In thinking that owning a 4X4 is not an excuse to drive like a twunt!!!

[lucyellensmumagain]

Just had a call from my DP (hands free!!!) who is explaining that the motorway is like an ice rink and that he is driving at about 30mph at max. He is in a van. About three times he has exclaimed about idiots zooming past him in 4x4s!! Yeah ok, so you might have more traction in a 4x4 but isn't this to help you pull away and drive more safely - it is not a green light to drive like a twat, your stopping distance is still going to be compromised in the snow, you could still lose control - kill yourselves if you must but FFS, my DP is trying to get home in one peice you selfish waste of spaces, i loathe people who drive like this, they are putting other peoples lives at risk for what? getting home 20 minutes earlier!! brain dead

grrrrr had to get that out!!

what mistletoe said!

totally agree that some conditions require slow driving, am absolutely obsessed with road safety. But I disagree that driving slowly is enough to make you safe, erratic manouvres, sharp braking etc are equally if not more hazardous

Agree with Mistletoekisses.

If you / your car can't cope with snow, then I would say you should not be driving in it.

There is no reason to crawl along at 10MPH on a main (gritted and clear) road. None at all.

But no one is on about 'main gritted and clear' roads are they? People can drive normally on those.

It's not a case of 'not coping' with snow, it's a case of driving slowly and safely on icey/snowey patches.

Otherwise this thread would have nothing to do with snow/ice.

I'd say most motorways are clear and gritted.

That's what the OP is talking about.

And, FWIW, I live on a very steep hill (one reason I personally won't be taking my 4x4 out - there is no need) but the sheer NUMBER of little cars trying to make it up this hill is laughable.

(Very few of them have, by the way... they've all been abandoned!)

who said anything about 10mph?

My DP rang me to say that the road (M2) was ungritted and very slippery so he would be late as he was only driving at 30mph and might run into traffic. In the space of a 2 minute phone conversation he was passed by 4 people in 4X4 and his exclamation was "fucking ada" each time one passed because they were going at speed. My DP is a very competent driver and if he was only driving at 30mph then it warranted that sppeed - we feel the same about driving too slow.

Mitchy, i am totally not against 4x4, we used to have a grand cherokee jeep 4l gas guzzling monster that i loved but we couldnt afford the petrol. I was merely commenting because of what had happened to DP. Of course you are absolutely right when you say that its not just 4x4 drivers who drive like twats, and to be fair, probably most 4x4 drivers drive sensibly. But i just wonder if they a bit complacent iyswim.

lol at this thread!

People in ALL kinds of different cars drive like twunts, with or without snow.

I was driving along today really carefully in my 4x4, respecting the fact that the roads are slippery and i was tailgated by someone that wasn't a 4x4 and saw many non 4x4 drivers driving like idiots.

Hold on, let me retract that, only people in 4x4 cars tailgate/drive too fast/don't indicate/act like idiots on the road don't they? Well according to MN anyway

haribomummy the M2 in kent wasnt gritted - god knows why!

Will you please stop sticking us all into the same category, he was an arse many are not.

no five im not, i used to have a 4x4 myself, im just saying really that just SOME 4x4 drivers think that they are immune to the snow and ice - evidenced by what my DP witnessed this evening!

Has anyone came on to say 'you're just jealous' yet?

4x4's = evil, yada, yada, yada...

some van drivers...actually maybe I won't start on that one!

Hello LEM!!

All the roads round here (Herts) were gritted - I think this snow was so widely anticipated...

I know my X5 could deal with the snow (it's me who would prefer to walk!) - it has this hill descent button which I swear is like magic!!!

I just feel the need to stick up for 4x4s (and us drivers of said cars!)

For many, they are necessary and we do drive them carefully. (well, apart from curbing the wheels!)

So if this thread isn't an attact on 4x4 drivers, why not just say that SOME drivers (in all types of cars) think they are immune to snow and ice? That's the way i see it anyway.

maybe im wrong, maybe it is perfectly safe to drive at 70 or 80mph along an icy road in a 4x4!

Memoo you're right - some people DO genuinely need a 4x4. Any Mnetters who know me know that I live in the back of beyond and find my beast absolutely necessary!

Today I delivered hay to my snowbound sheep in it as the bastard bloody tractor wouldn't start. I couldn't have done that in a family saloon or micro mini!

I'd also like to point out that if you are following a 4x4 travelling down or up steep hill very slowly it's probably being driven in low ratio because of sheet ice or compacted snow etc so don't sit on its chuff! (this is mainly aimed at some of the twunting drivers from my locality who have obviously never driven in ice or snow before and have a desparate need to overtake a landrover driven by a woman!!!!!)

However - I do think that there are a high percentage of 4x4 Chelsea Tractor drivers who are real bully boys & girls and believe they rule the road so YAabsolutelyNBU

an attack even

YOu are jealous though, aren't you!!?

I'll get complacent when I stop sliding sideways down hills myself from time to time

it must be a personal perspective thing, because the only bad driving I've seen lately has been a delivery van, and men in various saloon cars - Audi, BMW and non-descript things (Fords?)

it seems to be an affront to their masculinity for anyone to drive either more slowly or faster than them - regardless of the road conditions or suitability of the vehicle

so yes, will overtake someone who is doing 12mph if I can safely travel at double that speed

equally will not be forced to speed up by someone who can't even get their car to go in a straight line behind me

yanbu simply because most 4x4 owners round these parts have them for fashion rather than practical reasons. I suspect 99% don't even know how to put it in to low ratios. 4x4s have their place but it is not driving along the A30 to Waitrose in Sunningdale

[looks down on thread from high 4x4 driver's seat]

crunches thread under chunky (but so cheap!) grabber tyres

Ahh, MitchyI I love watching men drive BMWs in snow, rear wheel drives just don't like ice

I suspect 99% don't even know how to put it in to low ratios.

Of course we do.

There is a button that you press... the one with the 4x4 going down a hill.

Just to pick up on an earlier point. "Gritted and clear" does not always mean clear. Gritted and apparently clear can actually mean black ice, so please do watch out.

In response to the main point, however, we had to laugh the other day. We were driving (if you can call it that) through inches of snow on our unclassified road in an old car with rubbish (still legal) tyres. Tyres were rubbish because we were about to trade it in and it wasn't worth getting a new set. Anyhow, we sailed past a 4x4 that was stuck after skidding into a snowdrift. Priceless.

I DID snigger a BIT when one tried to zoom past me and did an obviously unplanned figure of 8, ending up facing the wrong way