Sunday 20 January 2013

Not a confident driver... stay at home when it snows!

Two hours of heavy snow fall, and the bad drivers come out in force!

Friday morning we had heavy snow in this part of the world, which started around 7:30am in the morning.  Police had warned people who didnt have to drive, to stay at home. What they really meant was "those who can't drive very well, please keep out the way of people who can!"

It had barely started settling on the roads and people were doing 5mph on a 60mph road.  Yes you should be careful, but there wasn't a chance of any slipping at this point.  30mph was safe and practical. As the snow starting settling heavily on the roads, drivers who were freaked out about the white stuff starting doing 2mph, and stopping on hills when their wheels slipped slightly - and then not being able to get going again.  This lead to lorrys and busses then getting stuck behind them, and the road network started shutting down. 

If these people could actually drive, and knew how to handle their cars - they'd be confident about going a little faster, and carrying on when the roads starting to get slippery - enough to keep going and power up the hills. 

Today i drove down a B road which hadnt been gritted, and was still quite icy. If you know how to drive, you can do 20mph, and still keep complete control of your car.  In front of me was someone in a 4 wheel drive, and they were doing 2 mph!!  Whats the point of you having a 4 wheel drive if you're going to do that?

Part of the driving test should be driving in icy conditions.  Those who fail to drive at least 10mph and keep the car on the road should not get their license. As we get more and more snowy weather in the UK, this serously needs to be considered.  No need to spend millions on new gritting trucks, just get the people who cant drive off the bloody road when it snows!

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