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Re: Blog Thread IIIb : Look Who's Blogging Now

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jwhouk:
Oh, my dear May, be ever so glad you didn't come up thisaway during THIS time of year.

You'd be freezing your extremities off AND complaining about the snow.*



* - Even though the snow melted briefly last week due to a rather strange warmup that sent temps a whopping one degree Celsius above freezing...

Barmymoo:
I was in Norway for Christmas a few years ago. It was -27 celcius. It was horrifying.

If snow were more common here, or rather if people woke up to the fact that it ALWAYS snows at this time of year, we'd be better off. English houses are typically cold in winter, because a) they weren't well-insulated when built, or b) fuel is so expensive we can't afford to heat the whole house, or c) a combination of the above. The roads get cleared but not very well, and it's illegal to have spikes or chains on your tyres so drivers aren't in proper control of their cars (and we don't get taught how to drive in snow as part of driving lessons, or at least I didn't).

pwhodges:
The only UK law relating to studded tyres or chains is that it is illegal to have tyres that damage the road.  Therefore using studs or chains where there is not a solid cover of snow is illegal.  Unfortunately, it is rare in the UK for the snow covering to be solid enough to allow their use, especially as main roads are usually effectively salted when necessary.

The use of specific winter tyres, which is commonplace in the rest of Europe, and compulsory in some places, is barely thought of in the UK.

The Seldom Killer:
That's largely down to the fact that for the most part we get no more than 5 days a year where snow tires would be of a significant benefit over normal tires. Looking at the weather here in Sheffield, the general panic would have meant that people would have spent time and money changing tyres for basically nothing. Even the brief midday white out didn't drop enough to have an impact on most vehicular handling. Even if I did own a vehicle, the cost/benefit ratio simply wouldn't play out as a motivational factor.

There might be some value to snow driving lessons being available in this country, but mostly people would benefit if there was just less traffic on the roads anyway. Despite being such a small country we've become so utterly dependant on cars that we have difficulty functioning without them.  A more flexible attitude to transport and working location would work wonders.My contingency was based on getting up a bit earlier and being ready to get the mountain bike out if there was significant coverage.

Of course for those not in the n+1 set, there's no legal prohibition on studded tyres on bicycles. 20 minutes of changing tyres in the comfort of your own home and you're away. For those of you with the luxury of disc brakes, you can even make a surprisingly effective snow tyre with zip ties for the princely sum of about £3.

Papersatan:
I have never put snow tires on my car.  I admit I have never lived in a rural area, and I come from a city which is good at snow removal, but it is good at it because we get 8 feet a year. While highways and major arteries get cleaned up pretty quickly, side streets don't get down to black unless there are a few good days of warmth. As long as your tires aren't bald you should do alright.  I think that traffic chaos in snow usually has more to do with people being unaccustomed to driving in snow, and I actually think the more great features a car has to make them feel safe and secure, the more likely they are to be a shitty winter driver.  Driving in snow/ice/slush requires you to think further ahead about when you want to stop or turn and an increased alertness for the possibility of other drivers having problems. 


I actually first learned to drive in winter, and I took my road test the day after a blizzard, so

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