Re: SNOW - 10PM Finishes on Sunday ...

[HaworthBantam]

... grit the roads the day before?

That is all it would have taken ...

Actually, gritting the roads the day before wouldn"t have kept the roads clear alone. Traffic is what keeps road clear, snow will settle on gritted roads as easily as ungritted ones.

[WarBwastardo]

Examples?

Of a lack of forethought?  The economy?  Coping with the weather - all weather.   Our education system?  Law enforcement?  The NHS?  Transport networks?  Foreign policy disasters...remember the invasion of Iraq?  Just off the top of my head there"s a few examples. 

and you would ....

It"s not a fair question is it.  I"m a bloke in Oxford, I"m not in a positiont o draw up a budget and offer you with a specific  strategy for dealing with anything.  I"m not a Government minister with an annual budget of billions or a city councillor.  But that doesn"t mean I can"t recognise or criticise incompetence when I see it.  There"s a lack of common sense in how we approach things in this country that is there for all to see.  I judge it by comparing how we deal with circumstances with how other countries cope.  Not just as far as weather goes...you"re focusing on that as it"s obviously relevant to your work, but I"m talking about the bigger picture. It"s not personal even though you appear to be taking it personally. 

[Honeybadg]

... I am defo going to steal your blinds for that one ...

Smile

L

[kinboshi]

In Japan they don"t grit the roads at all. 

Which is why buying a Japanese import is often a good idea, as the car will be in far better nick than one of the same age that has "grown up" in the UK.

This is irrelevant to the debate, but interesting nevertheless.

In Scandinavia they don"t use grit, instead they use a salt solution - effectively brine.  This has the benefit of working through multiple freezes and thaws, which grit isn"t particularly good against.  Anyone remember the problems in Brum about 5 or 6 years ago?  It snowed, they gritted, it then thawed - froze very quickly and snowed again.  The grit was ineffective against the conditions and so the city"s roads were at a standstill. 

Again, probably irrelevant, but interesting.

I do have a question though.  How does the bloke who drives the snow plough get into work?

[George2Loose]

Examples?

Of a lack of forethought?  The economy?  Coping with the weather - all weather.  Our education system?  Law enforcement?  The NHS?  Transport networks?  Foreign policy disasters...remember the invasion of Iraq?  Just off the top of my head there"s a few examples. 

lol nice to see your being specific

[Honeybadg]

Snow plough drivers live in their trucks ...

I should have said salt the roads with some form of brine ... what a mix up ...

L

[HaworthBantam]

Think I might have answered my own question of what the difference is between snow events 30 years ago and today........ traffic.

It"s all very well plowing and gritting roads, but without the traffic to flow freely along those roads, snow will continue to settle.

30 years ago, there were not as many cars on the road, much easier for traffic to continue moving. Today, with so much traffic on the road, congestion and slow moving traffic causes the very problems that the gritting is attempting to alleviate. The result, in extreme cases, is that cars are abondoned, making it even more difficult to keep roads open.

I think the bottom line is that we don"t have the road network to handle the number of cars now on the road. Maybe we need to rethink our love affair with the motor car ?

Going to lie down now.........  

[kinboshi]

By the way folks, here just north-east of Brum the main roads are completely clear.  Not sure what it"s like near Walsall, but I can"t imagine it"s much different.  So unless we get more snow, there shouldn"t be a problem at this end of your journey.

Probably.

[kinboshi]

Think I might have answered my own question of what the difference is between snow events 30 years ago and today........ traffic.

It"s all very well plowing and gritting roads, but without the traffic to flow freely along those roads, snow will continue to settle.

30 years ago, there were not as many cars on the road, much easier for traffic to continue moving. Today, with so much traffic on the road, congestion and slow moving traffic causes the very problems that the gritting is attempting to alleviate. The result, in extreme cases, is that cars are abondoned, making it even more difficult to keep roads open.

I think the bottom line is that we don"t have the road network to handle the number of cars now on the road. Maybe we need to rethink our love affair with the motor car ?

Going to lie down now.........  

Correct.  Me need more roads, wider roads, more lanes, etc.  

[duke3016]

By the way folks, here just north-east of Brum the main roads are completely clear.  Not sure what it"s like near Walsall, but I can"t imagine it"s much different.  So unless we get more snow, there shouldn"t be a problem at this end of your journey.

Probably.

I drove up from Swindon today -- Swindon was fairly bad - but once on the M5 it was clear all the way - so I don"t forsee any problems for the weekend. Motorways will be passable whatever happens......

[HaworthBantam]

Think I might have answered my own question of what the difference is between snow events 30 years ago and today........ traffic.

It"s all very well plowing and gritting roads, but without the traffic to flow freely along those roads, snow will continue to settle.

30 years ago, there were not as many cars on the road, much easier for traffic to continue moving. Today, with so much traffic on the road, congestion and slow moving traffic causes the very problems that the gritting is attempting to alleviate. The result, in extreme cases, is that cars are abondoned, making it even more difficult to keep roads open.

I think the bottom line is that we don"t have the road network to handle the number of cars now on the road. Maybe we need to rethink our love affair with the motor car ?

Going to lie down now.........  

Correct.  Me need more roads, wider roads, more lanes, etc. 

I"d rather we just gave up the internal combustion engine. Walking, running and cycling are good for you  

[SirPercival]

Think I might have answered my own question of what the difference is between snow events 30 years ago and today........ traffic.

It"s all very well plowing and gritting roads, but without the traffic to flow freely along those roads, snow will continue to settle.

30 years ago, there were not as many cars on the road, much easier for traffic to continue moving. Today, with so much traffic on the road, congestion and slow moving traffic causes the very problems that the gritting is attempting to alleviate. The result, in extreme cases, is that cars are abondoned, making it even more difficult to keep roads open.

I think the bottom line is that we don"t have the road network to handle the number of cars now on the road. Maybe we need to rethink our love affair with the motor car ?

Going to lie down now.........  

Spot on Ian

[kinboshi]

Think I might have answered my own question of what the difference is between snow events 30 years ago and today........ traffic.

It"s all very well plowing and gritting roads, but without the traffic to flow freely along those roads, snow will continue to settle.

30 years ago, there were not as many cars on the road, much easier for traffic to continue moving. Today, with so much traffic on the road, congestion and slow moving traffic causes the very problems that the gritting is attempting to alleviate. The result, in extreme cases, is that cars are abondoned, making it even more difficult to keep roads open.

I think the bottom line is that we don"t have the road network to handle the number of cars now on the road. Maybe we need to rethink our love affair with the motor car ?

Going to lie down now.........  

Correct.  Me need more roads, wider roads, more lanes, etc. 

I"d rather we just gave up the internal combustion engine. Walking, running and cycling are good for you  

Yeah, I agree.  Everyone else should cycle, and leave the roads for me to drive on.

[kinboshi]

By the way folks, here just north-east of Brum the main roads are completely clear.  Not sure what it"s like near Walsall, but I can"t imagine it"s much different.  So unless we get more snow, there shouldn"t be a problem at this end of your journey.

Probably.

I drove up from Swindon today -- Swindon was fairly bad - but once on the M5 it was clear all the way - so I don"t forsee any problems for the weekend. Motorways will be passable whatever happens......

Swindon was fairly bad...

What about the roads?

[HaworthBantam]

Think I might have answered my own question of what the difference is between snow events 30 years ago and today........ traffic.

It"s all very well plowing and gritting roads, but without the traffic to flow freely along those roads, snow will continue to settle.

30 years ago, there were not as many cars on the road, much easier for traffic to continue moving. Today, with so much traffic on the road, congestion and slow moving traffic causes the very problems that the gritting is attempting to alleviate. The result, in extreme cases, is that cars are abondoned, making it even more difficult to keep roads open.

I think the bottom line is that we don"t have the road network to handle the number of cars now on the road. Maybe we need to rethink our love affair with the motor car ?

Going to lie down now.........  

Correct.  Me need more roads, wider roads, more lanes, etc. 

I"d rather we just gave up the internal combustion engine. Walking, running and cycling are good for you  

Yeah, I agree.  Everyone else should cycle, and leave the roads for me to drive on.

You"ll be forced to run.