British drivers "dangerously complacent" in winter conditions, survey finds

Even without snow and ice, the two weeks running up to Christmas are horrendous for driving in. Too many Christmas shopping zombies who are too worried about their to-do list than actually concentrate on driving- on average my 26 mile each way journey to work has saw me avoiding about three incidents each day. I was hoping to catch up on some miles on my bike tomorrow, the first day of my Christmas holidays but I live behind a big shopping centre so am having second thoughts because the bloody robots behind the steering wheels have had trouble enough with other cars. At least snow and ice mean people have to concentrate harder and forget about their shopping while they are driving.

I think it was the winter before last - and the one before that as well - that we had a real cold snap and loads of snow. A steep lane near us became an impromptu toboggan slope, and it even attracted out adults with skis, who said it was great to have a piste near home, even if there was no ski lift to get back up.

Yes, the conditions were that "bad" (from a motoring perspective), all the local kids were out there.

This particular lane had Police Stop signs posted at top and bottom.

And you know what, we still had fuckwits in their 4x4s trying to negotiate it - for the kicks as far as I can tell as there are alternative routes. One guy tried to get up in a BMW X5, and it just wouldn't do it. Another, also a X5 as I recall, went down - and lost control, slithering down the slope and crashing into a postbox on the opposite side of the road at the bottom. Luckily, a parent at the top shouted down and we got the kids to safety.

I bought a 4x4 just before the first of the hard winters we have had lately - 2009? It was a Landrover which can at least handle the conditions better than the Chelsea tractors like X5s. Even so, we left the car parked in the drive almost throughout the cold snap, not only because we weren't convinced that even a LR would get us out of a mess, but because the niftiest 4x4 in the world won't protect you from all the fuckwits who drive recklessly in snow in non4x4s with insufficient tread on their tyres.

Fortunately there were relatively few of them. I have never seen so many people in the supermarket with just baskets - but when you have to walk home with your shopping, you have to take not to buy more than you can carry!

i do wonder about the non essential journey bit, is driving to work essential or not?

'Never set off when it’s snowing or forecast to'

Don't think I or anyone else round here would have a job for very long if we stuck to that!

Quote Almost all respondents, 95 per cent, believe many or most drivers travel too close to the vehicle in front in snow and ice, and 92% agree that many or most go too fast in snow and ice. That just about sums up driver mentality in this country "it's not me it's all the other idiots" I have yet to meet a driver who is honest enough/prepared to say well I do make mistakes/misjudge situations occassionally

Yeah, grim isn't it.

These figures are being used to make it looks like drivers are dangerous and don't care about weather conditions, but actually I think those first two stats show quite effectively that people do modify their behaviour when it is snowing.

Only one in six drivers (16 per cent) follow safety advice and avoid driving in snow

Nearly one in three (31 per cent) will drive in snow even if it’s heavy and a non-essential journey

Some drivers (16%) will not drive at all when there is a bit of snow on the roads. Fair enough.

The majority of drivers will not drive when the snow is heavy, but some will. Their journeys might not be absolutely essential, but if they have winter tyres or snow chains fitted to a suitable vehicle and drive sensibly then what's the problem?

Blimey, people modifying their behavior because of the weather? Whatever next?

There's always the odd idiot who thinks they're an invincible rally driver, but then they're the same 'menace' that tear past us at 70mph down dry country lanes in summer.

Same issue, different weather. Not news.

Years ago I remember it snowed heavily for the first time in my memory and I was driving a Renault Clio with Michelin tyres. It had no problem going up or down any of the big hills around here and the brakes and steering worked just fine.

One year later we had the same amount of snow and I tried driving the same road but on Continental tyres.

The thing that worries me is that the Michelin tyres were £120 each and the rubbish Continentals were £90 each, but still you get people complaining on cycling forums that a £40 mountain bike tyre is more expensive than what came on their car

Headline revision,
British drivers "dangerously complacent".

"Brake and Churchill ... have been joined in their appeal by Sheila Quinn, whose 24-year-old son Paul Dobson died of head injuries on Boxing Day 2007, four days after the car in which he was travelling skidded on ice. "

This is incorrectly reported.

The correct way of reporting this is "...Paul Dobson, who was not wearing a helmet...".

It always astounds me that so many drivers have no idea that when driving on snow they should slow down and leave a bigger gap between themselves and the vehicle in front. There is a road junction opposite my house and the surface is rather poor and potholed. I frequently see vehicles getting stuck or losing control when the weather conditions are poor. Too many people seem to assume that by booting the accelerator they'll somehow move once they lose traction in one wheel and it spins out.

I leave the car parked as much as possible when it's snowing. I don't see why people wouldn't consider leaving the car at home unless absolutely necessary. But there are some lazy people around.

one day last week I saw 5 cars in various states of distress on the same stretch of road near our house - including a Lexus that had spun and gone into a ditch backwards and a van smashed into a road sign sideways with 2 other cars nose to tail behind it.

The road is a wide, well surfaced urban dual with a 40mph limit but it was clearly iced over and everyone would have had to scrape the windscreen off that morning. Despite this there was clearly a big enough pool of idiots with with delusions of invincibility. Everyone else was doing 20 or under and getting along the road just fine.

Made me think that perhaps crashed and burned out cars should be left periodically the roadside - like a corpse in a gibbet - to remind the idiots of their mortality.

'Never set off when it’s snowing or forecast to'

This must be some sort of joke, presumably written by someone who lives where it rarely snows?

Three winters ago I wouldn't have left the house for 10 weeks.

love the "4 second gap" bit .... try that and you'll get
every other driver in christendom diving into the gap

Trying to achieve targets, I went out too early on a frosty morning recently and got onto sheet ice going up a tree-lined hill. Amazingly I got wheelspin from the back wheel but managed to clip out and stop without falling off. I should know better as I came off on ice one New Years Eve a few years ago. With all the standing water about on the roads, hope others keep vigilant.

I am curious; recently Road CC reported a story where a motorist hit and killed a cyclist whilst driving a defective car with bald tyres; and he ran off. But was eventually sentanced to 8 months? This chap loses control on ice and gets 4 and a half years? Surely there must have been some unreported aggravating features; I have tried Google'ing his name?