Topic: late for work? stuck in traffic?

[tonybloke]

in Finland you can check out the travel conditions on most main roads,
http://alk.tiehallinto.fi/alk/frames/kelikamerat-frame.html
click on any of the blue camera icons!
very easy to plan journey in that country.

[gwynnethmary]

My daughter-in-law is from Northern Sweden.  She lives with my son in the Scottish Highlands, and can't believe how everyone moans about the snow- it's just normal to her and she's loving it!  Having said that, the Scandinavian countries do have their organisations and infrastructures in place to cope with it all, whereas we get taken on the hop every time.

[Pesky Wabbit]

 we get taken on the hop every time.

Like we've never seen snow in this country before ... ever !

I think its more like the councils don't budget for it and when it happens (Jan/Feb) they can use it as an excuse for upping the taxes in March/April.

[Poppy Mole]

You are right in thinking that in other countries like Scandinavia etc. the infrastructure is there because it happens every year, in this country we are so hide bound by rules & regulations which make it impossible to be efficient when the snow-plough  & gritter drivers actually get to work, also this country is far more populated than most others & therefore has so many more moronic drivers getting in the way.

[grawrc]

With 3.5 months of snow per annum in the south and 6 months in the north you might reasonably expect the Finns to be fairly expert at dealing with it. Here on the other hand it's a hit or miss affair - we sometimes have virtually no snow. This has, in recent years, been a cause of concern to the Scottish skiing resorts.

We also have a large number of drivers who have never had to drive in snowy conditions and don't know how. My eldest son - early 30s - pointed out to me that he has never had to drive in snow before. In Norway (at least 3 months of snow per year) snow driving is part of the test. We do not use winter tyres as they do in most areas where snow is a regular problem.

So it's not just the government or the councils that are at fault - if indeed the vagaries of the weather can be anyone's fault - we have to take some responsibility ourselves. How many folk have cleared their paths or their pavements? How many folk bought in extra fuel "just in case"?

How many of us would complain if councils stockpiled salt, grit, snowploughs etc all the years when we have no snow? How about being a wee bit tolerant and just checking the old folks next door are OK rather than ranting about it all?

(rant over! ;))

[Pesky Wabbit]

 How many folk have cleared their paths or their pavements?

If you do and someone injures themselves, its your fault and you can then be sued.
Leave the paths alone and its the injured persons responsibility to note the prevailing conditions.

[tonybloke]

How many folk have cleared their paths or their pavements?

If you do and someone injures themselves, its your fault and you can then be sued.
Leave the paths alone and its the injured persons responsibility to note the prevailing conditions.

sad, but true!! (I blame the lawyers)

[cornykev]

Well I've cleared my bit of the pavement, so has my mate next door, but no one else in the street has bovered with theirs, most can't be bovered or are worried about someone slipping and sueing them,  :( sad but thats the way it is.
At the end of the day its down to the council to grit, my road is done but the surrounding roads are like ice rinks but I still get to work all right.
At work when our lorries are delivering the beer, a lot of the publicans will not clear the delivery points, they say it is too dangerous to do so, thus they get no beer delivered.
Schools are shut, so we have to sort out child care, I don't seem to remember the schools shutting in my day, the teachers need to get off their arses and get to work, if they stopped their pay they would soon get theirselves in, I'll be down the pub tonight and theres a load of teachers that get in there, but I bet it and won't be a H&S issue them getting to the pub.
I know everybodys circumstances are different, but my road and all through roads,and main roads are clear, the school paths are gritted so even if a percentage of teachers get in they could still give some sort of schooling.
Rant over so awaiting the teachers on here to bombard.  :P     ;D ;D ;D

[grawrc]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8443745.stm

Since I'm in Scotland I feel quite justified in continuing to clear the pavement in front of my house. :P :P

[BarriedaleNick]

 How many folk have cleared their paths or their pavements?

If you do and someone injures themselves, its your fault and you can then be sued.
Leave the paths alone and its the injured persons responsibility to note the prevailing conditions.

While this is theoretically true and oft quoted there is little to no chance of getting sued.  I can't find any evidence of anyone ever being sued successfully in this manner.   

[Poppy Mole]

Schools didn't need to shut in my day as we all went to the local school which was within walking distance, & the teachers mostly lived in the village also, the headmaster living in the school house. Even if the temperature was very low & the toilets etc froze this was no different to being at home in the same conditions.

[lewic]

Leave the paths alone and its the injured persons responsibility to note the prevailing conditions

I despise that attitude. How on earth can an elderly person deal with 'prevailing conditions'?! I'm not that elderly but live on my own and would be rather stuffed if I fell over and couldnt get downstairs or to the shops to buy food. If the government wanted to save the NHS money they would issue crampons to all pensioners and anyone else who wanted them.

[tonybloke]

Leave the paths alone and its the injured persons responsibility to note the prevailing conditions

I despise that attitude. How on earth can an elderly person deal with 'prevailing conditions'?! I'm not that elderly but live on my own and would be rather stuffed if I fell over and couldnt get downstairs or to the shops to buy food. If the government wanted to save the NHS money they would issue crampons to all pensioners and anyone else who wanted them.

why is it always the governments job? can't folk do anything for themselves?

[Bugloss2009]

 How many folk have cleared their paths or their pavements?

If you do and someone injures themselves, its your fault and you can then be sued.
Leave the paths alone and its the injured persons responsibility to note the prevailing conditions.

you have a legal responsibility to ensure the reasonable safety of anyone visiting your property. So if you know there are people likey to come onto your property, like the postman, and you know there's ice or similar on your paths, and you don't clear it, you can be sued, and quite right too
If you try to clear the pavement and someone slips, you can only be sued successfully if they can prove you were behaving maliciously  or carelessly

[grawrc]

why is it always the governments job? can't folk do anything for themselves?

So it's not just the government or the councils that are at fault - if indeed the vagaries of the weather can be anyone's fault - we have to take some responsibility ourselves. How many folk have cleared their paths or their pavements? How many folk bought in extra fuel "just in case"?

How many of us would complain if councils stockpiled salt, grit, snowploughs etc all the years when we have no snow? How about being a wee bit tolerant and just checking the old folks next door are OK rather than ranting about it all?

(rant over! ;))

I thought that's what I was saying?? ??? ???

[redimp]

With 3.5 months of snow per annum in the south and 6 months in the north you might reasonably expect the Finns to be fairly expert at dealing with it. Here on the other hand it's a hit or miss affair - we sometimes have virtually no snow. This has, in recent years, been a cause of concern to the Scottish skiing resorts.

We also have a large number of drivers who have never had to drive in snowy conditions and don't know how. My eldest son - early 30s - pointed out to me that he has never had to drive in snow before. In Norway (at least 3 months of snow per year) snow driving is part of the test. We do not use winter tyres as they do in most areas where snow is a regular problem.

So it's not just the government or the councils that are at fault - if indeed the vagaries of the weather can be anyone's fault - we have to take some responsibility ourselves. How many folk have cleared their paths or their pavements? How many folk bought in extra fuel "just in case"?

How many of us would complain if councils stockpiled salt, grit, snowploughs etc all the years when we have no snow? How about being a wee bit tolerant and just checking the old folks next door are OK rather than ranting about it all?

(rant over! ;))

You got there first grawrc.  What really gets my goat is that the people who moan most about us being unpreprepared tend to be the people who demand lower taxes.  They want to think about how much investment would be required for us to prepare for these once every 30 years weather conditions and how much this would hike their taxes.  They also tend to be the climate deniers too.  Well, when the gulf stream switches off as predicted by climate change scientists and this winter weather becomes the norm, we will need that investment and they can then bleat about their taxes instead.

[SamLouise]

I'm just relieved that I haven't managed to fall over yet  :-[  Although I feel I'm now more than adequate to compete in Dancing on Ice  ::)