Grrrr! Muppet drivers in snow!

[martint235]

I've never really accepted the idea of dangerous driving conditions. You're either driving when you shouldn't be or you're not driving in the correct manner for the conditions you find yourself in. Simples?

 

[cheadle hulme]

17-year-old chavs driving clapped out 1 litre Vauxhall Novas

Where do you live? 1986?

 

[XmisterIS]

Where do you live? 1986?

Lol! Ok then, 1 litre Saxos ...

 

[Paulus]

Personally, I find most people drive like muppets no matter what the weather.

Seconded. There are a lot of 'drivers' who cannot drive in good weather. The bad weather only accentuates their lack of skill that they have behind the wheel. This goes for van and HGV drivers as well.

 

[jonesy]

On the other hand, why would you expect people to be skilled at driving in snow when they hardly ever experience it? I'd much rather people erred on the side of being over cautious.

 

[Bird Brain]

Lots of awful driving today.

 

[Night Train]

On the other hand, why would you expect people to be skilled at driving in snow when they hardly ever experience it? I'd much rather people erred on the side of being over cautious.

I can certainly appreciate that view but can't understand it of drivers.

I treat driving very seriously, I do a lot of miles, often at speed and so I made it my business to improve my skills, abilities and knowledge as I progressed. I made the effort to learn to handle a car in difficult conditions, at speed and in tight, busy areas where there are a lot of other road users. I even buy and read the Highway Code when it is updated to make sure I am aware, as much as possible, of any changes that my affect me or other road users around me.

I find many drivers in snowy conditions drive in the same way they normally drive, hard on the throttle and hard on the brakes, but they do it with reduced visibility and at inappropriate speeds.

Today I watched a car approach a give way on a side road ahead of me to the left. As the car braked to a stop 4" of snow slid off the roof onto the wind screen. Did the driver stop quickly and then clear the screen? No, the driver flicked the wiper and carried on driving, blind, into the major road!

 

[e-rider]

People drive like dickheads all over the world - however, British drivers in the snow must reach the top ten easily! Incompetent tosspots!

 

[Bird Brain]

I have a van driver @ Aldgate (on film) and he just pulled left suddenly (he was in centre lane) looks like if I had been gutter hugging I would have been safer although I coped ok.

 

[Globalti]

It's not bad driving I find annoying, it's drivers who don't make reasonable progress even when the road is only wet with melted snow. They are the drivers who block traffic on well gritted urban roads making life even more of a misery for the rest of us.

 

[PBancroft]

The problem, I reckon, is that a lot of folk think they are excellent drivers, and nothing will convince them that we are all fallible. How many times have you heard someone say how many miles they do each year, or what speed they can drive at - this is somehow proof that they can drive well?

Ballcocks.

Certainly some of these people can drive better than others, if not most. But then there are those who think just the same but don't have the technique to get out of tricky situations, and because of their belief in themselves they don't have the inclination to learn. I do think that the assumption of I am great causes a lot of the anger on the road, and probably a lot of the accidents too.

 

[Globalti]

True but you have to agree that there are some drivers who are more aware of the conditions than most. I rode motorbikes for 12 years doing up to 12,000 miles a year, winter and summer, including a few epic motorbike journeys on snow. I have also lived and worked a full season in an Alpine ski resort driving every day and had numerous ski holidays driving on snow in the Alps and Scotland. I also used to own a Land Rover 90, which I used to drive offroad in all weathers including snow. Driving 3 ton lorries with airbrakes also taught me the value of reading the road a lot further ahead than just the vehicle in front of me. So I think I have the right to claim a better understanding than average of grip under different road conditions and how to make reasonable progress on ice and snow by driving smoothly and progressively with good momentum and very good anticipation.

On the other hand there are people who haven't a clue how to drive in winter and who hinder the rest of use by tootling along a perfectly clear dry road at 20 mph. Grrrrr!

 

[tyred]

On the other hand, why would you expect people to be skilled at driving in snow when they hardly ever experience it?  I'd much rather people erred on the side of being over cautious.

Over cautious is one thing but a large percentage show absolutely no understanding of how to drive in slippery conditions. They then proceed to hold up everybody else while they attempt to drive badly, doing things like getting stuck halfway up hills while trying to climb them foot to the board in first gear.

 

[Dan B]

Certainly some of these people can drive better than others, if not most. But then there are those who think just the same but don't have the technique to get out of tricky situations

I am reminded of the old saw that "a superior pilot uses his superior foresight to avoid situations that would require his superior skill to get out of"

If you spend two minutes behind someone driving at 20 when they could be driving at 30, it will add 40 seconds to your journey time. I'd much rather see the inexperienced err in that direction than the other

 

[Rykard]

One person here, no deicer, no scraper having to borrow from others in the car park