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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think that tractors etc should be used to clear the snow

69 replies

Unwind · 07/12/2010 11:28

With thousands stranded on Scotland's motorways last night, supposedly due to a lack of snow ploughs, I can't help wondering why they have not asked for help from farmers, bulldozer operators etc.

If clearing the roads was really impossible, surely they could have got people to safety? Or at least given them information, blankets, food etc? Friends who were trapped in a line of cars overnight never saw any police.

OP posts:

5StoneDown · 07/12/2010 12:29

My DP is a tractor owner, but unfortunately the majority of councils/local authorities haven't sorted out any insurance for farm vehicles to be used, and the insurance of the farmer does not cover road maintenence/clearance.

So farmers who would help out, can't because they could be liable for damage to cars/roads/people.

Original poster

Unwind · 07/12/2010 12:30

When 1000s of commuters are standed in temperatures as low as -16, I think people come before animals.

OP posts:

Original poster

Unwind · 07/12/2010 12:32

I don't blame tractor owners - but the insurance, and payments, should be sorted out.

Leaving people to their own devices for so long meant that they were running out of fuel, which could only make matters worse.

OP posts:

NormaSknockers · 07/12/2010 12:32

That's a bit unfair Unwind, you're talking about a farmers livelyhood, they can't just abandom them because some people decided to go out in the snow in their cars!

tabulahrasa · 07/12/2010 12:36

but most of them were stuck because of people trying to drive on the M8 after it was snowing and after it was well known that there were massive problems on the roads

help couldn't get to a lot of places because of the volume of traffic behind them

Original poster

Unwind · 07/12/2010 12:38

I don't mean they should be forced out, but not prevented as they are now (illegal, no insurance).

Livestock can generally wait a few hours to be fed without ill effect (no, it's not nice, but circumstances were extreme last night)

OP posts:

booyhohoho · 07/12/2010 12:39

erm where would the money coem from to pay all these farmers for neglecting their own livestock?

MadamDeathstare · 07/12/2010 12:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

domesticsluttery · 07/12/2010 12:42

"When 1000s of commuters are standed in temperatures as low as -16, I think people come before animals"

But those animals are the farmers' source of income (and the farmers are people too).

Or do you plan to have a whipround amongst the stranded motorists to provide an income for the farmers when their animals die?

Original poster

Unwind · 07/12/2010 12:45

I am really surprised at how unsympathetic people are being towards the people stranded on buses and in cars - some were on the school run, there were babies and toddlers stuck out there.

I think making it possible for people to get to shelter in a situation like that is a good use of taxpayers' money.

OP posts:

booyhohoho · 07/12/2010 12:46

why were people taking their dcs to school in such bad road conditions????

borderslass · 07/12/2010 12:46

Here in the Borders the farmers are helping clear the snow, but you have to remember these are extremely unusual weather patterns in that it came on so fast and early looks like it's going to be a long hard winter.

Original poster

Unwind · 07/12/2010 12:47

Again, having their feeding time delayed by a few hours is unlikely to kill livestock. Besides, not all farmers have any.

OP posts:

GypsyMoth · 07/12/2010 12:48

the school run on the M8???

Original poster

Unwind · 07/12/2010 12:48

booyhohoho - the snow started after most people had set out (including me, but I did not get stuck). Schools and nurseries around here were open in the morning. The snowstorm was a lot heavier than expected.

OP posts:

Original poster

Unwind · 07/12/2010 12:49

it wasn't just the M8

OP posts:

BikeRunSki · 07/12/2010 12:49

A lot of the farmer round here have a call-off contract with the council to clear snow, and have been doing so for over a week. I was helped out of a car park yesterday bu a very nice chap called Elmo!

booyhohoho · 07/12/2010 12:51

was there seriously no hint of this snow coming on the weather report? do people not listen to the weather when they know they need to travel?

sorry but i agree with borderlass, this is likely to last quite a while, farmers simply cannot be expected to neglect their own livelihoods for however long it takes for the snow to stop. and we all know that even if it carried on for 6 months tehre would still be feckless idiots who jumped in their cars everyday and got stuck. farmers shouldn't put their livelihoods at stake to bail these people out.

booyhohoho · 07/12/2010 12:53

and those farmers that don't have livestock don't just sit on their arses all day.

domesticsluttery · 07/12/2010 12:53

In those extreme circumstances people were probably safer staying in their cars anyway, where as long as they had fuel they would at least be warm.

Police and/or tractors would not have been able to get through miles of stationary traffic.

I think people just have to start realising that things like this can happen, and be prepared with blankets, hot drinks etc in the car just in case.

Some local people were actually walking down the line of traffic with flasks of coffee to keep people warm. Rather than bemoaning the fact that local farmers didn't leave their own work to try and help (illegally) then why not express some gratitude towards those locals who did?

tabulahrasa · 07/12/2010 12:56

I am really surprised at how unsympathetic people are being towards the people stranded on buses and in cars - some were on the school run, there were babies and toddlers stuck out there.

the school run? not if they were stuck overnight they weren't

like I said earlier, I do feel sorry for anyone who set off before it snowed and got caught up in it(and it wasn't really forecasted, there was some mention of snow a couple of hours before it happened, but seeing as I'm waist deep in the stuff it wasn't that unusual, it definitely wasn't expected to be as heavy as it was)

but anyone who set off in that snow onto a road that was very widely being reported as closed, well...

soggy14 · 07/12/2010 12:56

there was an article on radio 4 about this. They interviewed a farmer who said that the council said that he needed loads of yellow clothing, protective gloves, huge costly public liability insurence etc and couldn't afford it.

round here the local farmer does drag a plough through as and when but I don't think that he is "officially" allowed to.

MadamDeathstare · 07/12/2010 12:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

soggy14 · 07/12/2010 12:59

unwind the animals are completely dependent on the farmers and did not choose to be stuck in the fields. The commuters choose to drive.

borderslass · 07/12/2010 13:00

After last winter I got winter tyres in october as my car is shite in winter I have absolutely no problems in this and we have a lot here but I only go out when necessary.
advice from highways agency
For peace of mind always carry an emergency kit
Gather a few items and keep them in your car - just in case. Below are items that should be in your Emergency Kit:

Ice scraper and de-icer

Torch and spare batteries

Warm clothes and a blanket
Boots
First aid kit
Jump leads
Food and a warm drink in a thermos
A shovel
Reflective warning sign
Sunglasses - the glare off snow can be dazzling

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