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I've not shovelled the snow outside my house. Does that make me evil?
if you ain't shovelling snow the economy will go down and that will be YOUR FAULT.
I'm available for Tory speechwriting 😀
Never strikes me as necessary, it's so rare that it snows deep enough to cause an issue that people are just careful for that short time. The Elderly couple near us seem to have no issues getting about in the snow and ice, and I don't either.
The pavements far more often become lethally slippy with ice (rain, then freezing is FAR more common) but we don't expect everyone to go outside and thaw the street outside their home.
The bigger question is why are people so pathetic that half the country comes to a grinding halt in an inch of snow? Madness and general hysteria perpetuated by the media making everyone think it's worse than it is. Get on with it, get over it and stop whining. If you know someone with particular issues (no legged, underweight 90 year olds) then keep an eye on them and ask if you can help out. Somewhat simpler than mobilising the entire country to clean up a few inches of snow on a pavement that few use.
This isn't what happened round here this time though, or last time IIRC. We got one massive bout of snow on Sunday, not really enough to affect anything but now the constant melting/re-freezing plus everyone's feet/tyres in our cup-de-sac & carpark has polished up the ice to resemble a skating rink. I went for a run yesterday and quite a few pavements were in a similar condition (safer to run in the road!) so, yes, there definitely is a point in clearing & salting.Then it snows again two hours later and they're off again. Ad nauseum.What's the bloody point?
I wont clear out side my house! snow has far more grip that sheet ice. Also the fellow 4 doors up had some one try to sue him last year when she fell over out side his house (he had cleared the path)
the only way he got away with it was by saying he was not sure who cleared the path.
The bigger question is why are people so pathetic that half the country comes to a grinding halt in an inch of snow? Madness and general hysteria perpetuated by the media making everyone think it's worse than it is. Get on with it, get over it and stop whining
Couldn't agree more.
My dad used to commute from rural Kent up to London daily by car. We're talking sh1tty cars like Austin Maxi, Morris 2200, and an old N reg Volvo. Stick a spade and a blanket in the boot. Only on one occasion did he fail to get to work, and that was the year (1987?) that there was a freak snow storm in North Kent. I'm talking snow depths such that cars were buried with only aerials poking out, and the army delivering food to upstairs windows!
Now everyone has far better cars that start first time in any weather, numerous traction control devices, and they're sliding about all over and blocking the M2 when the snow is ankle deep to a mouse.
Guess the BBC and ITV have to sensationalise else nobody will watch 9 o'clock news. Oh and I guess the snow gritter drivers don't watch that news, because the "unprecedented" amount of snow that overwhelmed their services was on the news for 4 days before it even arrived!
/rant.
I've got winter tyres on my car (other threads are available to argue the pros and cons of these) so I'm not interested in spending my time shovelling snow off the road, and those who do clear the road just pile the snow all over the footpaths making walking anywhere with my two year old incredibly difficult. If there was an effort to clear the snow from footpaths I'd help, but while snow shovelling remains beneficial only to motorists with inappropriate tyres, Im afraid I'm oot.
The Maxi was nothing less than ace in snow. A big cast iron lump of an engine over driving wheels with skinny tyres that had lots of sipes.
Edukator - MemberThe Maxi was nothing less than ace in snow. A big cast iron lump of an engine over driving wheels with skinny tyres that had lots of sipes.
The Maxi - the first car I drove after passing my test - was never ace in anything! The only ace thing about driving one in snow was that it might get written off and my father might be forced to buy a decent car.
i've done the pavement outside my house, and outside the house/s either side of me.
it took about 10 mins, you can walk a good 15m along the pavement without slipping your way to A&E with a broken hip/wrist.
no other chuffer has lifted a finger.
The Maxi ... was never ace in anything!
It was ace at frying your legs when forced to sit on the plastic seats in summer, wearing shorts.
Only real slip hazard here, where snow clearing on the pavement is an obligation, is not the cleared section, but the ice that build up from the roof top avalanches and falling icicles.
Cleared ours right down to the paving slabs. The snow then melted on to making this are wet and this froze over night and it was like a skating rink in the morning with fresh snow now settling on top. It is safer to walk on the uncleared snow.
It is safer to walk on the uncleared snow.
Only if it stays as uncleared snow, which it often doesn't.
so I'm not interested in spending my time shovelling snow off the road
a) it's good to help other people and
b) if other people get stuck they could get stuck outside your house, blocking you in.
Madness and general hysteria perpetuated by the media making everyone think it's worse than it is
Quite obviously not. People are obviously not scared of it, cos they go out in it and get stuck. It'd help if they really were scared of it, cos they'd stay at home.
Bigger cars, wider slicker tyres, lack of regular snow until recently all contribute, but the biggest thing is the sheer volume of journeys and the distances people drive. We are more car dependent than we were 30 years ago.
Never strikes me as necessary
Right, next time I will take photos and show you.
cupra - Member
It is safer to walk on the uncleared snow.
we don't have any uncleared snow, we do have sheets of polished ice instead of pavements.
(apart from the bit outside my house)