Why are we now **** in snow?

BigglesPiP

BigglesPiP

BigglesPiP

Soldato
Joined
8 Mar 2006
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Near Winchester
When and why did the UK become **** in snow? Is this snow different?

I think several factors are to blame:

-Driving is cheaper, so the ratio of idiots to capable drivers is higher.

-Cheap hatchbacks are now fitted with alloy wheels with wide tyres. The grandparents Mk2 facelift Punto is quite bad in snow because of this, and a friends Yarris can't get out of their driveway. Yet our old jelopy Mk1 punto on narrow tyres is completely unstoppable, it just won't get stuck and not for lack of trying. Look at cars for the masses in the bad old days and they're all on skinny tyres.

-I don't think the lack of grit is to blame at all, but I suspect people used to go some way towards clearing snow off their own street.
 
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Wow, an everyone sucks in the snow thread. How unique, I dont know why nobody else thought of that :D

It does seem that half the country thinks grit is some sort of super wonder substance.
 
I would agree with wheel and tyre size compared to the past. If you go back 10-15 years then 17 inch wheels were considered huge, now they are smaller than a lot of standard wheels supplied with cars.

My first 5 or so cars (early to mid 90s) all had 13 inch wheels, unheard of these days. Ford Escorts, Capris and a Fiesta XR2. There is a reason that people in snowy countries run smaller steelies and winter tyres.
 
BigglesPiP said:
When and why did the UK become **** in snow? Is this snow different?

I think several factors are to blame:

-Driving is cheaper, so the ratio of idiots to capable drivers is higher.

-Cheap hatchbacks are now fitted with alloy wheels with wide tyres. The grandparents Mk2 facelift Punto is quite bad in snow because of this, and a friends Yarris can't get out of their driveway. Yet our old jelopy Mk1 punto on narrow tyres is completely unstoppable, it just won't get stuck and not for lack of trying.

-I don't think the lack of grit is to blame at all, but I suspect people used to go some way towards clearing snow off their own street.
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Lack of experience...

I doubt it's the cheap hatchbacks, my dad said he used to drive in far worse conditions for weeks in a year in Poland 32 years ago in his Fiat 126p, and he said he managed fine, even on near slicks, as tires were very sparse. Then again, the tires on that car are so thin they can easily cut through the snow :p.
 
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snowdog said:
Lack of experience...

I doubt it's the cheap hatchbacks, my dad said he used to drive in far worse conditions for weeks in a year in Poland 32 years ago in his Fiat 126p, and he said he managed fine.
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I think you missed his main point about modern cheap hatchbacks.
 
I'm blaming everyone piling out of work at 1545, so when I left at 1615 (finish at 4pm) I joined a a 45 minute queue to exit the work car park, followed by 45 minutes to drive 5 miles.

Surely it can't just be experience, this years snow was my first experience of driving in snow and ice and managed it well enough.

[TW]Fox;15674325 said:
Experience wasn't going to get my car up the drive this morning.
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That's because its a BMW. ;)
 
It's nothing to do with experience. I've driven plenty of times in the snow, both in the UK and for 5 years in Munich (where they have real winters). There was no way either of my cars were going anywhere today despite me trying - it's to do with the wheel/tyre size compared to years ago and the lack of winter tyres in the UK.
 
[TW]Fox;15674325 said:
Experience wasn't going to get my car up the drive this morning.
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I think chains would have helped, then again I have no clue as to how your drive looks like...
 
From the last couple of weeks of driving to and from (and for) work, YMMV*.

People drive too close together (driving by the car in fronts brake lights) and pay too little attention to road and traffic conditions (so few people seems capable of reading and reacting to the flow of traffic around them).
So the first sign of bad weather be it heavy rain, fog or snow there's lots of accidents, because they are just no longer capable of applying and real level of thought, or just having no damn road sense.

* The other day I saw someone driving with their fog lights and side lights on in the dark. What is it with idiots and fog lights?
 
What was the last proper snow you drove in then?

I think the issue has been covered - cars have much bigger tyres now
 
From what I've seen (last winter, and this winter) it comes down to people not using common sense:
- People in Focus ST's and Golf GTi's still think it's appropriate to do 40 on a 30 despite there being a clear indication of ice and poor traction.
- People in "Chelsea Tractors" seem to think they ooze traction, hence they still do 40 on a 30 despite there being a clear indication of ice and poor traction.
- People in saloons fall in one of the above.

If we all shut up, applied common sense and actually got on with our day we really wouldn't have this LOL SNOW GET GRIT attitude.
 
Sometimes you have to know when to apply common sense and take alternative means of transportation.

Legs? I thought we only used them for pressing pedals to go faster? What's a bus? What's a train?
 
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