|
Weather chaos again on the roads.Why are we so unprepared when the weather changes.Lorry after lorry gridlocked in traffic,drivers in cars for twelve hrs.Anybody got a answer?
|
I know this is going to sound like a tale but I promise it's true. I've just got off the phone from speaking to a friend who lives on the south coast. He's working from home today because his car is in the garage having it's brakes checked. He was driving home last night in the "snow" ( that wasn't snow from the footage I've seen but anyway ) and when slowing for a bend he felt the brake pedal vibrating and the car wasn't slowing down as normal...
So, and I'm deadly serious, he has taken it to the garage to get it checked in case it's faulty !
I couldn't quite bring myself to say...
Southerners, ya gotta love 'em !
:-)
|
|
Not just the UK. Lunchtime news mentioned 1000 miles of jams in Belgium
|
Caught everyone on the hop over this way (South Limburg in NL). No gritters out.
I was very grateful for the winter boots on my fleet car. As I shovelled 6" of snow off my drive I watched a Focus with ordinary tyres trying to pass my house uphill. Most amusing.
No problem at all with the right tyres for the conditions.
Last edited by: TeeCee on Thu 14 Mar 13 at 08:20
|
I believe you Humph its all to do with this climate change changes people behaviour.
What happens if you stuck that long in traffic and you go for a pee outside?Will the old bill still arrest you for indecent exposure.Or a poo poo..;)
|
|
Belgium isn't a country Meldrew just a region south of the Netherlands.>:)
|
>> Southerners, ya gotta love 'em !
How do you feel about all the other categories of halfwit though Humph?
Personally I'm not keen on ABS. I can't remember it ever helping me and I suspect that on one occasion it made things worse.
But I suppose it may be useful to heavy-clogged 'Southerners' and the like.
|
|
I think if you unintentionally provoke the ABS (or ESC) into action you have got it wrong big time.
|
Yes and no, it is possible to get the ABS kicking in where the cause was nothing more alarming than a wet drain cover. You should of course avoid braking on them, but it is surprising how little brake force will cause a wheel to lock on one.
Done it several times in a Defender 90 when I used one for commuting.
Last edited by: Slidingpillar on Tue 12 Mar 13 at 19:33
|
>>
>> Done it several times in a Defender 90 when I used one for commuting.
>>
Braking on bends or drain covers, poor anticipation, planning, and just shoddy driving skills. :-)))
|
>>Braking on bends ...................... just shoddy driving skills. :-)))
Google trail braking. ;>)
|
>> >>Braking on bends ...................... just shoddy driving skills. :-)))
>>
>> Google trail braking. ;>)
>>
Bikes are for people two wheels short of a vehicle, they fall over when you stop and sometimes when you don't. :-)
|
>> Braking on bends
Every day on my route home I leave the motorway at Maastricht airport. The exit takes a 180 degree bend to the junction. I brake on the slip road to a speed suitable for the bend and conditions, then go around with a bit of throttle to counter roll.
This usually results in someone being right up my chuff down the slip road and then disappearing rearward as I take the bend. Everyone else comes haring down the slip and then turning with the brake lights on full chat.
Rather interestingly, if I get one of those in front of me, while it pulls out a good lead going into the bend it's always an obstruction to me by the exit, so if anyone's in any doubt whether "brake before and accelerate through" is faster......
|
It is reported that there are 1000 miles of traffic jams in Belgium and Frankfurt Airport is shut! Trains to Paris cancelled due to European weather!!
Lunchtime TV showing trucks queued up. I suspect that is the well rehearsed car park on the M20 ( Operation Stack ?) that swings into action when there are problems with channel crossings.
Answers? The lemmings should start to believe the weather forcasts.
The snow and high winds have been forcast for DAYS so did they all need to travel ?
I can understand one couple who were going to a funeral traveling and of course truckers but many others have less reason to be out.
|
>>Answers? The lemmings should start to believe the weather forcasts
Or stop moaning.
Bucks Fizz star Cheryl Baker told ITV Daybreak that had been stuck on the A23 for eight hours.
She tweeted: "Hoping to be asleep in my bed by then! 8 hours and still at a complete standstill. ridiculous.
And they KNEW snow was coming."
er...so did you Cheryl!
It was the same on 18th January. Three chuffing days of being warned, and told to avoid unnecessary travel, and still they came out to try and get themselves stuck. I drove from Hereford to Lockerbie that day, knowing it was at my own risk and with a 4x4.
We had a full tank of fuel, food and water, boots and outdoor clothing to hand,and I made damn sure I stayed off anything I couldn't turn around on until I got north of Manchester and the snow. One of the stuck people we passed had no coat, and high heels. Maybe it was Cheryl Baker!
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 19 Mar 13 at 10:18
|
>> Bucks Fizz star Cheryl Baker told ITV Daybreak that had been stuck on the A23 for eight hours.
To move a car stuck in the snow, first you gotta speed it up, then you gotta slow it down. I'm suprised she didn't know that.
|
It's the Britsih weather Dutchie. Although our climate is generally cool/benign we get quite odd extremes. We've had wind in Central London that's slowed my bike to a stop and biys of tree all over roads.
Yesterday it was light spindrift snow to South of London combined with a strong wind - gust to 50mph. As soon as snow was ploughed off the road it blew back on again. I suspect that salt was also blown off the roads, it was certainly swirling about on the M1 when I drove up to Leicester on Sunday. If it's not quickly ground into the snow/ice grit is useless.
Add into that people, including 'professional' drivers who cannot handle snow and others in cars that are neither use nor ornament in low traction. Folks set off in spite of bad weather on the most mundane of journeys so the roads are as busy as ever, Cars get abandoned and lorries jack-knife. Roads are then blocked and the prepared/competent are trapped with the rest.
When this happened last year there was a radio phone where and exceptionaly aggressive woman (Scots would say a nippy sweetie) attacking head of Highways Agency 'cos she'd got stuck on the M25 behind several accidents.
HAd sh, he politley asked, listened to the weather forecast before setting out for a dinner party? Errr???
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 12 Mar 13 at 14:36
|
|
A good friend of mine set up a gardening business 10 years ago and reckons yesterday was one of only a couple of days since he started where he thought it was too cold to work outside and wanted an office job. Not very scientific, but quite telling, I thought.
|
>> A good friend of mine set up a gardening business 10 years ago and reckons
>> yesterday was one of only a couple of days since he started where he thought
>> it was too cold to work outside and wanted an office job. Not very scientific,
>> but quite telling, I thought.
>>
Here we get days like that from December through April. Not every day but we've had 5 days in a row so far.
It's called "winter".
As for the drivers in the queues, I feel sorry for them. Even I heard there would be snow in the south so I automatically assume southern drivers would as well and use their brains.
Apparently not. Must be the water. Or the inbreeding..
Last edited by: madf on Tue 12 Mar 13 at 15:10
|
Lorry drivers have a choice don't they? The driver must listen to the weather forecast and if he or she thinks no way I never get there stop where you are.Or would you be out of a job so carry on regardless.
At sea we where leaving Port Talbot Wales,forecast force 10.The old man rang the office in Rotterdam to inform them about his decision not to leave the UK.Nameless voice from office,you can make it cap we need you in R/Dam tomorrow.Old man said not at the bottum of the North Sea.
|
>> Lorry drivers have a choice don't they? The driver must listen to the weather forecast
>> and if he or she thinks no way I never get there stop where you
>> are.Or would you be out of a job so carry on regardless.
Be interested to see what Pat says about that idea.
|
Hull Group the beautifull south carry on regardless.>:)
What does Pat think?
|
Well it took me an hour and a quarter to travel eight miles from Crawley to Horsham last night but that was rather less to do with the snow which was quite heavy and more to do with the roadworks the length of the A264.
SWMBO works in Horley a couple of miles north of Crawley and phoned me just before leaving to ask if I thought she should use the back lanes or go on the M23 motorway.
I advised her to use the motorway so obediently she used the back lanes and arrived home ten minutes before me having left half an hour later......
Local UPS delivery driver told me today of some of their guys spending hours trapped last night.
This morning , despite the very heavy snow and drifting overnight and dire warnings of hazardous driving on M23 and A23 , I had dropped SWMBO off at work and got to my own office just after eight am..... uncleared residential roads were sheet ice .
I saw one accident on opposite side of the M23 as I turned off at Gatwick , could not see what had happened but there was another quite a serious shunt with a car and a bus just off the A23.
The sun is shining and it all seems to be pretty much melted now .....
|
|
TomTom routes at the moment is reporting a 53 mile jam in Belgium, with a wait time of 694 minutes.
|
>> TomTom routes at the moment is reporting a 53 mile jam in Belgium, with a
>> wait time of 694 minutes.
>>
The only newsworthy bit in there is the fact that this is caused by snow.
Massive shunts and huge jams are a regular occurence whatever the weather.
|
>>Lorry drivers have a choice don't they? The driver must listen to the weather forecast and if he or she thinks no way I never get there stop where you are.Or would you be out of a job so carry on regardless<<
No they don't Dutchie.
If you ring the TM he will tell you it isn't snowing there, so just get on with it and ring him if you get stuck and are going to be late for a delivery.
It takes years of experience to grow the b**lls to say to him 'I'm the Captain of this ship and I decide when it's safe to carry on or stop'
So many find themselves intimidated into carrying on, when deep down they know they should park up.
I did for a few years!
Pat
|
Snow on Highways 50 & 80 in the Tahoe area these past few days.
I really like the system of 'chain control' that they operate when bad weather arrives.Unless you have 4WD, AND winter tyres, and they can see it is engaged...you stop, they look inside the vehicle, then you have to stop in the 'chain control area' and put chains on. Or pay someone to do it.
I drove 50 minutes in a blizzard a few days ago up to a ski resort. Steady 20/25mph, as did hundreds of other vehicles looking for fresh powder. Everyone who lives here knows the score. Storm total at the base was 26" in 36 hours.
Of course you cannot compare to the UK, but i find it quite exciting knowing i have a 20 mile drive in atrocious conditions, but with the right tools its not a problem unless the road gets blocked by an accident, and even then some guy in a truck will pull the damaged vehicles off the highway pretty quickly.
And down in the valley at Placerville its 74 degrees today with cloudless skies.
Funny old place.
|
Making motorists responsible for not blocking the road is a good idea, if only it was workable here. 2" of snow seems to be gridlock now, and it isn't the snow that's the problem.
The last time I was caught out by snow, I was in no danger of being stuck myself but it still took 5 hours to get 20 miles home, ironically achieved finally by bypassing the traffic jam to go over a big hill covered by 5 or 6 inches of snow!
|
>> Making motorists responsible for not blocking the road is a good idea, if only it
>> was workable here. 2" of snow seems to be gridlock now, and it isn't the
>> snow that's the problem.
>>
>> The last time I was caught out by snow, I was in no danger of
>> being stuck myself but it still took 5 hours to get 20 miles home, ironically
>> achieved finally by bypassing the traffic jam to go over a big hill covered by
>> 5 or 6 inches of snow!
>>
Which is why 4x4s are a waste of time for most.
It's the other motorists who jam the place up.
Or the lorry drivers.
Or in Stoke on Trent, the buses.. cos the council gritters are always 24 hours late..
|
>>Which is why 4x4s are a waste of time for most.
In Venezuela for a while many of the US SUVs were available in 2x4 configuration - Blazer, 4-Runner, Jeep, etc. etc.
Given that they are lighter on fuel, cheaper to buy and presumably cheaper to maintain, I would have thought they would have been ideal for the UK market where I am sure it is the size that attracts, not the traction.
Equally I am sure that many UK drivers fail to understand that all vehicles brake with 4 wheels, and a 4x4 is merely more likely to skid because of huge tyres and weight.
|
>>a 4x4 is merely more likely to skid because of huge tyres and weight.
F=mu.R, so fundamentally just as likely, rather than more likely.
Actually the propensity to skid has far more to do with the nut holding the wheel, especially if it's too tight ;-)
|
>> so fundamentally just as likely, rather than more likely.
That would be so given that you assume the weight to tyre surface area ratio remains constant and that tyre performance is linear through a range of factors as they change independently.
My non-objective, experience though would be that a large 4x4 skids more readily on snow than a smaller saloon car.
And that's when the same nut is holding either wheel.
p.s. So there, nuh.
.
|
It was a bit TIC. Area doesn't come into the 'O' level formula, but it gets more complicated when the materials are deformable as they usually are.
The worst car I have had in the snow was a front wheel drive Audi 100, the best apart from 4x4s was a Saab 96 on narrow tyres
(or it could have been the inspiring thought of Erik Carlsson driving one of course).
Last edited by: Manatee on Tue 12 Mar 13 at 18:41
|
>>large 4x4 skids more readily on snow than...
Agreed, my old Land Rover got going better than most things available at the time on "proper" snow but it was a right pig to stop once it was actually moving on a slippy surface.
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Tue 12 Mar 13 at 18:59
|
There really isn't much that can done. England has wet horrible snow falling on highish road temperatures. It's difficult to plow, especially with the road design. So the wet snow melts a little with the pre-spread salt and gets washed away, and trying to drive on thick wet snow is next to impossible - like driving on sand. It doesn't matter what tyres are used, nothing works on it. And trying to get rid of a couple of inches of snow by throwing more salt on it is a waste of time if tempseratures remain low. Then it freezes solid overnight, and the whole process starts over. Throw in heavily congested roads and impatient drivers, and it's a recipe for a mess.
We have it here a few times in autumn and spring. Usually, the roads are dry and cold, and the snow falls at sub-zero temperatures. It's light powdery stuff that can be plowed at high speed so it gets 'slung' properly. What's left on the road surface stays dry and cold and gets packed down hard maybe 1/2" thick. It's only then that winter tyres and studs work really well. It often stays that way and get repeatedly plowed until spring arrives. As soon as it gets soft they just keep plowing and add a bit of salt. If it gets frozen and rutted then they run along with a yard scraper that rips it all up.
|
>>Anybody got a answer?
Winter tyres....but then everyone would have to have them....so it isn't going to happen, is it.
|
Surely in a country like this where the amount of bad weather we get is minimal, it is within the bounds of possibility for tyre manufacturers to make a suitable ALL weather tyre?
Too much thinking about profit argins and not enough looking at what the customer wants.
The roads were not gritted enough and as often as they should have been throughout the country after a forecast like that either.
As an afterthought, the only car I've ever lost grip in snow and slid for a few yards was the CRV, so explain that one!
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Tue 12 Mar 13 at 18:19
|
>> Surely in a country like this where the amount of bad weather we get is
>> minimal, it is within the bounds of possibility for tyre manufacturers to make a suitable
>> ALL weather tyre?
The all weather tyres on the Outlandish work well. Pirelli Scorpion ST I think. They seem to wear OK to, so I don't see the problem in making them. Maybe the material is a bit dearer? More silica or something IIRC.
>> Too much thinking about profit argins and not enough looking at what the customer wants.
Most people will go for either the most familiar brands (most heavily advertised), whatever the vendor suggests or has, or the cheapest.
>> The roads were not gritted enough and as often as they should have been throughout
>> the country after a forecast like that either.
Funny thing gritting. I can't remember the ins and outs, but I used to do finance for a coach operator who also did gritting for the council. You can't put salt down everywhere at once, because there's a finite number of lorries. Too soon on a dry, heavily trafficked road and it's all in the gutter by the time the snow comes. If it's a hard frost when it goes down it doesn't work that well because it needs to dissolve a bit. If it rains a lot before turning to snow it gets washed away, etc. And you should have heard him on the subject of "gritter's elbow", what with all the leaning out of the window...
|
Well, after the bad snow a couple of years ago, when my tyres were due to be replaced I got Kleber Quadraxer all season tyres.
Since then, have never had anything worse than frost to deal with until we had a heavyish snowfall earlier this week.
Following a car up a slightish hill, they decided to stop just before the brow to let a waiting pedestrian cross. Of course, no chance of their Corsa taking off again . However , I also could not take off, no matter what technique I used, the wheels were just spinning.
Now, maybe I was expecting too much, but that is the exact scenario that I though AW tyres would have been suitable for. Not for going down foot deep drifts etc, but just to help with hill starts etc. Even checked tyres and still 5mm tread on them. So unless there is a special technique that isn't one of the ones I tried, then its either back to normal or full winter tyres next time!
|
"Now, maybe I was expecting too much, but that is the exact scenario that I though AW tyres would have been suitable for."
Mmm - that's interesting as I'm planning to shift my wife's Focus onto all-seasons tyres next time we change. Were you on a highly-polished surface that nothing would be able to get a grip on?
|
>>maybe I was expecting too much, but that is the exact scenario that I though AW tyres would have been suitable for<<
Maybe you (and me) would have been better orf with the Vredestein Quatrac 3.
www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2011-Auto-Bild-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm
|
>> Maybe you (and me) would have been better orf with the Vredestein Quatrac 3.
>>
>> www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2011-Auto-Bild-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm
Mine have been fine - I only had a wheel spinning moment last year when the roads hadn't been gritted and there was compacted ice underneath fresh snow. Very subtle acceleration got me going though. I don't think the Avensis is the best for traction, especially a petrol with it's lighter front end. Superbly stable on the move though - the soft, well located suspension inspires confidence when the roads are a bit dodgy, meaning no sudden surprises.
|
I've only had to use my Nokians in anger once as we've managed to dodge the column as far as the snow is concerned.
I mainly bought em to get up 'that hill', and they did that without a slip when we had some overnight snow which promptly froze come the morn.
They let me down though at the top of the hill when, feeling cocky (lookout!) I hit the brakes and the car just kept on going :)
Was that due to the ABS I wonder, or just the nut behind the wheel.
|
>>or just the nut behind the wheel.
>>
:-) Many a true word spoken.............
A couple of days ago someone slid out of a junction ahead of me, the van in front swerved left and ended up on the pavement with broken nearside front suspension. The slider drove off.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 14 Mar 13 at 19:01
|
>>couple of days ago someone slid out of a junction ahead of me<<
Very, very dangerous - I was coming up to a junction at the time too, and the nutters (the other nutters) fly along that particular road, AND the junction is on a bend as well ... best go and live in the Canaries I think.
|
>> Very, very dangerous - I was coming up to a junction at the time too,
>> and the nutters (the other nutters) fly along that particular road, AND the junction is
>> on a bend as well ... best go and live in the Canaries I think.
That's what gets me. People seem to think that once they're moving they can treat ice or slush like a normal road.
Lose count of the times I'm matching my speed to my capacity to shed it only to be overtaken by loons with no chance of stopping if things go boobys up.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 14 Mar 13 at 21:32
|
I remember watching an episode of that Ice Road Truckers thingy. One of the trucks had got a flat battery and they managed to bump start it by towing it with a great big naff off pick-up truck. Even though that was big in it's own right it was totally dwarfed by the truck it was pulling, but it still managed to do it and on an icy surface too. Anyway, to ramble on to the point, while it was doing that, it was spinning it's rear wheels only, so I assumed it wasn't a 4x4.
Have to say, I've been pleasantly surprised by how well my Merc has coped when the roads have been snowy or icy. Counter-intuitively, I'd say it was easier to drive on snow and ice than my wife's FWD Qashqai which understeers like a witch on greased broom in the snow. My car is a diesel auto and I've found that by just being gentle with the throttle and letting it sort itself out it pulls away fine even on its wide low profile summer tyres.
I had to take it up a steep hill a few weeks ago which had fully 6" of snow on it and it just trundled up, occassionally flashing its traction control light in mild protestation but otherwise it was absolutely fine.
|
>> I remember watching an episode of that Ice Road Truckers thingy. One of the trucks
>> had got a flat battery and they managed to bump start it by towing it
>> with a great big naff off pick-up truck. Even though that was big in it's
>> own right it was totally dwarfed by the truck it was pulling, but it still
>> managed to do it and on an icy surface too. Anyway, to ramble on to
>> the point, while it was doing that, it was spinning it's rear wheels only, so
>> I assumed it wasn't a 4x4.
I found that a surprise. Hugh (Polar Bear) said they have about 500 bhp, but I was still impressed by the traction. This latest series is great, plenty of foul ups. OK I know they dramatise it, but let's not pretend it's an easy job.
>> I had to take it up a steep hill a few weeks ago which had
>> fully 6" of snow on it and it just trundled up, occassionally flashing its traction
>> control light in mild protestation but otherwise it was absolutely fine.
Yes, but you know what you're doing Humph, because you're a natural - there are an increasing number of people who aren't.
|
>> The roads were not gritted enough and as often as they should have been throughout the country
>> after a forecast like that either.
On the contrary, on both Saturday and yesterday I've never seen so many gritter lorries working in the daytime before the snow arrived. Must have seen one every 10 miles on both days - I covered 300 miles each of those two days.
Folk who routinely complain that the authorities haven't done anything about the snowfall make me seethe. The only reason they don't see any gritters come past is because *they're* in the way.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Tue 12 Mar 13 at 20:12
|
Last Sunday I drove 25 miles on packed snow along a climbing mountain road to a place called Loon Lake at 6,400'. The first 5 miles off Hway 50 were tarmac, then we hit very cold compacted snow and made progress at 30/45 mph in the Outback.
Returning 6 hours later, thaw conditions had set in for the final few miles, typical UK ice and slush and it was a very different scenario. Down to 20mph trying to keep away from the snowbanks.
I'm surprised my more experienced friends let me drive but glad they did. Nowhere in the UK could I have fun like that.
|
>>Folk who routinely complain that the authorities haven't done anything about the snowfall make me seethe. The only reason they don't see any gritters come past is because *they're* in the way. <<
Seethe away Dave, but on the A1 around Grantham there had been no grit in the early hours.
Likewise the A17, A605, A14 and all major routes out of the eastern part of the country.
There was black ice twinkling back up (as it does) before the snow started, had this been dealt with the snow would have fallen on a wet surface and not an already frozen one.
Even you must realise just how local authorities differ in their approach to using the counties budget on gritting roads?
...passing a boundary sign in the early hours was always a trigger for me to check the road surface had been treated in the one I was entering.
Pat
|
>>>passing a boundary sign in the early hours was always a trigger for me to check the road surface had been treated in the one I was entering<<
How do you check? A quick dab of the brakes followed by a 360? :)
|
Easy
>>black ice twinkling back up (as it does)<<
....or pull into a layby to water the wheelnuts and try and stop!
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Wed 13 Mar 13 at 08:28
|
Part of the M20 motorway in Kent has been closed as weather conditions hit travel routes to continental Europe.
Operation Stack - which sees lorries park up on the motorway while waiting to get into the Port of Dover - has been put in place.
Eurostar said weather conditions in northern France and Belgium were leading to disruption on cross-channel high speed lines.
But we still complain about our local authorities efforts.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-21766763
|
There is a picture on Page 2 of the Telegraph today of the snow at Pease Pottage like an Arctic wasteland at the bottom end of the M23 in West Sussex....... taken presumably yesterday or Monday .
I quite enjoy the challenge of driving in snow and I actually drove through there yesterday morning with SWMBO in her Yaris complete with two shovels , wellingtons , waterproofs , boots , spare food etc in the boot and whilst not easy driving it was steady progress and nothing like as bad as the picture makes it out to be. All my staff and SWMBO 's colleagues at her work who live in the area made it to work yet to listen to the radio it was Armageddon...
By 4 .30 yesterday all the roads were completely clear.
|
>> There was black ice twinkling back up (as it does) before the snow started, had
>> this been dealt with the snow would have fallen on a wet surface and not
>> an already frozen one.
I recongise the point about differing priorities between Councils but the A1 and A14 are Highways Agency roads so presumably down to the HA to set the priority even if the Council spread the stuff as it's agent.
In the scenario you describe the road surface would still be below freezing.
Grit salt is not an automatic cure for ice. It works by mixing with water to form an saline solution with a freezing point is below zero. Insufficient liquid to form a solution or temperatures below that solution's freezing point and there's no gain from grit.
It was also blowing away in the high winds before the snow fell on Sunday/Monday.
|
In Italy when the bad weather hits, on the motorways going through hilly / mountainous areas, the police have tyre controls. They stop everything, and winter tyres or chains have to be present or they have to leave the motorway. The same goes for anything over 7.5T.
It keeps the motorways going, god know about the normal roads though !
|
"He was driving home last night in the "snow" ( that wasn't snow from the footage I've seen but anyway ) and when slowing for a bend he felt the brake pedal vibrating and the car wasn't slowing down as normal..."
LOL I remember my Mother telling me that the headteacher at the school where she worked had just changed their really old Volvo for a brand new one.
It was promptly taken away on a low-loader because it made a crunching sound on the ice and the pedal vibrated. They also complained that there was a perfectly vertical crack in the driver's mirror glass about 1/3rd of the way from the outer edge.
My Mother was able to explain both of these 'problems' away to them, so no idea why the dealer couldn't.
|
Ok, I give up!
I spoke to a number of drivers from 8 pm on Sunday who left this area in all directions at various times through the night.
All reported the same problem with the same precautionary warnings which kept us all safe but hey, what would they know?
A lorry driver still died though.
Pat
|
>> Ok, I give up!
I'm not denying that there was a problem Pat. I do question whether gritting would have cured it.
|
"A lorry driver still died though."
Our hamster died during the night.
|
Clarkson is a lot better at it than you Dave, stick at the day job.
Pat
|
>>A lorry driver still died though.
Curious that? It would appear he ran into the back of a stationary lorry in a lay-by.
|
I'm fully aware of the circumstances.....are you?
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Wed 13 Mar 13 at 16:22
|
>> I'm fully aware of the circumstances.....are you?
>>
>> Pat
>>
You have the coroner's report???
|
Sarcasm does absolutely nothing for you Mapmaker, where sensitivity may have done.
I never find that...the need to appear clever always prevails with some.
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Wed 13 Mar 13 at 18:08
|
>> I'm fully aware of the circumstances.....are you?
>>
>> Pat
No, that's why I said curious. Are you able to enlighten us, or is it likely to prejudice any future hearing?
|
>> Counter-intuitively, I'd say it was easier to drive
>> on snow and ice than my wife's FWD Qashqai which understeers like a witch on
>> greased broom in the snow.
My wife's Honda Jazz has winter tyres but I've still been surprised by how much that understeers on snow.
>> My car is a diesel auto and I've found that
>> by just being gentle with the throttle and letting it sort itself out it pulls
>> away fine even on its wide low profile summer tyres.
>>
>> I had to take it up a steep hill a few weeks ago which had
>> fully 6" of snow on it and it just trundled up, occassionally flashing its traction
>> control light in mild protestation but otherwise it was absolutely fine.
>>
Which model Mercedes have you got? I'm quite surprised by your comments as auto MB's are notoriously terrible in slippy weather. I drove company cars (some of which were RWD) around N wales and N England for years and never got stuck, but driving God comments apart, mine (C270CDi) simply won't start on any kind of up-slope, and I have a colleague who has driven BMWs for years with no issues but got an E Class and finds it undriveable in snow.
|
@Bill Payer - It's an E250 Sport auto estate on thumping big AMG wheels and watchstrap profile tyres so it ought to be rubbish by all accounts but it just isn't strangely enough.
Pleasingly good actually.
|
>> Pleasingly good actually.
It's a bit sickening to be honest - that's if it's true :)
|
|
Why would I bother to make it up? Just telling it as it is ! So far so good...
|
Snow on the Motorway. - Runfer D'Hills
