It's only a bit of snow - grow up!

[Apache]

My old Escort diesel Van is not too bad in the snow.I don't have a car but drive my wife's Focus , which is automatic as she can no longer use the clutch , thing is you have to use the brakes an awful lot , it doesn't seem to slow down quickly enough when you lift your foot off the gas , so I've yet to drive it in this snow .

Deke, most automatic cars can be driven as a manual and you can take over gear changes, often by shifting the stick [once in drive] to the left. Have a look in the manual.

As a youngster I was taught to slow down with my breaks, and I understand this is how the police are taught. NORMALLY I do so, one argument given to me was breaks are cheaper than gearboxes. When it snows I make maximum use of engine breaking and only touch the break if absolutely necessaries.

I remember going to see my girlfriend on Christmas day 2002/3 driving over the M62 [highest motorway in England, if you don't know it] a total of ~130 miles, that day there was three to four inches of snow up there. I didn't skid once, despite having a Metro with a 1.1 litre engine and no ABS. Not even sure if people are taught cadanance breaking any more? I learnt that driving tractors well before I was 17. There weren't many cars on the road that day.

 

[Ian Speirs]

http://www.talk.electricianforum.co.uk/showthread.php?p=137135#post137135

I haven't let the white stuff beat me, not yet anway. I posted these pics up last year when i had to work ouside in sub zero conditions. i had to drive 25 miles mostly on b roads which was fun more than anything else. Theres no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes. ROTFWL

 

[switch10]

Cheltenham has caught me out a few times though. I have quite a few customers there and Lecky hill / air balloon area is notorious for causing problems in the snow. The funniest is watching rear wheel drive Mercs / BMW's spinning!

i know exactly what you mean about them roads, ive been up there today, everyones at a standstill, many abandoned cars there.

 

[Manator]

Last Thursday I had to drive about 200 miles after my clutch went on my van.

Motorway was fine, B roads a little harder due to others rather than my lack of a clutch pedal. Today I had to drive in deep snow, I spent most of the morning overtaking those who had only come out in the snow to say they can drive in snow. the main thing when driving in any conditions is traction, this is the only thing that keeps you on the road.

Many modern cars and vans will take off in first gear without any pressure on the accelerator, and in doing so makes full use of available traction.

Rev like hell and all you will do is look stupid and get nowhere.

 

[kme]

Slight upgrade to that - careful use of the clutch will let most stuff pull away on the flat in 2nd - again with no accelerator usage. As fast as possible, go up to the highest gear you can, with minimal accelerator.

My Doblo will do 30 mph in 5th, at idle. If you`re worried about traction and road condition, you prob. don`t want to go faster...............

KME

 

[a1]

Just had a gritter lorry reverse up my street.

I have been here 6

 

[ryansdad]

The problem as I see it is that snow in this country isn't a common enough occurance for us to be used to it. As someone else said it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation whereby we don't get snow often enough for people to get experience at driving in it so when we do get it they don't know what to do.

As an ex driving instructor myself I can confirm that it is now required (by the DSA) to teach pupils to use their brakes alone to slow down. They say this is because modern cars have much better brakes than older ones, brakes are cheaper than gearboxes and clutches and also the car is under more control if left in gear until you need another one to pull away. Obviously this doesn't apply in wintry conditions and I for one would teach pupils about engine braking and driving in adverse conditions, although many other instructors are more concerned with getting them through their test than making them good drivers, plus it's difficult to teach practical driving techniques when there's no snow!( Unless you happen to have a skid pan).

My misssus hates snow because she says she knows what she should do but panics and generally when people panic the brake pedal is the automatic reaction.I took her out last year in the snow (to a quiet wide open space) and got her to deliberately lose control:O so she could practice what to do and how to do it.

 

[Megaohm7]

Just been out and about today and although the roads were clear with snow on the verges, people were still driving at between 25 and 35 mph. I can understand being cautious but i think that sometimes going that slow when it is safe to go a bit quicker can be more of a hindrance to other more confident road users.

 

[sellers]

I took her out last year in the snow (to a quiet wide open space) and got her to deliberately lose control:O so she could practice what to do and how to do it.

ooeerr kinky

 

[Apache]

A lot of good replies in this thread, I have only one other comment to pedestrians:

DON'T WALK IN THE ROAD AS CARS CAN'T EASILY STOP

I don't care if the pavement is slippery.

 

[Andy™]

comment to pedestriansON'T WALK IN THE ROAD AS CARS CAN'T EASILY STOP

I don't care if the pavement is slippery.

i have an air horn on the van. they soon shift. (only used when they dont move and continue to walk in the way)

 

[batty]

Well I ventured out today with my daughter who drove us to tiggywinkles to take a small hedgehog which was coming out in the daytime to find food. Roads were not to bad and we made it safely. Not sure if I will go to work tomorrow as job i'm doing is about 25 miles away but have cleared my drive incase I do. Will see how I feel in the morning.

 

[a1]

When I learned to drive, I was taught to change down the box, along with loop changes too.

With regards to walking in the road, I bet you are the same ones who park your vehicles on the pavement too, aren't you? Don't deny it!

The place is full of pillocks down here that do it. We have one van that parks on his drive (LWB merc), and it is so long, not only does block off the whole pavement, he also blocks some of the road off too.

On the subject of crashes - When crashes occur, the driver thinks they are invincible, and that they are the perfect driver - regardless of whether it is in snow, ice, rain or dry conditions! The driver will always blame something or someone else! If there is one thing that I hate, is when someone says that they "Know this road like the back of their hand". What a load of balls.

I have had many driving jobs from vans to coaches - I have seen the standards of peoples driving drop over the years - and that includes the way in which, learners are TAUGHT now.

I class myself as an excellent driver and have been complimented on it many many times, in the eyes of the law I am a professional driver. BUT there is always someone better than ME.

 

[sellers]

I admit I park on pavements but I've got those 'park anywhere lights fitted' so its ok.

 

[Apache]

I class myself as an excellent driver and have been complimented on it many many times, in the eyes of the law I am a professional driver. BUT there is always someone better than ME.

Very kind of you to say Admin

 

[Andy™]

With regards to walking in the road, I bet you are the same ones who park your vehicles on the pavement too, aren't you? Don't deny it!

i always allow enough room for a wheelchair to get past

I admit I park on pavements but I've got those 'park anywhere lights fitted' so its ok.

same here. along with a few cones....

 

[sellers]

[quote name='Andy

 

[steptoe]

My old Escort diesel Van is not too bad in the snow.I don't have a car but drive my wife's Focus , which is automatic as she can no longer use the clutch , thing is you have to use the brakes an awful lot , it doesn't seem to slow down quickly enough when you lift your foot off the gas , so I've yet to drive it in this snow .

auto's are actually better in the snow due to the NO loss of traction changing gears,

but it does take some getting used to for down changes.

IMO slow drivers are the major cause of most accidents in snow conditions,

but they will be oblivious mostly as they are still doing their 10mph on a road capable of 40 at least if not more.

came in the east lancs (A780) yesterday stuck behind a car at 25mph and the LH lane was spotlessly clear, couldnt use the RH lane as the gritter hadnt done it and was still a few inches on it so wouldnt have been safe to do more than 20 on it,

but I'll bet some people woulda tried it in similar circumstances and no good result.

high gear, low revs and jobs a good 'un .

bad drivers results in accidents,

the weather conditions or time of year make no difference to this simple fact.

 

[revjames]

Well despite many people warning me that I should wait a few days. We drove back to North wales from Blackpool last night. Got home in roughly the same time it would take in normal weather AND I was towing a trailer. The only problem was the washers freezing and leaving stains from the grit on the screen. Thankfully the evenly spaced fog patches contained moisture so a few flicks of the wipers during these patches cleared things up. Also found out Rover 45s have excellent heaters and heated seats nice too!

 

[kme]

there is always someone better than ME.

Sorry :innocent

And allus will be, winalot