Wednesday 7 January 2009

Icy Roads


Once again, today local radio was wittering on about why we have so many accidents when there is a cm or two of snow or a spot of ice.

a common theme was 'Why don't they have these problems in Scandinavia?'


I would speculate there are at least three reaons for this.

1. Scandinavia is more geared up for dealing with Ice and Snow (they have more of it)

2. Drivers there are more skilled at dealing with this hazard.

3. To have the Scandinavian infra-structure to deal with these hazards would not be cost effective in view that it would only be in use for a couple of weeks a year, maybe?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

There would be much less Ice under the Liberal Democrats - due to the fact that it would be all wishy-washy

chris wells said...

Having driven (at walking pace) through the chaos this morning, it was like travelling through a battle zone. I have never seen so many blue lights in such a short space, wrecked cars, two on their roofs in impossible positions. There were at least 8 accidents involving around 30 vehicles. And guess what? When we reached the M" and it cleared around me the world put its foot down and roared away. Did they learn nothing from what they had just seen? One wonders...

Anonymous said...

Well as the Highways Agency is responsible for the M2 (where you say it was all clear), and KCC is responsible for the Thanet Way (where all the pile-ups happened), does that not tell you something? Or are you too Tory to admit that KCC might just have cocked up on the gritting front?

chris wells said...

No I believe it has been made clear that there was no gritting was done on the evenin before. I am not too anything to admit the truth!

Anonymous said...

There seem to be conflicting reports about the gritting. The BBC News page quotes a KCC spokesman as "believing" gritting was undertaken night and morning. An unfortunate error on KCC's part if you are right, Chris, but still doesn't change the fact that too many drivers tend to drive badly and with little regard for safety.

Ken Gregory said...

Gritting was not the issue, It is worthless if temps are below -3, by the time temps rise, traffic has moved it off the road.

Interesting new series of 'Ice Road Truckers' no gritting there.,just good driving and bad driving punished by banning.

Anonymous said...

I think gritting has become an issue, Councillor, because of the County Council's apparent inability to get its story straight. Even if they have behaved correctly, and done all they should have done, the "confusion" appears to be drawing attention away from that.

So if temperatures are forecast to be very low, presumably the Council does not waste public money on a "worthless" task, Councillor?

Anonymous said...

Also seems, from ECR's blog, that gritting is becoming an issue - for the media at least. Perhaps between you and Chris Wells, Councillor, you could confirm whether the road was gritted, and if not whether it should have been. By normal standards - not your view about worthlessness - that is. Few questions here for someone to answer.

chris wells said...

As I understand it, the road was not gritted in the evening, the second gritting of the day. I have as yet no explanation as to why.

Anonymous said...

I think that it would be good, Chris, to move beyond what anyone "understands" and get a clear statement of the facts from KCC. This should extend to an explanation and, if appropriate, an apology. That isn't suggesting that the lack of gritting caused any of the accidents, but clearly a service that should have been provided appears not to have been. And it may well have been a contributory factor.

Anonymous said...

The north wind doth blow
And we shall have snow
And what will the County do then, you ask
They'll sit on their grit
Not giving a sh*t
And watch drivers plunge to their death.