Inept drivers

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joescrivens

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Joe
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Ok I get the fact there is snow about. I really do, but why does the fact that people can see snow out of their windows cause them to lose the ability to drive?

We have moderate snow here in staffordshire, but the main roads are abslutely clear, no a drop of snow on them and zero ice because its been quite mild over the last 24 hours.

Driving conditions on main roads is just like it would be had it rained overnight, the roads are a little wet, thats it. So why on earth did it just take me 2 hours to do a 15 minute journey to the train station with my sister. In fact not even that, as soon as I hit stoke we had to turn around as it was complete gridlock.

WHY!!!!! Road conditions are fine, there isn't even any need to drive more slowly, what causes people to drive so poorly when there is nothing wrong with the roads? stupid people with their stupid poor driving skills.

Annoyed.com
 
Because when it snows Joe, the majority of drivers change their styles and fall into two groups. One is the "I have played Swedish Rally driver on my x-box innit" whilst the others drop into the " Bambi on ice " group.
 
fracster said:
Because when it snows Joe, the majority of drivers change their styles and fall into two groups. One is the "I have played Swedish Rally driver on my x-box innit" whilst the others drop into the " Bambi on ice " group.
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why can't they just stay in the "the roads are a bit wet" group?
 
That is far too easy and sensible for the majority who seem to revel in being bell ends.
 
I've found the inept drivers are out there whatever the conditions. You'll probably find it's other drivers having to be over cautious because of the inept ones that then leads to the congestion.
 
Because as usual some panic at the first sight of the white stuff!

406023_10151465488420934_1929810382_n.jpg
 
I'd rather they drove too slowly than just ignored the conditions and drove as their normal selves.

There is no way of knowing whether a particular stretch of road is ice free until you brake on it. It's safer to assume braking is limited and drive accordingly until proven otherwise. It is still below freezing so there is potential for ice in untreated areas or areas where the grit has washed away. You can't tell by looking. Black ice looks like wet.

You can't grip test all the way on a journey so which is safer - assuming you can drive as normal, or assuming you can't?

They're not inept, they're actually following the advice that has been all over the news ie driving conditions aren't safe so you should assume that and drive more slowly and carefully. It makes a change for people to listen!

Why on earth set out for Stoke station on a Monday morning in rush hour in bad weather? It is likely to have been unnecessarily slow even on a normal Monday.
 
srichards said:
I'd rather they drove too slowly than just ignored the conditions and drove as their normal selves.

There is no way of knowing whether a particular stretch of road is ice free until you brake on it. It's safer to assume braking is limited and drive accordingly until proven otherwise. It is still below freezing so there is potential for ice in untreated areas or areas where the grit has washed away. You can't tell by looking. Black ice looks like wet.

You can't grip test all the way on a journey so which is safer - assuming you can drive as normal, or assuming you can't?

They're not inept, they're actually following the advice that has been all over the news ie driving conditions aren't safe so you should assume that and drive more slowly and carefully. It makes a change for people to listen!

Why on earth set out for Stoke station on a Monday morning in rush hour in bad weather? It is likely to have been unnecessarily slow even on a normal Monday.
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firstly it isn't below freezing.

Secondly the conditions are fine, they really are. I've just been out in them I should know.

As for why set out? She needed to get a train from stoke station. No we didn't leave at rush hour. We left at 6.45am a long way before rush hour. It would have been fine too if people drove to the conditions rather than driving thinking there was 4 foot of snow on the road and a ton of ice.
 
Most of 'em don't have the ability to drive in the first place. They usually just point it in the general direction of where they want to go and trust to luck for the rest.
 
I guess I find it even more frustrating because I actually learnt to drive in the snow, my first 2 weeks driving was in snowy conditions and I also lived in canada for a year with real snow
 
The weather forecasts for stoke are showing below freezing temperatures, my outside thermometers are also showing below freezing right now...hence it is reasonable to assume that it was below freezing.

Did you actually brake test your car in those conditions to see what the actual braking ability was like or did you just assume?

On winter tyres it is a different ball game. You can assume more like wet conditions.
 
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if you can't drive properly in the road conditions
keep off the roads

simples
 
srichards said:
Did you actually brake test your car in those conditions to see what the actual braking ability was like or did you just assume?
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Yup

conditions are absolutely fine.

Back roads as always require some more careful driving but all main roads are fine and dandy
 
Paul_W said:
if you can't drive properly in the road conditions
keep off the roads

simples
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yup.

On driving back from near milton back to Leek the leek road was backlogged from cobridge right up to past endon. Thats about 6 miles give or take

I was looking at these people thinking, why are you still all waiting? Sure there will be some percentage of the people in their cars who don't have a choice, but the majority are going to spend 3 hours getting to work, get there at midday, then at 2pm think, "it's going to take me 3 hours to get home, i better leave now" was it really worth spending 6 hours in your car for 2 hours in the office?

turn around and go home as we did, leave the roads for the people who literally have no choice whatsoever
 
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As for the gridlock, 99% is down to more traffic than normal, they all had the same idea as you (set off a bit earlier).

British roads cannot cope with larger than normal influx of traffic. It upsets the traffic signal/yellow grid box/roundabouts/oneway systems/Bus Lanes etc. Add to that the possibility of an accident/breakdown in there and you have mayhem
 
joescrivens said:
yup.

On driving back from near milton back to Leek the leek road was backlogged from cobridge right up to past endon.

I was looking at these people thinking, why are you still all waiting? Sure there will be some percentage of the people in their cars who don't have a choice, but the majority are going to spend 3 hours getting to work, get there at midday, then at 2pm think, "it's going to take me 3 hours to get home, i better leave now" was it really worth spending 6 hours in your car for 2 hours in the office?

turn around and go home as we did, leave the roads for the people who literally have no choice whatsoever
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They may not have a choice. Many lose pay or face disciplinary action if they don't make it into work. Even for a few hours.
 
joescrivens said:
Yup

conditions are absolutely fine.

Back roads as always require some more careful driving but all main roads are fine and dandy
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My road is clear as anything. The gritting lorry is always up and down it and the farmer's tractors also do a reasonable job of clearing a path.

I have assumed before that everywhere else is just as easy and discovered there is 6 inches of snow a mile up the road but only 2 here...

We're in Staffs though. They grit a lot. There are loads of counties where they do b****r all.
 
srichards said:
They may not have a choice. Many lose pay or face disciplinary action if they don't make it into work. Even for a few hours.
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as I said. There are some that dont have a choice but plenty that do. Leave the roads for those who do not have a choice.
 
tiler65 said:
As for the gridlock, 99% is down to more traffic than normal, they all had the same idea as you (set off a bit earlier).

British roads cannot cope with larger than normal influx of traffic. It upsets the traffic signal/yellow grid box/roundabouts/oneway systems/Bus Lanes etc. Add to that the possibility of an accident/breakdown in there and you have mayhem
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Indeed, although I would expect that that was offset by the volume of traffic actually dropping due to people deciding not to go out.

Tons of schools here are closed for example which means a dramatic reduction in traffic volume
 
As the majority of schools and colleges are closed here in Kent this morning The roads were actually not bad, despite the fact that it's still below zero temp and icy. Major routes are all clear and the usual bell-ends seem to have stayed home to look after little Jonny and Jenny. Result.
 
Down here drivers lose any common sense whenever it's a bit wet outside. Too much hesitation at junctions even when it's clear, lack of indication at junctions, slowing down and braking far too often when there's no need.

Glad I don't commute by car any more!
 
Schools are open here and the sun is trying to break out. Rush hour traffic starts alot earlier than 6:45 around here. Even before 6:00 am and you'd still get caught up in the rush hour traffic.
 
nilagin said:
Schools are open here and the sun is trying to break out. Rush hour traffic starts alot earlier than 6:45 around here. Even before 6:00 am and you'd still get caught up in the rush hour traffic.
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rush hour here is usually around 7.45am

You can get from leek to stoke in 20 mins at 7.30am even on a term time monday usually.
 
The journey to work that normally takes me 40 mins took me just over 30 mins this morning even though I drove a little slower than normal :lol:

The temparature reading in the car was 0c for the entire journey so I was more cautious when negotiating bends/roundabouts, especially on sections of road I know are more prone to ice.

Most people were taking a similar approach..... well with the exception of someone in a 4x4 who's vehicle obviously re-writes the laws of physics considering how close he was driving behind me....... tbh if the Police has seen it we'd have got done for public indecency :lol:
 
Most people have probably learned to drive on modern cars with ABS and ESP, and have never learned to cope with slippery conditions and can't 'feel' the road.

Possibly because of this, they either go into extra cautious mode or assume that their car can cope with anything they throw at it and go into wheelspin mode:)

My car has 4WD and low transfer box, but even though it doesn't have ESP or ABS it is perfectly OK in 2WD most of the time, simply because I learned to drive when we didn't have the gizmos.
 
Good point Garry, I cannot remember ever using 4 wheel drive on anything other than off road.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Most people have probably learned to drive on modern cars with ABS and ESP, and have never learned to cope with slippery conditions and can't 'feel' the road.

Possibly because of this, they either go into extra cautious mode or assume that their car can cope with anything they throw at it and go into wheelspin mode:)

My car has 4WD and low transfer box, but even though it doesn't have ESP or ABS it is perfectly OK in 2WD most of the time, simply because I learned to drive when we didn't have the gizmos.
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I agree Garry..... my first car was a J-reg Astra, no PAS, no ABS, no ESP/TC.

My last car had TC and ABS but in the snow/ice I actually found they were more of a hinerance than help.

If always amazes me the amount of people I see "stuck" in the snow/ice, the reason for the quote is that they consider themselves stuck because they just sit there, full lock steering lock on, spinning the wheels and revving the engine. If they just tried being a little more subtle with the controls they'd find things sooo much easier :lol:
 
Joe, I do not believe your journey took 2 hours instead on 15 mins JUST because of people driving cautiously. Even if they were all driving at half speed that still doesn't account for your delay. You just have to accept that in foul weather in the rush hour in a city centre you WILL get massive delays. UK roads are so congested at the best of times that the slightest upset causes big delay.
 
stupar said:
Because as usual some panic at the first sight of the white stuff!

406023_10151465488420934_1929810382_n.jpg
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Really not a valid comparison. In Canada there are 20 cars per kilometre of road. In the UK there are 77! In addition countries where heavy snow is frequent (more than once or twice a year) it is economic to spend the money to gear up for snow clearing etc.

Here's one of Vancouver:
gridlock.jpg


.
 
andy700 said:
On the way back from dropping my OH off at work, I saw an Audi just like that - the driver had cleaned part of the front screen only, and had not bothered at all with the lights or side windows:nono:
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Now that does drive me mental!
 
The really important thing about winter driving is to post on the Internet about how much better a driver you are than anyone else ;)
 
viv1969 said:
Now that does drive me mental!
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Why do folk get upset when someone is driving close behind....if you concentrate on what is in front you should not have to worry what is behind. By all means look behind but no need to panic.
 
PatrickO said:
Joe, I do not believe your journey took 2 hours instead on 15 mins JUST because of people driving cautiously. Even if they were all driving at half speed that still doesn't account for your delay. You just have to accept that in foul weather in the rush hour in a city centre you WILL get massive delays. UK roads are so congested at the best of times that the slightest upset causes big delay.
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half speed?

that would have been a dream. Think 15 mph on a 60mph road and you are more in the right region.

Then its a knock on effect, by the time i hit the busier areas its much later than it was planned and people leaving earlier and all driving like numptys equals gridlock.
 
tiler65 said:
Why do folk get upset when someone is driving close behind....if you concentrate on what is in front you should not have to worry what is behind. By all means look behind but no need to panic.
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of course you should pay attention to what is behind tom, have you passed your driving test?

If you have to do an emergency break and they are too close you can get rear ended and end up injured.

If anyone is too close to me i pull over and let them by.
 
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