So, about that Mercedes slippy-slidey video then...

If the Merc did not come down the road, no accident occurs. That parking is stupid yes but still...

I don't get why people bother driving in the snow when it's avoidable for 90% of people for a single day of the year. I can do it, and do do it well if I have to, but I'll always go out of my way not to drive at all. I've never had issues with any workplace where I've said I'm not coming in due to snow, but then I've always been able to work remotely. Our cars are typically not setup for snow and people don't tend to even do winter tyres.
 
It is a culmination of poor behaviour from all bar the VW. The smart car is parked in a poor position and can tell by the way Karen gets out she is the kind who would quite happily park a car on a blind corner because it is more convenient for her. The Merc tried to be cheeky and didn't read what the VW was actually trying to achieve. VW seemed like the only one who was driving to conditions. Karen really is the route cause as she parked right on top of the central reservation plus how can someone even contemplate purchasing a smart car.
 
adam cool dude said:
It is a culmination of poor behaviour from all bar the VW. The smart car is parked in a poor position and can tell by the way Karen gets out she is the kind who would quite happily park a car on a blind corner because it is more convenient for her. The Merc tried to be cheeky and didn't read what the VW was actually trying to achieve. VW seemed like the only one who was driving to conditions. Karen really is the route cause as she parked right on top of the central reservation plus how can someone even contemplate purchasing a smart car.
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I don't think she parked there out of choice more likely slid down the hill and that is where it came to stop. Of course the most sensible thing would be to move ASAP but going by the other video she had just seen a car spin round in front of her onto the pavement that might have put her off trying to move.

In an ideal world the person videoing should have went to the top of the hill to stop any more cars coming down it.
 
silvagti said:
There's a good question actually. Should those filming be held liable (assuming they're adults) for not taking action to prevent/warn oncoming drivers and/or should they have an obligation to phone the police/etc if they knew the road conditions are likely to lead to an accident? Difficult to enforce I guess though.
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Eh? It's not the job of joe public to direct traffic or report road conditions. The council knows the weather forecast and they also know the accident history of the area.

People are issued driving licenses on the basis they have proven to understand driving conditions, assess risk and drive a car in a manner suitable for the situation at hand. Clearly the Mercedes driver forgot all of that and paid the price
 
Alex_6n2 said:
Eh? It's not the job of joe public to direct traffic or report road conditions.
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I agree but if you are going to make yourself part of the situation you are far more use 200 yards up the road trying to get people to slow down that filming it for Youtube.

That isn't to say they should be held liable though of course. It would just be nice to see a bit more helpfulness and a bit less "documenting it for the views and likes" in society.
 
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The merc wasn’t taxed when this accident happened. What happens to their insurance claim? Will insurance pay out now that the tax has been retrospectively paid?
 
support_bae said:
The merc wasn’t taxed when this accident happened. What happens to their insurance claim? Will insurance pay out now that the tax has been retrospectively paid?
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Don't quote me on this - I think they will pay out for third party damage, but not damage to the person's own car. And they might then seek to recover costs for those pay outs from the owner too.
 
bazzabear said:
Don't quote me on this - I think they will pay out for third party damage, but not damage to the person's own car. And they might then seek to recover costs for those pay outs from the owner too.
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It's down to the insurers own Ts&Cs, there's no universal blanket 'policy' or rule or anything that means having no tax invalidates your insurance.
 
I can't see how the lack of tax is a legitimate reason to refuse a payout. I agree it might be a reason if it were an MOT. But I doubt the insurance ombudsman would let them get away with it for just tax.

EDIT: The Merc looks taxed to me (or maybe they just taxed it - it gets taxed for the whole month)
 
Alex_6n2 said:
Eh? It's not the job of joe public to direct traffic or report road conditions. The council knows the weather forecast and they also know the accident history of the area.

People are issued driving licenses on the basis they have proven to understand driving conditions, assess risk and drive a car in a manner suitable for the situation at hand. Clearly the Mercedes driver forgot all of that and paid the price
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The main issue with that is that not all drivers learn in all weather conditions. Take me for instance, 9 weeks of lesson (4hrs a week) then test passed. I started my lessons in April and passed by the end of June. Next to no bad weather driving.

This is similar for thousands of drivers, learn/pass in summer months and then have no idea about bad weather driving. Perhaps it's time to suggest a 1 year minimum period of learning with a minimum required driving hours in each month?
 
Resident said:
Perhaps it's time to suggest a 1 year minimum period of learning with a minimum required driving hours in each month?
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What's the point in that? Many parts of the UK can see not a fake of snow for years, it's very irregular and far from certain to happen.
 
It boils down to common sense again. If you walk on an icy pavement do you take more care, the same amount of care or less care?

Driving a car in the snow is the same thing something I’ve not done a great deal of yet I instinctively know I need to slow down and be really careful.
 
Resident said:
The main issue with that is that not all drivers learn in all weather conditions. Take me for instance, 9 weeks of lesson (4hrs a week) then test passed. I started my lessons in April and passed by the end of June. Next to no bad weather driving.

This is similar for thousands of drivers, learn/pass in summer months and then have no idea about bad weather driving. Perhaps it's time to suggest a 1 year minimum period of learning with a minimum required driving hours in each month?
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It would probably be more efficient, if there was that much concern over learning in all conditions, to set up regional 'learning centers' with skid pans, sprinklers etc. and mandate that you have to have at least 2 hours (as a random figure) of your lesson time at one of these, learning the more specialist/uncontrollable elements.
 
[TW]Fox said:
What's the point in that? Many parts of the UK can see not a fake of snow for years, it's very irregular and far from certain to happen.
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A non snow license then having to take an advanced course on a skidpan to be able to drive in snow. I know a lot of the colder climates like Finland this is mandatory for obvious reasons. I guess that's also why they make fantastic Rally drivers :p

I would guess the standard of driving up in Scotland is a lot better.
 
[TW]Fox said:
What's the point in that? Many parts of the UK can see not a fake of snow for years, it's very irregular and far from certain to happen.
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Whilst we might not get snow regularly we still do have conditions such as heavy rain, ice etc. The basic knowledge would be learnt, IMO, for snow driving at least.

Kenai said:
It would probably be more efficient, if there was that much concern over learning in all conditions, to set up regional 'learning centers' with skid pans, sprinklers etc. and mandate that you have to have at least 2 hours (as a random figure) of your lesson time at one of these, learning the more specialist/uncontrollable elements.
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That actually sounds like a good idea. When I learnt to drive the whole "what to do if you lose control" is literally just theory. AFAIK it still is.
 
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