To not understand why so many people drive in the snow?

[littlemisssunny]

It's a genuine question as I am intrigued.

The snow last night was forecast days before so it wasn't a surprise. It was gone 8pm when it started, if it was rush hour or something I could understand it.

People were getting stuck all over the place on main roads, the gritters and ploughs were struggling to get through the traffic to clear it all. There were a lot of cars on the road!

Also saw on the news a man who got stuck on the m6 saying it came from nowhere, err no it was forecast!

I know sometimes people have to travel, and my husband is lucky that he can walk to work, but I just don't get it?

I might be unreasonable but I genuinely don't understand please explain!

littlemiss don't sweat it.

There was a thread recently that explains you are not the first to accept graciously that YABU and take on board the reasons why, only to be called on it time and time again as the thread progresses.

From this thread

People that don't RTFT, especially on AIBU, where the Op graciously admitted that actually she was being unreasonable five pages back.

Winter tyres outperform 'summer' tyres in cold/wet and cold/dry conditions and are suitable when the temperature is under 7 or 8 celsius - so perfectly serviceable for potentially 4 or 5 months of the year.

This ^^

I think the sooner tyre retailers begin to correctly call 'normal' tyres 'summer' tyres, for that is what they are, the better.

I put my winter tyres on in October and take them of in March, usually.

They don't instantly wear out as soon as the sun pops out from behind the clouds; they're perfectly useable for half the year in our climate.

And RooneyMara, saying "People just won't want to invest in terms of cost or time/energy spent changing all their tyres" is sort of like saying "people don't want to bother with an MOT or insurance because of the time and expense", really

Think back not that many years ago to when it was perfectly legal to not wear your seatbelt. People often chose not to wear one, despite their car having them fitted, just because they couldn't be arsed.

Not being inclined to do the right thing is just human nature I suppose.

Legislation is needed, I think.

Winter tyres are a different composition to summer tyres. The rubber is softer so performs well in cold temperatures - regardless of whether that temperature is dry or wet or snowy.

Our snow tyres went on in October and they are still very useful now. That's not two weeks...

There is also much, much more traffic here than in Norway...

x-post withShellyBoobs and I totally agree. People come up with excuse afer excuse. They just don't want to face facts, yet want to moan when things go wrong and very often want to blame all the 'other' people who can't cope.

Or maybe not x-post I just didn't refresh the browser after I closed the laptop earlier tonight.

It's still a x-post, of sorts, moonstorm

'Because some of us actually know how to drive and aren't scared of a bit of snow?

The attitude towards snow in this country drives me mad! It's ridiculous how many people cannot cope driving in the snow. Get over it, learn to cope with it or give up your license. Because if you can't cope with snow driving you're probably not safe to drive sensibly in normal conditions'

How bloody rude and patronising, and wrong.

Moving on - I think it's not laziness and making excuses so much as the fact that winter tyres are so rarely used or known of in this country. I'd wager the majority of drivers never give them a thought - some will not even have heard of them at all.

There's no campaign, no advertising of them, no mention more than likely in most people's driving lessons or when you buy a new car.
How are people supposed to understand how important they are?

The other thing is, if they are not suitable for use above 7 or 8 degrees - what happens when you get a warm day in November, as you often do - what then? Can you not drive your car? People don't know this stuff. I certainly don't.

the answer to this, if you care so vehemently about it, is not smug, patronising or derogatory posts about us poor unfortunate thickos who haven't got a clue.

It's education.

and most of us are decent competent drivers but when the roads are icy or snowy, we don't trust our vehicles. For bloody good reason. That's why the met office put out warnings.

I think there's more traffic when we have snow, too, compared to mere rain or even sunny dry conditions.

The same people who wouldn't walk if there's rain or a bit cold definitely won't walk if there's ice on the pavements and very cold.

I'm talking about young healthy non-disabled non-working adults, by the way.

Eh?

I hate walking in the rain but will happily walk in the snow and ice, especially if it's not safe enough to use our car, or can't get it off the drive.

I don't have a car. I walk everywhere. But I don't walk anywhere I don't need to be, when there's ice. I've broken my arm once on ice, and I don't intend to do it again!

other thing is, if they are not suitable for use above 7 or 8 degrees - what happens when you get a warm day in November, as you often do - what then? Can you not drive your car? People don't know this stuff. I certainly don't.

They're just not ideal in warmer temperatures, but no, there's no issue at all using them for any weather our climate is capable of between October and March (or thereabouts) and in fact my brother didn't take his off last year until June as he was waiting for one of his other wheels to be repaired.

You could easily leave them on all year round and they wouldn't be dangerous or wear out in an instant. They do feel a bit 'squidgy' on corners when it's very warm though, and they would wear out quicker than summer tyres under those conditions.

The 7 or 8 degrees thing is just related to the crossover point at which summer tyres stop working properly and winter tyres would then stop you faster or grip better on corners.

If you think about the times of day when most people do most driving - early morning and evening I would think - there's quite a long period of the year where winter tyres would be better suited to the temperature.

Winter tyres wear out faster, I was listening to loads of info about this last night on 5-Live motoring show (probably on their Listen Again feature, 9-9:30pm?). How much does it cost to have someone change ones tyres, does anyone know? Apparently in places like Sweden folk just invest in complete spare wheels+tyres to keep the costs down and make it easier to swap.

Surely though using and paying for winter tyres is worth it if it means you are saved from injury and the cost of an accident would outweigh the cost of the tyres.

Well it's cheaper not to drive at all, if you can manage without - but of course a lot of people need to.

Shelly, thanks for the info - very interesting.

You're welcome, Rooney.

lljkk - they only wear out faster in summer, which is exaclty what the journalist on 5-Live was saying; they were talking about using them all year round. Summer tyres wear out faster in winter than winter tyres do so it's swings and round-a-bouts really.

Oh, and I pay £40 for a full set of tyres changing at the local tyre dealer.

thanks for the info. We don't drive that much at the moment, but things will change if I get enough work in, so will keep that in mind.

I pay about £40 to change them as well. On the occasions I have just bought the tyres, they have put them on and swapped them in the spring again for free. (The following year I was back to paying).

I do think there should be more random tyre checks as well. It doesn't matter what car you have, if you have poor tyres (no foot, no horse).

Once you have driven on winter tyres, I'm sure you would be converted.

I will probably back up in Scotland next winter and after having driven through the snow on summer tyres, I think that I may well invest in a set providing they are reasonably priced. Having an automatic I don't have the option to change up to a higher gear to increase traction either.

Problem (aside from the cost) is I don't have anywhere to store the other set of tyres when I take them off.

Google 'tyre hotels'

ooh that's goos, but I'd worry about my tyres raiding the minibar and watching the one handed channels during the winter!

I've also found I can get a full set for under 200 quid, which makes it affordable, especially as the summer tyres will last longer too.

Having just seen Damien Lewis driving the Reasonably Priced Car round the Top Gear track in snowy conditions I can say he had fun. I love driving in slippery conditions. It's exhilarating.

Some interesting info from the Continental website:

When should I fit winter tyres to my car?

It is recommended that you switch to winter tyres in the UK between October and April.

If you are reluctant to change tyres and have nowhere to store summer tyres when they are not in use, you are better off using winter tyres all year round.

Winter tyres are as quiet and comfortable as summer tyres and, thanks to sophisticated compound technology, do not wear any more quickly.

There is a slight trade off with stopping distances as a winter tyre does not stop as quickly in the dry as a summer tyre, however, on balance if it is not possible to switch tyres in the winter, experts say you are better off with winter tyres all year round. This is because the difference in stopping distances of summer tyres in winter is far greater than for winter tyres in the summer.

Come and have some hot chocolate in the puddle

Out of interest do you need to get new wheels too? Or is it possible to have the summer tyres taken off and news tyres fitted to the existing wheels?