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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Chaos on the m23 last night.

39 replies

Lynned · 12/03/2013 13:45

Snow was forecasted well in advance. Can't believe that a major road was not prepared. What a shambles. We just cannot cope with snow country.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lynned · 12/03/2013 13:46

Erm, I think that should be forecast!Blush

OP posts:
mortifieddotcom · 12/03/2013 15:04

It was on the BBC news that they had gritted. What else do you think they can do. It's not the roads that mean a country grinds to a halt. It's drivers who don't know how to drive in the snow, drivers who don't add snow tyres like they do in countries that appear to cope better. Not everything is the fault of the council or government. Mind you don't get me started on pot holes!

meditrina · 12/03/2013 15:07

I'm surprised so many people, knowing snow was forecast in disruptive amounts, went out on the roads. I know some would have had truly necessary journeys, but I wonder if all of them really did.

LadyPessaryPam · 12/03/2013 15:07

Get winter tyres, they are fantastic, we get ours from www.mytyres.co.uk/Winter_Tyres.html
In fact we leave the on all year round.

MooseBeTimeForCoffee · 12/03/2013 15:15

Lady you shouldn't leave winter tyres on all year round because it knackers them. You're better off buying a really cheap set of wheels and swapping them for your summer tyres once the snow has gone. Easier to do that than take the tyres off the rims.

thenightsky · 12/03/2013 15:17

I got my lovely Wintrac-Extreme tyres from mytyre.com too. I was going to take them off again last Friday, but when I saw the forecast I changed it to next week.

LadyBeagleEyes · 12/03/2013 15:17

Carnage?
Did anybody die then?

luckylavender · 12/03/2013 15:51

mortifieddotcom - you don't want to believe everything you see on the news. Brighton had not been gritted at all. I had to spend the night in a hotel as I could not get the 7 miles home on the coast road as buses stopped without warning. I drove a mile in 1.5 hours, it was terrifying.

IShallWearMidnight · 12/03/2013 16:02

Wasn't gritted this side of Surrey at all as far as I could tell, twitter was full of "my usual 10 minute journey took me 4 hours" tweets. M25 was ok more or less, bar roadworks, but everything else was bedlam.

aldiwhore · 12/03/2013 16:05

People do tend to drive 'as normal' in abnormal conditions. Often it's worse if the roads are gritted, people seem to think a gritted road will somehow make visibility fine too.

If the roads weren't gritted then that is a massive failing on the part of the council/highways agency. If the roads were, it's a massive failing of people, being dicks as usual.

willesden · 12/03/2013 16:18

OP, do you even know what 'carnage' means?

Original poster
Lynned · 12/03/2013 16:31

It's my DH that uses that word for traffic snarl ups, perhaps not the best word to use on picky mumsnet.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lynned · 12/03/2013 16:34

He uses it in the 'battle' sense.

OP posts:
BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability · 12/03/2013 16:37

I dunno, I'm happier with carnage being used here than in an actual carnage situation, when it would seem a bit tactless...

And OP said it was a shambles, but didn't specifically finger-point at the council/dave/god.

HarlotOTara · 12/03/2013 16:41

There were grifters out as I saw them on M23 at approx. 1.30pm

Original poster
Lynned · 12/03/2013 16:43

I think on the news they were pointing fingers at the council. I think a lot of people got stuck in it coming home from work. Just started the thread to say we just can't cope with a bit of snow. But thinking about it, threads have been done about it before. Sorry to start a really boring thread!

OP posts:
PeneloPeePitstop · 12/03/2013 16:50

Last night I'd say the biggest problem was visibility. Gritting was done but accidents were happening as you couldn't see with the poor visibility.

LIZS · 12/03/2013 16:54

Problem is largely the wind . We're not far away, today is clearer after snow overnight but still very gusty. Flying snow and poor light is very difficult to drive in and lorries came to a standstill on inclines, causing tailbacks. Snowploughs aren't so good in very shallow snow and , around here at least gritting has been very thorough.

QuickLookBusy · 12/03/2013 17:01

About 3000 people a year die on roads in the UK every year and I expect quite a few of these people's friends and relatives use MN.

So someone pulling you up on the word "carnage" isn't being "picky".

I'd get your title changed unless you wish to upset people.

digerd · 12/03/2013 17:05

Mortified

Your remark about this country's drivers not knowing how to drive in the snow, reminded me of a snow day yonks ago.
It wasn't forecast and I was standing at the bus-top alone but all buses had stopped, and looked like a snowman.
When a nice man stopped in his car to give me a lift. It was far too far to walk home.
He told me he knew how to drive in snow as had lived in Italy, but nobody in UK does. True to his word, as every other car slid to a standstill at the side of the A10, we were the only car left on the road. He turned R, then L then L again and dropped me outside my parents door. The carried on to his home.
He saved my life and I can't even remember his name.

NotADragonOfSoup · 12/03/2013 17:06

I'd get your title changed unless you wish to upset people.

I'd get your title changed unless you wish to upset the professionally offended

Fillyjonk75 · 12/03/2013 17:06

Some people do drive stupidly in the snow though. When I was driving home mid afternoon, the snow was coming down steadily and just starting to stick I could feel my tyres were not performing as they do on a normal dry road so I slowed down. Cue some idiot driving up my backside all the way down the road.

gordyslovesheep · 12/03/2013 17:08

nobody in the UK does well he did! as do I and plenty of other people!

missrlr · 12/03/2013 17:18

The reason it came to a grinding standstill northbound was a BMW who was sat spinning its wheels and the "helpful" idiot who then stopped in the other lane ON THE HILL IN THE SNOW next to the BMW to try and push said wheel spinning BMW up the blinking hill. Everyone (lorries included) then had to try and do a hill start. Moron managed it and promptly disappeared up the road oblivious to the chaos his ill thought actions caused.

Southbound was because people kept BRAKING HARD and coming to a complete stop, in some cases then getting out the cars abandoned by the road and walking off. So people were reluctant to get close to the fecking morons and thought it was worse than it was

The lack of usage won't help as grit works best when being mushed around by the tyres passing over it however given the conditions I think that 1330 to 1730 (although this was not completed as the lorry was stuck going nowhere on the southbound side) was a tad too long to leave between gritting sessions.

IF these people's cars were not prepared for the weather or can't drive in it then they should not have been out in it. Trusty snow chains or as others have said winter tyres (which are designed for use in ambient temps of below 10 degrees not just snow) and some simple preps and common sense (NOT stopping on a bloody hill FFS) helps a lot. As someone who regularly drives on the continent in all weathers I can assure you IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

Ask me know I know .......

digerd · 12/03/2013 17:21

Well, not in those days, as all the others gave up. His was the only car left driving on the roads.
I said I didn't know that Italy had losts of snow. < that's where he learnt how to drive in snow>

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