England grinds to a halt...

[Becinhu]

IT  only takes common sense. it's pretty easy actually.....but then, like you said...i grew up in an area where we get it all the time. and untill the last 6 or 7 years, i only had one car....and it was a mustang. we all know how THOSE things handle in the snow.

Probably about as good as the rear-wheel drive trucks the folks down there were trying to drive in 2 feet of snow. I refused to pull any 2WD trucks out of the ditches stating "I'm sorry, I can't fix stupid". I probably pulled 25 cars out of jams in my 4WD GMC truck those 2 weeks.

[BoilerDown]

Sub-zero in which temperature scale?  If Celsius, they need to get a grip and dress warmer before going outside.  If Fahrenheit, then yeah, sub-zero in that case can be dangerous.  This is the UK so I'm assuming Celsius, and honestly, it shouldn't be that big of a deal when its still that warm.

As for Widewing, no barrel rolls in that please!

[007Rusty]

6 inch's     ... thats a dusting around here    ,, waiting for the 2 feet we are going to get sat nite...   

[Raptor]

If that weather hits the southern half of the U.S. everything would stop.  If you do not live in an area where that type of weather is normal occurance for winter, there will be a substantial lack of infrastructure to deal with it.

In a lot of instances it is not so much the infrastructure as the people do not know how to handle it. I would be scared to drive in SC in the snow. Don't get me wrong, I know how to drive in the snow, however the majority of people here are bad drivers when weather is fine. Add snow into the equation and I probably would not make it home safely. Most people would not know what to do if they felt their car start to drift on ice and would slam on the breaks making things worse.

[CAP1]

Probably about as good as the rear-wheel drive trucks the folks down there were trying to drive in 2 feet of snow. I refused to pull any 2WD trucks out of the ditches stating "I'm sorry, I can't fix stupid". I probably pulled 25 cars out of jams in my 4WD GMC truck those 2 weeks.

ya. my first pickup was a 1969 chevy c-10. it got totaled before i got to try it in bad weather.
 2nd one was a 74 c-10 with a 350, which was recieving a constant oil change. every 3 weeks, i'd dump 3 qts of oil in it. she had 287k or so when i got her......just about 300k when i sold her. she's still running today...still that same leaker.
 anyway.......she was 2 wheel drive, with a 3 speed on the column.

 tire chains baby!!!! never got stuck.

 well......did get stuck once. just kept spinning em till the chains dug down to the ground, then i was away.

 after that was a 1970 c-10 4x4, with a small block 400, a 4 speed with granny gear, 4.56 diffs. front was a dana somethign or other limited slip, the rear was another dana something or other, posi. THAT truck is the only truck i've ever owned that i miss.

[EskimoJoe]

Snow is getting near nipple-height where I am 

[BnZs]

Knew the tunnel was a bad idea. "We shall defend our ISLAND" was the phrase, not "our peninsula."

yeah must be a slow news day ... 20 odd abandoned cars out of 33 million is hardly chaos, the media love a bit of hyperbole

otoh 1000 homes losing power from a few inches of snow is disgraceful, but completely predictable. the power company is EDF (Électricité de France) who are quite happy to take profits from UK consumers but really dont give 2 soups about maintaining our utilities infrastructure. half of our utiities are now owned by foreign companies, it bothers me that gas, electricity and even our water supply are owned and operated by people who wont suffer a jot if they fail.

[CAP1]

Snow is getting near nipple-height where I am 

careful there snappy. a squaddie got the banstick for nipple. 

[mechanic]

We just loved it. No work, no nothing. We built a jump on the hill and went flying through the air on plastic sledges. My back really hurts now but it was worth it.

[Kazaa]

The thing is, it is a normal occurrence for winter there. Happens every year.

No, it's not and no it doesn't.

Anyway, it's too bloody cold to go outside for us Brits. We just say bugger work, let's stay nice and warm in our homes.

[TinmanX]

The thing is, it is a normal occurrence for winter there. Happens every year.

No it doesn't. I lived in the South of England (Somerset) for 20 years and can recall snow falling once! And it isn't just England. France, Germany and Belgium are all having problems too.

As for 4WD's, I drive through snow every winter now here in Oregon to get to the mother-in-laws for Christmas and it's always those SUV drivers who ASSume they can go anywhere at any speed I see wrecked on the side of the road. I can count on usually 1 every 5 miles between Arlington and La Grande on I-84.

4WD doesn't keep you safe in adverse driving conditions. Driving safely keeps you safe, or safer at least.

[Widewing]

As for 4WD's, I drive through snow every winter now here in Oregon to get to the mother-in-laws for Christmas and it's always those SUV drivers who ASSume they can go anywhere at any speed I see wrecked on the side of the road. I can count on usually 1 every 5 miles between Arlington and La Grande on I-84.

4WD doesn't keep you safe in adverse driving conditions. Driving safely keeps you safe, or safer at least.

We see the same silly stuff here. My Jeep has all the bells and whistles. 4WD, locking differentials, winter rated 33" tires, traction control, ESP, ABS, crawl range, etc and so forth. All of that will do you no good if you don't use good judgment. I can't count how many SUVs that I've seen crashed out due to dumb driving in snow. The typical SUV doesn't have half the traction technology the Wrangler JK has, and I still drive slow and carefully. Last winter, I had to pull my neighbor's Mistubishi SUV off of a snow berm. He lost control and bashed the berm and high-centered. Likewise, I dragged a high-centered Toyota FJ Cruiser off of a big plowed-up snow mound he though he could climb over. By the way, I'm thinking the FJ stands for "fake Jeep".

The bottom line is that the very best snow capable SUV is still subject to the laws of physics. Drivers need to exercise the same caution as the driver in a typical sedan.


My regards,

Widewing

[CAP1]

No it doesn't. I lived in the South of England (Somerset) for 20 years and can recall snow falling once! And it isn't just England. France, Germany and Belgium are all having problems too.

As for 4WD's, I drive through snow every winter now here in Oregon to get to the mother-in-laws for Christmas and it's always those SUV drivers who ASSume they can go anywhere at any speed I see wrecked on the side of the road. I can count on usually 1 every 5 miles between Arlington and La Grande on I-84.

4WD doesn't keep you safe in adverse driving conditions. Driving safely keeps you safe, or safer at least.

something about these awd and 4wd vehicles that should be cleared up.

when you're driving a 2wd vehicle, it is in reality, only a 1 wheel drive....unless you have a posi or limited slip differential.

 the same goes for 4wd vehicles. without limited slip differentials, you're only really running 2 wheel drive at that point.

[Bronk]

No it doesn't. I lived in the South of England (Somerset) for 20 years and can recall snow falling once! And it isn't just England. France, Germany and Belgium are all having problems too.

As for 4WD's, I drive through snow every winter now here in Oregon to get to the mother-in-laws for Christmas and it's always those SUV drivers who ASSume they can go anywhere at any speed I see wrecked on the side of the road. I can count on usually 1 every 5 miles between Arlington and La Grande on I-84.

4WD doesn't keep you safe in adverse driving conditions. Driving safely keeps you safe, or safer at least.

Yup, just because you have plenty of go, doesn't translate to plenty of whoa.

[68Wooley]

No it doesn't. I lived in the South of England (Somerset) for 20 years and can recall snow falling once!

OK, I don't want to push this because clearly the weather in England is exceptional and I was a bit off with my original post. Also, with the weather on the US East Coast right now my timing sucked so apologies to anyone who was / is offended.

However, with that said, I have to say the statement above is total BS. It would be an unusual winter in England where snow didn't fall at least once. Maybe in your twenty years there, you don't remember it, but in my thirty plus years in Britain, I both remember it and experienced it.