Been four hours stuck in snow in kent

[Stuckinsnowinkent]

We have been stuck in Chatham now for four hours. Got about 7 miles maybe? Think we will be stuck in the car overnight now.

It snowed about 3-4 inches in one hour.

I took the dog out this morning and just had to go out for some tomatoes for tonight's soup. Apart from pottering in the garage, that's as far as I wanted to go, today.

I got some lovely black tomatoes, which are exceptionally tasty.

People have been saying this but they have a hard enough time getting people to get their cars taxed and MOTd. And if it did suddenly become law who is doing it? I’d go to a garage as I wouldn’t trust myself to do it properly. Where do I put the summer tyres in the meanwhile?

It should not be law in the UK. We do not have the weather for it more than a few days a year.

We drove through it last night, the majority of drivers were sensible , but a few lorry drivers were flying past when visibility was really poor
It suddenly changed from a few flusters to big fat flakes

why call people muppets for getting caught out and driving cautiously in the snow?
that is the recommendation

Well done for being so prepared just goes to show that you should keep emergency items in a car.

@PriamFarrl the garage I work at will store them for customers
I would say it's probably only a few percent of customers that do it, it's not very common

We had this on the m2 yesterday. Lorries constantly changing lanes, and causing everyone to stop. Other lorries screaming down what would have been the hard shoulder at 50-60mph when everyone else was doing 20. I was petrified not of getting stuck or sleeping in the car all night, but of being taken out by a lorry.

4WD are not designed for snow. Once you've got all 4 wheels on the snow, you're going to have the same traction problems as any other car, as this article explains www.allcarleasing.co.uk/blog/does-4wd-help-on-ice/ Apparently 4WD owners are more likely to get into trouble though, generally because they think their car is suitable and so try things that other drivers won't do.

They also did used to rollover more often, as this article discusses www.smh.com.au/national/4wds-worst-for-roll-overs-study-finds-20060823-gdo8eq.html . However, I think some of that was because they went through a stage of being very popular and were badly designed. I'm not sure if it's still the case.

SUVs and other 4x4s are not designed for car parks, cold weather and many urban environments.

SUVs and 4x4s should be a separate category of licence, and an extra driving test before you can drive one. Which would reduce the number on the roads.

They use 4 by 4s to get staff to work in hospitals

Some places will store them but maybe a charge and you will be charged when you change them over. Michelin do a cross climate tyre which are prob a best of all worlds for our conditions. They are impressive on you tube but they have limits and it's up to you as a driver to assess the conditions

Yeah I’m a bit baffled about this. Really unsure why if this was the case, we have a local 4x4 rescue service that specialises in transporting key workers in bad weather.

I literally know nothing about 4x4s, but I can tell you that all the many cars that we passed that were stuck on the hills were 2wd and the large majority that made it up the worst ones were 4x4s.

From the article you posted “There is only the one benefit of an AWD system in snow and ice and that is the ability to get moving in the first place. Four-wheel drive gives the vehicle more power to be able to go from stop to moving in difficult terrains such as mud, sleet, slush, ice and snow.”. So when you get stuck on a hill, you can get going again. Definitely agree that braking wasn’t easier, but the biggest issue was getting up hills and 4wd solved that.

What a crap article. 4x4 are great in snow with snow tyres on. I drive with snow and mud tyres year round in mine and have never been stuck and I've driven in some atrocious conditions. As for the rolling, you are quoting 20yr old research.

What a crap article. 4x4 are great in snow with snow tyres on.

Yes, with snow tyres on. It's the tyres as much as the 4WD bit.

As for the rolling, you are quoting 20yr old research.

I know, I pointed out that it was an old article. I also said that it used to be a problem with 4WDs when they first became popular. They went through a stage when they weren't actually designed for being off road, rather peculiarly. I'm not sure why you think it's necessary to repeat what I'd basically already said.

People really are wedded to their 4WDs. I'll say this for them - their marketing teams are good.

@fannyfartlet It is the snow tyres that make the real difference.
The advantage of 4x4 is power and clearance. Without snow tyres small cars are less likely to come off the road than 4x4.

I'd be inclined to agree...FWIW we have a winter tyres fitted or chains/socks available in car rule in winter months on some of our (non-UK) mountainous local roads.

That still doesn't stop some drivers accidently going off piste if they are careless, out of winter driving practise or caught out in really bad conditions.

The extra grip might help but I certainly don't think winter/snow tyres are the panacea some seem to think they are.

Exactly! I live in the North-West where it's been cold and icy all week but we've seen the severe weather warnings for the South-East and warnings not to travel in that area for days. You can't say you weren't warned.

Depends on your 4wd. I have an ordinary estate with 4wd and it's bloody useful when I have to park on a muddy rugby field! Mind you, not only did I grow up in the country, driving on muddy roads every day, I also have a lot of experience of driving in ice and snow. Winter tires are good, but a 4wd is useful too if you know how to drive it.

Here on the Romney Marshes it's completely clear. All we've had was sleet that turned to rain and lots of puddles. It's really weird hearing about snowy problems literally just a few miles away.

the garage I work at will store them for customers
I would say it's probably only a few percent of customers that do it, it's not very common

So if more than a few customers wanted you to store theirs, you wouldn't have the space?

Years ago we drove from Stansted to the East Midlands, up the A1 in heavy snow which was settled to some depth. We had snow chains on and sailed up the a1 no problem passing numerous cars in the embankment/hard shoulder. Thankfully it was late and deserted or I think we’d have been stuck behind stranded cars but managed to weave past everything. Didn’t see any other car getting through so chains made a massive difference, just in an old Vauxhall Cavalier.

In 2010 my sister and I drove down to Kent from Suffolk to collect ds from residential school a week before Christmas...
As we were driving up the M2 the mother of all snow storms came down.. We eventually got on to the A12 and ground to a complete halt for four hours..
Ds2 is deaf and autistic and didn't cope very well.... He kept opening the window and hollering "COME ON WILL YOU ALL PLEASE MOVVVVVVVVVVVVVE!!!!!" at sporadic intervals.... 😳
He also decided he needed a wee which meant I had to get him across the ice laden road in high heeled ankle boots... To say I did an excellent impression of Bambi on ice wouldn't be far wrong...
My friend and her partner saw my status on FB and were half an hour behind us on the M25 coming from Sussex. They immediately stopped at the next service station and waited for me to tell them when we were moving... My bloody phone ran out of battery so I had to download FB onto my sisters phone to keep in touch....
My mum in Suffolk was worrying herself silly...
We eventually got to Mum's at 1am and went home to ours the next morning!!! We talk about it every year at this time... Not an experience I ever want to go through again.

I expect that, if there was demand, they'd increase their storage space. It's a system that works perfectly well in other countries.