The General Chat Thread (2026)

I remember my days of driving in the snow, back in New England days and maybe 10-12 years ago, both in Pennsylvania and Denver. Not something I want to do again. It’s bad enough here when it rains.
 
Last edited:
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
It's too dangerous because most drivers think they actually can drive in snow when the reality is that they simply survive the snowy period without hitting anything. Sleet and ice is even worse. I used to teach advanced level driving (UK police class 1) and even that could be interesting at times in 'bad' weather. Teaching someone whilst they after actually driving requires much more concentration and effort from both parties.

Plus driving the learner to somewhere safe where they can try to drive in it, takes up too much of the lesson and they don't feel like they've learnt enough for the cost etc. So sadly, no. It's better they don't on the whole.
Click to expand...
I take it snow tires are not common there? That amount of snow on the ground wouldn’t faze most drivers here one bit.
 
Thing is no-one here is taught how to drive in the snow.
We are taught it’s dangerous and stay at home if you can.
It is ridiculous but tbh Brits absolutely love a bit of snow panic 😂

Edit- Once when Mr SSOAP was away skiing with the school dads it snowed here and they were bantering about who’s wife was a girly crap, crap and would stay at home and who’s wife would drive the kids to school. It wasn’t even questioned that I would drive the boys to school, it was unanimous, of course Mrs SSOAP would take the kids in.
Imagined the ribbing he got when I sent him a pic of us building a snowman and drinking hot chocolate 😝
 
Last edited:
🤠

SandwichShortOfAPicnic
1000054675.jpg
 
Herbaceous said:
I take it snow tires are not common there? That amount of snow on the ground wouldn’t faze most drivers here one bit.
Click to expand...
Snow tyres? no. But we had them for our mountain bikes! but for cars, not easily. Even purchasing snow chains is hard. Few people even consider using winter tyres, let alone snow tyres or snow chains.

And to be honest, unless you are much further north, it does not snow often enough to warrant them.
And it does not help that the councils take the approach of dumping as much salt onto the snow as possible to melt it, so it freezes as black ice underneath. Overseas (Scandinavia), they compact it and add non-salted grit to it, so you get a grip and have mandatory periods of the year when winter tyres must be fitted and snow chains carried. But not in the UK.

And over in this bit of Australia, where frost and ice are common, and we get the occasional snow as well (couple of times a year), it is even worse because no gritting or salting happens at all. So when you find black ice on a bend, well, let's just say the consequences are usually the road is closed for a lengthy investigation into how someone has managed to kill themselves and x many other people by driving over the speed limit AND trying to brake around a corner on ice. And it happens each and every time it snows or is frosty.

In the Australian Alps, the situtation is a bit different thankfully. In the yellow road-marking area (they are usually white), different laws apply at certain times of the year, and even 4x4s with off-road tyres have to use snowchains! So I avoid that area at that time of year, at present.
 
I think most people in the Netherlands now fit winter tyres on their car.
But they were unheard of when I still lived there. Lot's of snow there now and people are advised to work from home. Some schools are closed.

I made the mistake of driving to Czechoslowakia with my car for Christmas in the early 90's. Bit of an eye opener and very careful driving on some stretches. And first time I saw a pothole and a cyclist on a highway :)

Anyway, seen plenty potholes now, but snow is not one of my problems
 
badjak said:
I think most people in the Netherlands now fit winter tyres on their car.
But they were unheard of when I still lived there. Lot's of snow there now and people are advised to work from home. Some schools are closed.

I made the mistake of driving to Czechoslowakia with my car for Christmas in the early 90's. Bit of an eye opener and very careful driving on some stretches. And first time I saw a pothole and a cyclist on a highway :)

Anyway, seen plenty potholes now, but snow is not one of my problems
Click to expand...
We took our Audi A4 quattro to 3 hours north of Stockholm one Christmas. That was a great drive. Never once had a problem. we carried snow chains, but never used them. No need. Drove to Harwich, ferry to Esbjerg and then drove all the way from there to north of Stockholm in one go. Met plenty of snow, but never had an issue.
 
badjak said:
One of my pickup trucks was like that. It just had one or 2 bags of cement permanently in the bakkie
Click to expand...
Yep, 4 bags of cement will do it. I keep each one all wrapped up in a plastic garbage bag so I don't end up with a 360 lb lump of concrete in the back...
 
You know, at the end of the day what tires you have on a vehicle doesn't "improve the way a person drives". While winter tires may "help" it still comes down to the moron behind the wheel pushing the peddles. Unfortuanately, here anyway, having "snow tires" just makes the morons even worse and more dangerous :(
 
Wombat457 said:
You know, at the end of the day what tires you have on a vehicle doesn't "improve the way a person drives". While winter tires may "help" it still comes down to the moron behind the wheel pushing the peddles. Unfortuanately, here anyway, having "snow tires" just makes the morons even worse and more dangerous :(
Click to expand...
We have the Tesla drivers here, they are now the newest morons here. No need for snow tires.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom