyres.


WINTER TYRES.

Not almost bald old crappy damaged tyres or tyres specifically designed for track days.

WE dont as a nation prepare our cars for winter either.

So first bit of misery and there they all are abandoned at the side of the road due to poor winter preparation.

I went to Ipswich today a 90 mile round trip and saw 5-6 cars abandoned due to mechanical failure. Fortunately saw no incidents but there was a very near miss.

A female genitalia in a 40 tonner over taking 4 cars as the dual carriage way was ending and 40 mph limit approaching fast.

Amazing every body got out of his way and he hit nobody

Police car at side of road uninterested in this activity.

What is wrong with the police these days.

Crappy weather snow wet roads slush on roads impaired visibility and no response from El Plod.

Funny World.

WE need to ensure that people drive cars that are suitable for this weather.

I says mugly as i had 4 new tyres put on my 1989 Sierra XR4x4 the other day. It is being MOT'd and serviced this friday, so hopefully it will continue to be a safe reliable car for this sort of unpleasantness.

The Vauxhall VXR 220 i looked at yesterday is ideally suited to this weather. It is light weight with humungous semi race tyres more power than sense etc etc.

Perhaps the germans are right over enforcement of winter driving standards.

regards David

Well, I stayed late with the client tonight and won't have to drive anywhere tomorrow - so the weather should improve considerably!

No offense to 4WD drivers in my earlier post. The people I was refering to probably wouldn't be able to drive anything in any conditions - you know the type. Give them a bit of ground clearence and big knobbly tyres and they think they're invincible.

Despite all the dire forecasts it hasn't turned out too bad in the South. Well, not in the M4 corridor anyway.

Cheers

Harry

I rode home in the snow last night on my mountain bike because the car is off the road. 3/4 hour to cover 10 rural kilometres in the pitch dark in a howling gale! My beard was frozen solid!

We had 4" of snow overnight with strong gales! Now the surrounding fields have emptied themselves into my parking area and drive. Up to a metre deep in places.
I have an appointment to take the car in to be repaired at lunchtime. A CV joint has suddenly given up. Continuous snow is forecast for the rest of the day. Now I'll have to cycle home in even deeper snow if they can't fix the car before they close. Assuming I and the mechanics can actually reach the garage in the first place!

"Is your journey really necessary?" suddenly takes on a whole new meaning!

Got to get back to snow clearing though, just so I can get out.

Regards
Nime

quote:

LOl re the 4wd comment.
I have driven various 4 wheel drive vehicles and whilst normally they are better on crap weather, when they go they go with no return.

Take it from me that the laws of physics apply even more with 4x4's. Once they start slidding they can't stop. Those big fat tyres mean you have to be even more carefull in one.

I am very tempted to get the Nissan out and leave the Jeep in the garage!

Winter tyres do indeed make a difference in snow and/or low temperatures, but it's probably unrealistic to expect car owners to purchase a second set of wheels and tyres for the few occaisons that the road temp drops low enough, or that you have a really hard frost that passes as snow in the UK.

The theory of ABS not functioning in snow applies more to higher speeds on fresh snow, which is an unusual set of circumstances - possibly the norm in Skandanavia, but elsewhere, fresh snow provides surprisingly high levels of grip as long as speed is reasonably low. The big problems arise when the snow is compacted and polished into a hard, slippery surface, made worse by the inevitable thaw-freeze cycle.

We've had snow on the ground here for the last four weeks. I turn off the traction control and wallow in massive, massive oversteer.
BOR

I did a job of work at my old supermarket yesterday helping out with stocktake. It is located right in the heart of the Cairns CBD.
And couldn't help thinking of this theme as the bikini clad backpackers strolled the ailses.
Those of you who have holidayed here will get the picture. Incidentally we now have a lagoon down on the Esplanade. The mudflats are still there but one can now cool off without going out to the beaches.
I have been receiving winter tales from Germany and The States. Mostly concerning snow shovelling and abandoned cars. Apparantly when motoring it is not snow that is the problem but icy roads. You keep slip sliding away.