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Here are a few examples of just what can happen if you don't take more care whilst driving in the snow. I always find it astonishing that some people still insist on traveling at high speed even on roads covered in snow and ice.
These video's may be intended to amuse,but please remember to.....
SLOW DOWN
LEAVE A LARGER GAP BETWEEN YOU AND THE CAR IN FRONT
ALLOW MORE TIME FOR BRAKING
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!
Just because your car may be fitted with ABS, EBD,Traction Control and other high tech gadgets, doesn't mean you can defy the laws of Physics!
Take care out there :-)
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Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
NEWSFLASH.Madman in 23 year old VW Scirocco drives 43 miles to Mansfield in snow!
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Durocco.Awesome 4x4 twin engined Scirocco.I want one!.
Yes, this morning, against my better judgement I decided to attempt the 43 mile drive from Sleaford to Mansfield...and ,amazingly!,I made it -).
To be fair it had not really snowed much during the evening in Sleaford, so the car only had a very light "icing sugar" coating this morning. Mansfield though,as I later found out, was a very different story!.
According to conversations that I had with several people at Kings Mill who have been on site overnight, the snow has been coming down in buckets, the result of course is that most area's of the hospital site have perhaps 8-12 inches of snow, and, where the plough has pushed aside material from the roads, it can be found in huge piles over 2 feet in height!
Of course I did not know this as I set of at 7am, and, after making a brief stop at Cranwell service station on the A17,where I ended up helping them to open the pumps, I made my way to work.
The A17 was pretty clearwith only a light "slush" on the road surface,but by the time I got to Newark the depth of extra snowfall since last night was obvious and more of it was now on the carriageway.
The A617 to Mansfield was not that much worse, that was until I got to Bilsthorpe when the road became a little to white for comfort, and the dual sections of the road at the Rainworth bypass and the Mansfield bypass had been reduced to one lane, only used by idiots and people in 4x4's!.This was pretty much the way it remained from that point until I arrived at Kings Mill, but just as I thought that I had cleared all of the obstacles I found a few more in the last few hundred yards.
The slip road from the main carriageway into the rear of the site was very slippery, and as I pulled into the site entrance the incline as I went through the gate appeared to have not been cleared causing the car to scramble for grip.I managed to crawl up the slope eventually, but then when I turned into the compound where my Dept is located I found that the entrance to the Dept car park had been blocked by a huge wall of snow made by the snow plough!. I managed to "abandon" the car in another area, and after wading knee deep up to the entrance to my Dept I finally arrived at 0940...ish!.
More snow is expected today....i think an overnight stop at my folks house in Mansfield Woodhouse could be on the cards !.
A request to (some) 4x4 drivers
Please,please could you stop driving right up against my rear bumper as I try to make my way along some pretty awful roads!. Ok, I know you have a 4x4 and that I may be holding YOU up, but sadly I don't have 4 wheel drive (unlike Anson Clements Durocco!) so I have to be a bit careful. Oh, and to the prat (pr@) in the "60" plate Range Rover who decided it would be fun to spray all of the pedestrians on Berry Hill Road in Mansfield the other day...you are quite simply a total Tw@!
Have a nice day !
.
Durocco.Awesome 4x4 twin engined Scirocco.I want one!.Yes, this morning, against my better judgement I decided to attempt the 43 mile drive from Sleaford to Mansfield...and ,amazingly!,I made it -).
To be fair it had not really snowed much during the evening in Sleaford, so the car only had a very light "icing sugar" coating this morning. Mansfield though,as I later found out, was a very different story!.
According to conversations that I had with several people at Kings Mill who have been on site overnight, the snow has been coming down in buckets, the result of course is that most area's of the hospital site have perhaps 8-12 inches of snow, and, where the plough has pushed aside material from the roads, it can be found in huge piles over 2 feet in height!
Of course I did not know this as I set of at 7am, and, after making a brief stop at Cranwell service station on the A17,where I ended up helping them to open the pumps, I made my way to work.
The A17 was pretty clearwith only a light "slush" on the road surface,but by the time I got to Newark the depth of extra snowfall since last night was obvious and more of it was now on the carriageway.
The A617 to Mansfield was not that much worse, that was until I got to Bilsthorpe when the road became a little to white for comfort, and the dual sections of the road at the Rainworth bypass and the Mansfield bypass had been reduced to one lane, only used by idiots and people in 4x4's!.This was pretty much the way it remained from that point until I arrived at Kings Mill, but just as I thought that I had cleared all of the obstacles I found a few more in the last few hundred yards.
The slip road from the main carriageway into the rear of the site was very slippery, and as I pulled into the site entrance the incline as I went through the gate appeared to have not been cleared causing the car to scramble for grip.I managed to crawl up the slope eventually, but then when I turned into the compound where my Dept is located I found that the entrance to the Dept car park had been blocked by a huge wall of snow made by the snow plough!. I managed to "abandon" the car in another area, and after wading knee deep up to the entrance to my Dept I finally arrived at 0940...ish!.
More snow is expected today....i think an overnight stop at my folks house in Mansfield Woodhouse could be on the cards !.
A request to (some) 4x4 drivers
Please,please could you stop driving right up against my rear bumper as I try to make my way along some pretty awful roads!. Ok, I know you have a 4x4 and that I may be holding YOU up, but sadly I don't have 4 wheel drive (unlike Anson Clements Durocco!) so I have to be a bit careful. Oh, and to the prat (pr@) in the "60" plate Range Rover who decided it would be fun to spray all of the pedestrians on Berry Hill Road in Mansfield the other day...you are quite simply a total Tw@!
Have a nice day !
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Saturday, 27 November 2010
Snow in Sleaford......COOL! :-) (Well it's freezing actually !)
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Yes, overnight snow has arrived in Sleaford (Lincolnshire,UK) and as I speak 2 of the 3 kids are busy getting freezing cold and wet in it....don't you just love snowballs?
Just in time for the towns Annual Christmas market then, assuming that the white stuff hangs around for at least another 24 hours or so. We will have to see...
Anyway, got to get out there now and dig out the sledge again!....seems like I only put it back in the shed a few weeks ago.
Time for a thick coat and a scarf I think...see you later :-)
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Friday, 26 November 2010
Heavy snow arrives in the UK.
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The only downside (except for the huge heating bill!) is the problems it causes when driving around. Last year I had a but of a bump with the Skoda when the ice on the road caught me out as I turned into a side street. The car decided it wasn't going to go the way I had asked it too, and had a slight "coming together" with the kerb!. Cost me over £200 for a new wishbone and track rod end plus a nasty dent in my alloy!.....Mmmmm, maybe snow is not all good news after all :-)
But it's great though isn't it?
:-)
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Monday, 28 December 2009
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Why does the world go mad when the snow falls ?
Having now had snow on the ground for 6 days i have witnessed quitea few examples of the Great British Publics crazy behaviour during such conditions.For Example:
Why do people insist on walking on slippery roads which are carrying numerous cars travelling sideways so that they don't fall over on the pavements? Is being run over by a car less painful than falling on your backside ?
Drivers who insist on driving in snow,fog and ice without any form of lighting on their vehicles.....are they wearing night goggles or something? Sadly I would guess that the other folk on the road are not, so they stand a good chance of causing or being involved in some sort of bump and will hear those immortal words "Sorry mate, i didn't see you"...which is of course highly likely !.
Shops in Sleaford appear to have not bothered salting thier car parks or paths this year.I overheard a lady telling another customer that it was "If we salt and someone falls over we are liable", "So health and safety suggest that we leave people to make thier own clearway and so avoid litigation if they slip"!.....I have not confirmed this fact, but having heard of other hairbrained rules and regulations over the last few years, i can't say that i would be surprised if it was true.
As my old Gran used to say "There's nowt as strange as folk" !
Why do people insist on walking on slippery roads which are carrying numerous cars travelling sideways so that they don't fall over on the pavements? Is being run over by a car less painful than falling on your backside ?
Drivers who insist on driving in snow,fog and ice without any form of lighting on their vehicles.....are they wearing night goggles or something? Sadly I would guess that the other folk on the road are not, so they stand a good chance of causing or being involved in some sort of bump and will hear those immortal words "Sorry mate, i didn't see you"...which is of course highly likely !.
Shops in Sleaford appear to have not bothered salting thier car parks or paths this year.I overheard a lady telling another customer that it was "If we salt and someone falls over we are liable", "So health and safety suggest that we leave people to make thier own clearway and so avoid litigation if they slip"!.....I have not confirmed this fact, but having heard of other hairbrained rules and regulations over the last few years, i can't say that i would be surprised if it was true.
As my old Gran used to say "There's nowt as strange as folk" !
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Not posted for a few days. Time for an update then !
Lets start on Thursday night when,after a quick trip to Newark hospital,I was stopped at a junction on the way home by traffic lights.I was just pulling away from them when...BUMP! I was rear ended by a Nissan Micra !.
I remember thinking that this was just so bl++dy typical...last day at work,last drive home and this happens.I put on the hazzard lights,jumped out and took a quick look to see what the damage was.
Aren't towbars wonderful things ? Mine took the full impact of the collision and saved my arse..well the cars arse anyway!.Sadly the lady who hit me (and who was very apologetic) was not quite so fortunate and lost her front reg plate.I took her details and then told her that i would call if we needed to go further pending a more thorough examination the next day.After doing this, it was clear that the damage was zero,so i will not be calling the lady and hope that the worry of an insurance claim can now be deleted from her "to do" list this Christmas :-)
Sadly, the following day, after dropping off the kids at thier respective schools, i had another bump,this time due to the recent heavy snowfall and bad luck.
After dropping off number 3 sprogg, i was making my way home along a very wet and slushy Grantham Road when,attempting to turn into Ancaster Drive, i hit an area of very slippy and compacted snow.The result? The car decided it did not want to go around the corner, and instead it slammed into the kerb...only at about 6-7mph, but OUCH did it go with a hell of a bang!.Upon first examination it appeared that I had only dented the alloy wheel on the passenger side, but after getting back in the car and driving the remaining 3-400 yards to our home, i knew it was a lot worse than just that.
When your front wheel is rubbing against the rear of your front arch, you know somethings wrong, and in this case it was due to the front wheel having been pushed back by some 2-3 inches...not good!.
To cut a long story short, i called the folks at PitStop Garage in Sleaford who managed to not only repair the car in 5 hours, but presented me with a bill for a lot less than i had imagined it would have been :-) (About the same as our insurance excess!).So thanks once again to John,Chris and the crew for saving my bacon once more!(Hope you enjoy the Stella Artois fella's!)
The snow is still with us today (Sunday) and there was a very lighht sprinkle of it again last night, but not much (thank goodness!). Yesterday I took 2 of the kids sledging and we had a great time...i had forgotten what it was like to have fun like that.....you do as you get older sadly.
I remember thinking that this was just so bl++dy typical...last day at work,last drive home and this happens.I put on the hazzard lights,jumped out and took a quick look to see what the damage was.
Aren't towbars wonderful things ? Mine took the full impact of the collision and saved my arse..well the cars arse anyway!.Sadly the lady who hit me (and who was very apologetic) was not quite so fortunate and lost her front reg plate.I took her details and then told her that i would call if we needed to go further pending a more thorough examination the next day.After doing this, it was clear that the damage was zero,so i will not be calling the lady and hope that the worry of an insurance claim can now be deleted from her "to do" list this Christmas :-)
Sadly, the following day, after dropping off the kids at thier respective schools, i had another bump,this time due to the recent heavy snowfall and bad luck.
After dropping off number 3 sprogg, i was making my way home along a very wet and slushy Grantham Road when,attempting to turn into Ancaster Drive, i hit an area of very slippy and compacted snow.The result? The car decided it did not want to go around the corner, and instead it slammed into the kerb...only at about 6-7mph, but OUCH did it go with a hell of a bang!.Upon first examination it appeared that I had only dented the alloy wheel on the passenger side, but after getting back in the car and driving the remaining 3-400 yards to our home, i knew it was a lot worse than just that.
When your front wheel is rubbing against the rear of your front arch, you know somethings wrong, and in this case it was due to the front wheel having been pushed back by some 2-3 inches...not good!.
To cut a long story short, i called the folks at PitStop Garage in Sleaford who managed to not only repair the car in 5 hours, but presented me with a bill for a lot less than i had imagined it would have been :-) (About the same as our insurance excess!).So thanks once again to John,Chris and the crew for saving my bacon once more!(Hope you enjoy the Stella Artois fella's!)
The snow is still with us today (Sunday) and there was a very lighht sprinkle of it again last night, but not much (thank goodness!). Yesterday I took 2 of the kids sledging and we had a great time...i had forgotten what it was like to have fun like that.....you do as you get older sadly.
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