To think you don't have the right to get places when it snows?

[kokosnuss]

The local newspaper has posted it's now-traditional "OMG SNOW'S FORECAST, CHAOS IS IMMINENT" Facebook post and all the comments are along the lines of "oh great, not getting anywhere that day then, not with our incompetent council".

I do think councils have some responsibility to keep major roads passable if they can, so that emergency vehicles and other key traffic can keep moving.

But AIBU to think you don't have the automatic right to continue completely as normal when it snows? Isn't there a case for just accepting that the weather is bad and some things might not happen?

Yeah, 4WD owners who drive up your arse and think they can stop on a dime are incredibly dangerous. We have a lot of them around here.

OTOH I got a new 4WD Subaru earlier this year and it's doing really well in the snow and ice. But I drive very defensively (unless I'm in an empty carpark in which case all bets are off).

Drivers were stuck in their cars overnight on the M74 because of snow.

@honeyroar yes, Trafford. Not a flake here, despite being smack in the middle of a huge yellow weather warning.

I never understand the chaos caused by a bit of snow. I grew up in a village in the countryside, where we really did get proper snow and schools were closed. It was fab, we would drive 2 wheel drive hatchbacks up snow covered country lanes to get as near as possible to the top of the local big hill mountain, and go sledging on things like car bonnets or tractor tyre inner tubes or just big plastic sheets.

Now I live in the city. A tiny covering of slush on the ground and people are falling over, crashing cars into trees by a gritted road, and people with poncey 4x4s are too afraid to drive

The trouble is that everyone seems to want to carry on as normal, ignoring the weather conditions, and then wonder why it goes wrong.

It's simple. Don't go out if you don't have to. If you do have to, prepare for the bad weather, it's not as if we didn't know it was coming. Drive slowly, no sudden acceleration/braking, leave huge gaps between vehicles. If you are walking, wear decent boots, warm clothes and a coat. Leave plenty of time to get where you are going.

Why city folk continue to totter about in fashion shoes or heels, freezing without a jumper or coat, or go driving up the arse in the car in front (which is going slowly because of the weather you numpties) and rushing about when the weather is bad, it boggles my brain.

I miss the countryside where we got proper snow and it was actually fun

To be fair, cars and tyres are very different nowadays though. Tyres are wider and made for motorways and faster speeds generally. When I was little cars had narrower wheels, which gripped better. And a lot of 4x4s are for show and don't have winter tyres etc on. A lot of evokes, for example, aren't 4x4s - they made some versions cheaper by taking it off..

Living in the south west means we only get snow once every few years, I know if one of the council around here spent a penny on snow clearance it would be shot down in flames for wasting money.

4-8” of snow today in my town in Maine. Business as normal.

But Maine gets snow every winter and you're used to it. Half of the problem in the UK is that we don't get snow on any sort of constant basis and some areas just aren't equipped for it.

The ones that annoy me are the ones that piss and moan that the council haven't gritted the footpaths, cleared the roads and wiped their arses for them yet wouldn't even think to pick up a snow shovel for 10 minutes and clear the path/road outside their houses. This morning and yesterday there were cars, vans and buses flailing around completely unable to get up the ploughed and gritted road outside my house. It's a hill and a t junction. So i got a shovel out and cleared the road. It took a few hours but we did it. Everyone (local) driving by thanked DH and I but not one of them thought to do a bit of clearing themselves at their own little part of their road. It's a very small village and every able bodied person with a shovel would have the village cleared in a jiffy!

We can't afford snow tyres and certainly couldn't store them until the 9 or 10 measly days a year we have enough snow to disrupt travel but the council take care of the main roads and we the public should take care of our roads so we can all get out and get to work.

I agree Rowena but I do think in the U.K. that there is more of an expectation that “they” (local council, whoever) are responsible for it, so why should we do it? I live in the Midwest (US) and we get lots of snow. I remember one snowfall that landed 3 feet on us! And we are all responsible for shoveling the pavement outside our property. I believe the local city ordinance gives you up to 24 hours from the end of the snowfall, to clear it. Otherwise the city can ticket you (and they do!). We all have a responsibility to maintain public spaces, not just wait for someone else to do it for us.

@MrsGloop

The issue is when you have a Council that issue ridiculous edicts. For example our parish council was told if shops gritted the roads in front of their shops they would be liable for any accidents.

This is the same Council that lied about grittting last night. To the extent a double decker bus full of school children crashed this morning on a hill the council later admitted not gritting despite putting out the info they'd done a full grit.

I must say the council have done well here with gritting and clearing snow. The M74 was a bit of a disaster but there was a weather warning. Why did they travel?