Poor guys. Next car, 4x4 only and winter tyres. 

I got a little giggle out of the PC's stretching the thin Police Line tape, as if that tape will prevent any further vehicles sliding through! 😏

It's part of the human condition, I think.  Here's a similar local event, with some appropriate sound editing added to give it some some uniquely British flavor.  You might wanna turn the audio down if there's wimmins and kids nearby...

 

 

4 hours ago, hjsmuc said:

Poor guys. Next car, 4x4 only and winter tyres. 

When it's as slippery as it is in the videos posted here, 4WD/AWD and winter tires aren't going to help much. You would need studded tires to really make a difference when it's that bad on the roads. The real winning strategy in these cases is to simply not play, and stay home.

Here's another video from Montreal.

https://youtu.be/L4BuFrruLRs

 

Edited December 15, 20223 yr by charliearon
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28 minutes ago, goates said:

4WD/AWD and winter tires aren't going to help much

You are right when it's ice rain or a frozen snow surface. But on that video from the UK it looked like pretty fresh snow. For that, 4X4 and tires make a big difference. Just speaking from the experience of 35 years driving in the mountains, the last 20 years with 4x4, before without. Never going to buy another 2 wheeler. Staying at home is oviously the safest option. 

32 minutes ago, goates said:

https://youtu.be/L4BuFrruLRs

Not sure what's going on there in Montreal. Roads looked exactly like this in my neighorhood this morning. Driving was completely normal. But of course, you never know the exact conditions on a given date and location of such a video. 

4 minutes ago, hjsmuc said:

You are right when it's ice rain or a frozen snow surface. But on that video from the UK it looked like pretty fresh snow. For that, 4X4 and tires make a big difference. Just speaking from the experience of 35 years driving in the mountains, the last 20 years with 4x4, before without. Never going to buy another 2 wheeler. Staying at home is oviously the safest option. 

If you watch the first video, you can see a couple of the vehicles sliding have all four wheels turning while still going sideways. Winter tires would help, but it looks like it could be fresh snow on top of ice.

With years of driving in the winter, I agree, 4WD or AWD along with winter tires is the best way to go, but there are still limits. All four wheels on black ice aren't going to be any better than a 2WD car. Had this happen to me a week ago, actually. Road looked clear, but pushing the brake pedal didn't do anything until I slid off the black ice I was on. Thankfully I had left plenty of space between myself and the car ahead of me.

Regarding the Montreal video, they get heavy wet snow and nasty ice storms which leads to layers of ice covered with snow that no amount of 4WD and winter tires are really going to help with. As I mentioned before, studded tires would a difference, but few people get them.

I remember the studded tires, my parents used to drive them every winter. Ufortunately, forbidden here for decades now. Speaking about ice, predicted for the next three hours where I live, and I need to pick up a family member at the airport. I guess I'd rather pay for a taxi. 

Been there...done that when I lived in Colorado.

The best car I ever owned for driving in the snow was a 4WD Suzuki Samurai.  That little car would go anywhere.  But I don't think they make them anymore.

Noel  

These people in the videos are probably the same ones that say "we know how to drive in this stuff up north"

 

Bill W

 

3 hours ago, hjsmuc said:

You are right when it's ice rain or a frozen snow surface. But on that video from the UK it looked like pretty fresh snow

 

The roads were really icy. Then there was a sudden snow fall. So underneath that snow cover it was like glass. I gather they were dealing with an infamous hill too, that always causes issues when it snows.

My daughter flew in to Heathrow on business today, and the photo she sent me out of the aircrafts window was quite something. Ground all iced over and a nice sunrise.

Making things worse, is that winter tyres aren't a thing in the UK. Most people run on summer tyres. Snow like this doesn't happen that often so people aren't prepared to spend money on two sets of tyres. Cars are delivered in the UK with summer tyres so people just replace them with the same tyres.

I had a Mazda CX5 when I was in the UK, and did fit Michelin cross climate tyres. Didn't get much snow while I was there so didn't get a chance to test them.

As deep snow isn't that common, most people don't have the required skill to handle the conditions. But yes, I agree that the conditions in Gloucetershire with icy roads and snow on top, is always going to be a problem. If you have no grip and gravity says come this way, that's where you go.

Rarely get snow in Guernsey. 6 degrees here today just a bit chilly. For my son in Birmingham it was minus 6 centigrade. France icy, UK icy and we in the middle just cold.

56 minutes ago, BillW said:

These people in the videos are probably the same ones that say "we know how to drive in this stuff up north"

 

Bill W

 

 

😆 You bet they do. Then they floor the accelerator in first gear, instead of gentle acceleration in a higher gear. And most definatly brake nice and firmly when it's time to stop.

1 hour ago, BillW said:

These people in the videos are probably the same ones that say "we know how to drive in this stuff up north"

 

Bill W

I used to think that, but years ago it became obvious, at least around here, that many of the people that would be in videos like this have lived here for years. For some reason far too many people completely forget over summer how to drive in the winter. Then the first snowfall hits and there's cars in the ditches and accidents all over.

35 minutes ago, martin-w said:

Making things worse, is that winter tyres aren't a thing in the UK. Most people run on summer tyres. Snow like this doesn't happen that often so people aren't prepared to spend money on two sets of tyres. Cars are delivered in the UK with summer tyres so people just replace them with the same tyres.

I had a Mazda CX5 when I was in the UK, and did fit Michelin cross climate tyres. Didn't get much snow while I was there so didn't get a chance to test them.

A major factor with winter tires are that the compounds they are made from are better suited to cold weather. This means they perform better in temps below ~7C, especially when stopping, than summer or all season tires, so you don't need snow to benefit from them. We often have (relative) warm spells in the middle of the winter where all of the snow melts, leaving the roads bare and dry, but winter tires are still preferable due to the temperature alone.