KeithC Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Well, after a few more inches of snow last night, a ten minute walk took me over an hour after helping to dig out an ambulance and a Jaguar.However, every cloud does indeed have a silver lining. I have inherited a rather decent shovel. Go me! Thought you was gonna say you slipped and broke your leg but at least the ambulance was empty. Anyway, can't have too many shovels, as my gran used to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesilverfox Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Except my colleagues (who made it in) think I'm weird for arriving in wellies ... with a shovel ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny87 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Lost a bit of snow today, but there might be a chance of an extra dusting on wednesday/thursday. Temperature is really going to plum tonight though so there will be lots of ice about tomoz. They say it could plum to -7 :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMC Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share Posted December 22, 2009 :o -7°C is seriously cold! Last Christmas the main pipe supplying water from the local reservoir to our water treatment works burst in the freezing cold - half the valley was without any water for nearly 3 days until they repaired it. Expert reckoned that temps were as low as -18°C for the water in the pipe to freeze to crack the solid iron pipe!! I'm hoping we don't see a repeat of that kind of cold this Christmas!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amarokuk Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 He sounds like a prune...but it will need to go this way...He needs to claim off her insurance, her loss of control caused him to lose control/swerve. They look at all factors, like his speed, BUT, if she had NOT lost control, there would have been no action needed from him. And if you wanted to claim, you may go through his insurance, but its likely they would then claim off her insurance for the above reason. You could argue about stopping distances and speeds all night...but all insurance look at is who CAUSED the collision...technically it was your neighbour...as much as I want it to be the berk!! my estate the same...I actually NEEDED to use handbrake to turn into my drive, 2mph, literaly, no steering, handbrake flick, turn in, perfectly parked! only did it coz at end of row in corner of lil culdesak, so nout to go wrong! was fun though and hope it looked cool! He could try her insurance but as no contact was made with her vehicle her insurance will wash their hands of it and say he was at fault for not considering all conditions and posibilities. The OP could claim against the driver that hit his car no problem but the guy has a major fight before he will get anything from the first cars insurance and then knock for knock is the best he could do as he will probably be accused of driving too quickly for the conditions, which is a nice get out in adverse weather for any self respecting insurer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMcBee Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 He sounds like a prune...but it will need to go this way...He needs to claim off her insurance, her loss of control caused him to lose control/swerve. They look at all factors, like his speed, BUT, if she had NOT lost control, there would have been no action needed from him. And if you wanted to claim, you may go through his insurance, but its likely they would then claim off her insurance for the above reason. You could argue about stopping distances and speeds all night...but all insurance look at is who CAUSED the collision...technically it was your neighbour...as much as I want it to be the berk!! my estate the same...I actually NEEDED to use handbrake to turn into my drive, 2mph, literaly, no steering, handbrake flick, turn in, perfectly parked! only did it coz at end of row in corner of lil culdesak, so nout to go wrong! was fun though and hope it looked cool! Absolutely correct. It's causation and negligence. However, there could be an argument over contributory negligence on the other driver if witnesses say he was driving too fast for the conditions but in this case, it's not likely as she rolled back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny87 Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 :o -7°C is seriously cold!Last Christmas the main pipe supplying water from the local reservoir to our water treatment works burst in the freezing cold - half the valley was without any water for nearly 3 days until they repaired it. Expert reckoned that temps were as low as -18°C for the water in the pipe to freeze to crack the solid iron pipe!! I'm hoping we don't see a repeat of that kind of cold this Christmas!! Yeah it would have to be !Removed! cold for fast-moving water to freeze! From what I can gather, after the temperature plums tonight it will slowly get warmer towards boxing day, still only about 5 degrees though. But also heard that in January the temperature is likely to plum again, and maybe more snow at some point... Then again it is winter, so i spose we should expect the temperature to plum :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InstructorPiggy Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 What makes me seriously scratch my head when i read threads like this and hear stories from friends, relatives and on the news, is why the hell don't people keep a supply of rock salt in their garage or in a communal box in the street? My parents' estate is on a hillside so it's up and down all around it, but with strategically positioned council salt bins which the residents can help themselves to. its all down to local parishes now, and what they spend cash on.... I do keep some salt in a box in me garage tho...ran out already tho :( -6 most of day here...very slippy, lots of black ice as it made it to 2+ at lunchtime, then froze again! doh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marky-marque Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 what i do when driving on ice/snow is get going off in 2nd gear and take the corners very slowly, i have two very short bypasses which i go on and are only about half a mile long and you always get people comming right up behind me especially vans going far too fast and too close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraGeeGee Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 Piggy's absolutely right about the fault and liability on claims - it seems straightforward to me too!What makes me seriously scratch my head when i read threads like this and hear stories from friends, relatives and on the news, is why the hell don't people keep a supply of rock salt in their garage or in a communal box in the street? My parents' estate is on a hillside so it's up and down all around it, but with strategically positioned council salt bins which the residents can help themselves to. Ok so there's never going to be an easy or instant fix in severe weather and freezing temps, but when neighbours pull together and all chip in to clear the drives and roadway, things can be quite easy going! Out on the open road we;re all at the mercy of the conditions, the local council gritters and bad drivers who frankly haven't a clue how to control a car and always drive too fast But on your own street, in my opinion, you need to help each other and help yourselves! My garden path was cleared in 15 minutes and i had the car out of the garage with the runway into the lane cleared and salted (with calcium chloride pathway deicer i bought a couple of years ago!) in another 10mins - no problemo! Got the car out and back in piece of !Removed!! :) The salt bins were empty after the previous few days of snow and ice. I think some people had helped themselves to a bit too much! We had salt too but ran out! Same with my neighbours. We did all club together. Hubby helped my neighbour get her car off her drive and we also helped another neighbour with his transit van. The conditions around our way have been so bad lately and much more extreme than normal! We've never seen it this bad and my neighbour has lived in the street for 30 years. I think it's a bit unfair to assume that we did nothing to help oursleves or each other in this situation and that that was the cause of someone sliding into my car! You only have to look to the news to see how bad it's been everywhere. No amount of salt and shovelling could have beaten the current conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraGeeGee Posted December 22, 2009 Share Posted December 22, 2009 He could try her insurance but as no contact was made with her vehicle her insurance will wash their hands of it and say he was at fault for not considering all conditions and posibilities. The OP could claim against the driver that hit his car no problem but the guy has a major fight before he will get anything from the first cars insurance and then knock for knock is the best he could do as he will probably be accused of driving too quickly for the conditions, which is a nice get out in adverse weather for any self respecting insurer. This was my feeling. He made no contact with her car only mine! I think it'll be an ideal get out for insurers regarding the weather. As I said previously, I'm not fussed about claiming myself as mine is going for scrappage. Just glad it's not the new one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMC Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 @'lauraGeeGee' Good work on your efforts - shame your council didn't see fit to fully stock and replenish your salt bins But far too many people take it for granted that "someone" will come to their aid, whether that someone be a neighbour, friend, member of the AA/RAC or the emergency services However, with all that said i think it's shocking that yet again this once great nation's public services have failed - i refer of course to the inaction of several councils and public authorities in getting their fingers out of their fat, publicly-paid-for arses and deployed the sodding gritters in good time to prevent the traffic chaos that we've witnessed through the past few days after a relatively small amount of snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjock Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 just woke up to a foot of fresh snow. managed to dig the fiesta out for the wife. have lived here for 4years but the council still haven't adopted this street for winter maintenance therefore the road is ungritted and we have no git bins. !Removed! ridiculous the gritter lorry was sat at the bottom of the street watching us struggle along!! Angus council SHAME ON YOU!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazjs Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 A good 6/7 inch of snow was awaiting me this morning Safe to say the Fez sits outside shivering unmoved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titanium_s_spec Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 down or way it is not the council to blame.because it is down to the highways department and nothing to do with local councils to grit the road. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bashful Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Had to go out in the car today to get the shopping! Main roads were fine but the housing estate was horrendous. Little Fez didn't like trying to reverse over snow to get into my parking space and little me couldn't find the shovel in the shed. All I could see was the snow flying everywhere as I went nowhere! Luckily my neighbour came home and dug a couple of tracks in the snow to allow me to get into the space. I went via Homebase when I was out, big sign outside No Snow Shovels No Rock Salt No Sledges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny87 Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Had to go out in the car today to get the shopping! Main roads were fine but the housing estate was horrendous. Little Fez didn't like trying to reverse over snow to get into my parking space and little me couldn't find the shovel in the shed. All I could see was the snow flying everywhere as I went nowhere! Luckily my neighbour came home and dug a couple of tracks in the snow to allow me to get into the space.I went via Homebase when I was out, big sign outside No Snow Shovels No Rock Salt No Sledges lol!! Customer service manager probably cracked after they were asked that question for the 1000th time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick09 Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 I got snowed in up in Lincoln last week down a country lane, was just getting wheel spin in first, so pulled away in third. Had no problems after that, have been using this technique a lot where I live as most of the roads are just iced over, not snowed over, so first is pretty useless at the moment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bashful Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 I got snowed in up in Lincoln last week down a country lane, was just getting wheel spin in first, so pulled away in third. Had no problems after that, have been using this technique a lot where I live as most of the roads are just iced over, not snowed over, so first is pretty useless at the moment! I tried third but the car stalled :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick09 Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 I tried third but the car stalled :( Gotta give it some welly, and go easy on the clutch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InstructorPiggy Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 I was out in countryside of Herefordshire yesterday at 4pm dropping off a pupil...she was driving...lil bit of snow as we climbed up a hill...then suddenly the snow began to fall...30minutes later, no doing 5mph we arrived at her home and 4inches had dropped.... 5miles back to a main road...took me 2hours...lots of climbs and descents....never had that much time on ice/snow (as it had frozen over last few nights...so it was snow on ice)...I learnt a hell of a lot... heres some pics... the fiesta did amazingly well...no ESP...just got the old ABS and a diesel zetec S... lots of spinning yes...but learnt fast where she gripped and didnt on the revs...found 3rd gear to be best as mentioned, but although moving a 1/2mph most of time, often the speedo read 20-30mph as the one wheel would spin and other grip!!! I found that to begin with, on flats, yes, no idle and 3rd gear meant no spinning, but this was not an option on the hills...had to spin wheels just right to grip and pull, aiming for snow that had yet to be driven on (compacted snow is more slippy than uncompacted) and aslo driving in a zig zag, going full lock to full lock at times to get grip... downhill the brakes were a joke, ABS did NOTHING...just made a horrendous noise, I nearly unplugged it...but I found that gentle pumping of the brake and gear changes along with handbrake did the job! oh and braking SO early! If i was close to home, i would have left car and walked, but I was 10miles from home in middle of no where! gota say, I passed a couple of little 4x4s thar had clearly been abandoned in ditches!!! took 2hours altogetheir to get home, normally take 10-15minutes!!! Piggy :) take care all :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesilverfox Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 What's the 1.6 diesel like in first gear with no acceleration with engine braking? It's been great in mine (esp downhill!), but it's got bags of torque and left in first, it can drive itself along quite a few icy roads by me with no problem. Good job, as no traction control/ESP to assist. Just ABS, which is useless at low speeds and simply doesn't work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 did you take the pics piggy? i wouldn't fancy doing that whilst driving!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InstructorPiggy Posted December 25, 2009 Share Posted December 25, 2009 did you take the pics piggy? i wouldn't fancy doing that whilst driving!!!! yea, I was waiting for people to bite me head over this...but you don't wana lose momentum when on snow/ice! look cool though eh? was only person within 5miles...so no risks...and only doing 15mph.... PLus by that time I was having fun! Diesel was good in first...but eventually there is so little grip available, esp up hills that you have to resort to other tactics. Going downhill down changing worked most of the time too...again though...sometimes needing to resort to other tactics... I am VERY happy not to have chosen ESP when I ordered!! If this gets bad again around new year I will be going out and removing ABS and seeing what difference it makes! :) Piggy :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewL Posted December 25, 2009 Share Posted December 25, 2009 Cool pics, but I can't believe that we had that debate about the lack of driver focus caused by 'auto' lights and wipers and then you took those whilst driving! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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