Gritters in force at peak times?

AmDaMan · 2 Jan 2010 at 17:21

Is there any reason for gritters to be gritting the road at busy times? I've just been on the M1 and a gritter was in the middle lane doing about 35mph spraying everything in sight with grit. I had no choice but to go pas it and it sounded like I'd been caught up in a ****storm.

The thing is, that's the second time in a week, the first time was when I was leaving work, it was stuck in traffic and was still spraying out grit everywhere. Is there any pattern to when they do it or is it just as and when? :confused:

Luke · 2 Jan 2010 at 17:28

They grit when they can. Would you prefer they didn't grit?

Dup · 2 Jan 2010 at 17:29

They've always done it. Always used to do it on the M6 when I worked in Lancaster. As soon as it starts losing the light the freezing begins and tonight has been no exception. One rode I drove on today was busy all day but driving it again later this evening was awful in a matter of a couple of hours.

paradigm · 2 Jan 2010 at 17:43

Could be worse, they decided to grit the local dual-carriageway AFTER there had been a 3 inch drop onto it.

Morons.

Luke · 2 Jan 2010 at 17:53

I've seen a gritter followed some 200 yards by an active street sweeper. Perfect timing!

PhillyDee · 2 Jan 2010 at 18:09

paradigm said:
Could be worse, they decided to grit the local dual-carriageway AFTER there had been a 3 inch drop onto it.

Morons.

Becasue you have to grit WHEN the snow is down, not before. Otherwise it creates an icy layer under the snow. Yes, you can grit before ice, and after, but snow is different.

rypt · 2 Jan 2010 at 18:20

PhillyDee said:
Becasue you have to grit WHEN the snow is down, not before. Otherwise it creates an icy layer under the snow. Yes, you can grit before ice, and after, but snow is different.

Indeed, you plough the worst of the snow and then grit when there is still a bit of snow down

AmDaMan · 2 Jan 2010 at 18:20

emailiscrap said:
They grit when they can. Would you prefer they didn't grit?

With how useless the whole operation has been this year it wouldn't really matter? Exercising a little common sense would be a good idea too, if gritting during rush hour is 'when they can' then it's completely pointless.

Alibaba99 · 2 Jan 2010 at 18:30

AmDaMan said:
With how useless the whole operation has been this year it wouldn't really matter? Exercising a little common sense would be a good idea too, if gritting during rush hour is 'when they can' then it's completely pointless.

Would you rather they tried gritting after the road surface had iced over?

pmbuzz · 2 Jan 2010 at 18:33

Wish they'd gritted round my way this morning, hit ice on a roundabout and did an almost complete 180 just missing the van on the inside of me !!

Scared the life outta me !!

Wicksta · 2 Jan 2010 at 18:49

lol you have to love this country, people moaning when not enough gritting, now moaning because they are actually doing it.

AmDaMan · 2 Jan 2010 at 18:50

Alibaba99 said:
Would you rather they tried gritting after the road surface had iced over?

I didn't realise there was a 1 hour window during rush hour they could grit before everything freezes over? :confused:

Edit: Can never please the masses Wicksta

[TW]Fox · 2 Jan 2010 at 19:11

AmDaMan said:
I didn't realise there was a 1 hour window during rush hour they could grit before everything freezes over?

Well now you do. I washed the car yesterday - by 4pm before I had a chance to dry it, it had frozen over. And thats down here where it hasnt been THAT cold.

paradigm · 2 Jan 2010 at 19:17

rypt said:
Indeed, you plough the worst of the snow and then grit when there is still a bit of snow down

Good job they ploughed none of it then. They just gritted on top of the 3 inches of snow.

Luke · 2 Jan 2010 at 19:48

They can't grit the entire region instantly, it's a process and as such means they will be gritting before, during and after.

Overlag · 2 Jan 2010 at 20:58

one thing i learnt in my first car was to NEVER overtake a road gritter. my blue bumper turned white with chips. I had more white than i had blue... sooooo many holes/chips

... Or maybe ford paint is just too soft?

Clarkey · 2 Jan 2010 at 21:03

Yeah don't do that. Avoid gritters at all cost tbh, if you see one coming then dive off into the nearest side road ASAP, at least that's what I do.

L0rdMike · 2 Jan 2010 at 21:10

Clarkey said:
Yeah don't do that. Avoid gritters at all cost tbh, if you see one coming then dive off into the nearest side road ASAP, at least that's what I do.

This!

I have had felt the full force of one before, not a very nice experience.

Peter Diffey · 2 Jan 2010 at 21:26

LOL I have overtaken a gritter on the M25 before, pretty cringe worthy experience. Worse than that, I passed a gritter doing 1 lepton in the outside on the A1 with the gritter going in the opposite direction :eek:

RedvGreen · 3 Jan 2010 at 00:05

AmDaMan said:
Is there any reason for gritters to be gritting the road at busy times? I've just been on the M1 and a gritter was in the middle lane doing about 35mph spraying everything in sight with grit. I had no choice but to go pas it and it sounded like I'd been caught up in a ****storm.

The thing is, that's the second time in a week, the first time was when I was leaving work, it was stuck in traffic and was still spraying out grit everywhere. Is there any pattern to when they do it or is it just as and when?

Flipping heck. Don't complain - our Council have told us that they refuse to grit anymore since they have used their supplies already (they were depleted mid-December).