since the snow came down on tuesday evening iv"e been astounded from the standards of driving shown from a minority of people,some of which are “supposed"to be professional!.
on wednesday night i was running up the a1 from newcastle to edinburgh,with a colleague about half a mile in front,both fully loaded.the snow had came down heavily around berwick,and was compacted into ice on the road(dont think the gritters were quick enough).so me and my mate were plodding at about 35mph,which we thought was about fast enough given the conditions,and the fact our transporters arent the best in the snow,even the cars sat behind us given the fact on the twin track,the outside lane was snowbound,when low and behold up comes a beige tipper(no names),from a well known north east firm flat out up the outside,covering everything within 50 feet in grit/snow/slush.
then on thursday morning coming up the a1 to dishforth,had to use the a19,(a1 was shut due to a wagon jacknifing across all northbound carriageways at scotch corner),probably another"hero”,the a19 from dishforth to northallerton was treacherous.i dont think the gritters were quick enough again!!!.outside lane again was snowbound when ,again more "heros"came bounding through flat out,and obviously not driving to the conditions at the time.i say this,cos two miles up the road “hero” had done a neat bit of parking on top of the central reservation.ace.
so while the sane amongst us plod away safely,the heroes are on a mission,until they loose it,jacknife and bring everyone to a standstill.
i was going up the a1 on thursday morning aswell and saw this sorta driving, but it was mainly cars. i had one sit right next to the front of my cab then pulled straight in without looking. wish i had taken him out, would mangled his new audu q7 but woulda taught him a lesson and to get the finger out his behind when there is plenty of space to do it instead of pulling front of me when the 2 lanes go into 1!!!
i know were you are coming from but… i have to admit to being one of the so called idiots coming down the outside lane simply because i honestly think most drivers have forgotten how to drive in the snow, i wouldnt consider myself dangerous but it was ridiculous the other morning on th A19 following each other in a mile long que in the inside lane at 25 mph, if you dont like the snow then stay in the inside lane and plod along, but if your not frightened of it and know what your doing then get out ang get on!
chaversdad:
i know were you are coming from but… i have to admit to being one of the so called idiots coming down the outside lane simply because i honestly think most drivers have forgotten how to drive in the snow, i wouldnt consider myself dangerous but it was ridiculous the other morning on th A19 following each other in a mile long que in the inside lane at 25 mph, if you dont like the snow then stay in the inside lane and plod along, but if your not frightened of it and know what your doing then get out ang get on!
Well said that man…
I left Kelso thursday morning fully freighted went via Wooler 3/4 inch snow all the way to Morpeth passed a few cars dawdling along at 20MPH half of them no lights on. Trucks as well with sidelights on reach the A1 hardly a dusting all sitting at 30MPH all the way down round the bypass.
Hogging the second lane cars at low speeds. Anyone wishing to sit in a Q at that speed can expect an accident to happen, if your frightened pull over and let them that can drive get on with it.
We are not idiots just know how to drive in these conditions
bedgar047:
chaversdad:
i know were you are coming from but… i have to admit to being one of the so called idiots coming down the outside lane simply because i honestly think most drivers have forgotten how to drive in the snow, i wouldnt consider myself dangerous but it was ridiculous the other morning on th A19 following each other in a mile long que in the inside lane at 25 mph, if you dont like the snow then stay in the inside lane and plod along, but if your not frightened of it and know what your doing then get out ang get on!Well said that man…
I left Kelso thursday morning fully freighted went via Wooler 3/4 inch snow all the way to Morpeth passed a few cars dawdling along at 20MPH half of them no lights on. Trucks as well with sidelights on reach the A1 hardly a dusting all sitting at 30MPH all the way down round the bypass.
Hogging the second lane cars at low speeds. Anyone wishing to sit in a Q at that speed can expect an accident to happen, if your frightened pull over and let them that can drive get on with it.
We are not idiots just know how to drive in these conditions
no disrespect boys,but i bet the guy sitting on top of central reservation thought he wasnt frightened and knew how to drive in the snow as well.its not a case of being frightened(and i"ll readliy admit that my bum went),its a case of driving safely,not endangering not only you,but mainly everybody elses lives.we are driving killing machines here after all.i was fully loaded,heavy,and i could feel my drive wheels twitching all over.
however,one thing that really annoyed me was the state of the roads,the gritters dont seem to be getting out quick enough,and not enough of them.we were well warned before the bad weather came,however was the a19 actually gritted,because for a major road it was horrendous.you could see clearly where the gritter had come onto the a19 at the northallerton split,and from there the road was ok to hartlepool,then reverted back to sheet ice.
I am with you there. If you think it’s bad there then you should try the US. If you come through the midwest you often get heavy snow, and I am not talking an inch, closer to a foot. Living here, you get used to snow as part of everyday life for half the year. They have been known to call for flurries only to end up with a foot of snow in a few hours.
You get so used to it that it barely slows you down. A few weeks back I got caught in a snowstorm coming through Ohio and Indiana, finally coming out of it in Illinois. The number of people shouting at me on the CB was incredible. They all thought I was driving like a fool but I really thought I was being more than sensible. I stayed around 50-55 and just kept going.
Just before the Illinois state line it got down to near blizzard conditions so I had to back down to maybe 20, but only for a while.
If you are not confident then it is wise to drive more carefully, but it is wrong to have a pop at people who are more experienced and confident.
like i said we just dont get enough snow anymore for drivers to get the experience in it, if someone was in the central reserve cos they had skiddied in the rain we wouldnt be having this conversation
chaversdad:
like i said we just dont get enough snow anymore for drivers to get the experience in it, if someone was in the central reserve cos they had skiddied in the rain we wouldnt be having this conversation
in all fairness ,he ended up on the central reservation for one reason.he was driving too fast in the snow,and lost it,because he wasnt in control of his vehicle.i didnt mind doing 25mph,cos i felt safe and knew that i wouldnt be trying to kill some innocent joe that day.yes the day went to pot,it took 5 hours to do what usually takes two,but the load and me got there in the end.safely.the same also applies to the driver at scotch corner who parked sideways across the carriageways,bet he wasnt frightened either.me?,im putting on my brown underpants next time.
I wasn’t that far behind you, Northbound on the A19.
Your hero was just about to be pulled off the central reserve.
When I was going up, where he would have passed you, the outside lane was ok, a bit slushy with a few ice cobbles.
Where he came off there was a lot of ice cobbling, (where snow had been compressed into ice, the plow hadn’t shifted it and the salt hadn’t melted it).
I’d just come off the boat after fighting snow in Germany, so my snow driving skills were getting refreshed there 
.
I was overtaking in the outside lane, but saw the ice cobbles getting worse so eased back into the granny lane.
A mile or so after your hero I could see the suicide lane was merely slushy again, so pulled out and speeded up a bit, to pass all the 20mph grannies.
I felt quite happy at 40 - 50. It still took over 4 hours from Hull to Newcastle with no dramas.
You felt that the tipper drivers were going too fast. Don’t forget, they have at least 3 advantages over you.
- 6 x 4 or 8 x 4 wagons so better traction on the drives
- Lots of experience driving in slippery conditions.
- Better trucks for driving in poor traction conditions all together, by design.
With that in mind, where they really driving so poorly?
What experience do you base your judgement on?
buck73:
chaversdad:
like i said we just dont get enough snow anymore for drivers to get the experience in it, if someone was in the central reserve cos they had skiddied in the rain we wouldnt be having this conversationin all fairness ,he ended up on the central reservation for one reason.he was driving too fast in the snow,and lost it,because he wasnt in control of his vehicle.i didnt mind doing 25mph,cos i felt safe and knew that i wouldnt be trying to kill some innocent joe that day.yes the day went to pot,it took 5 hours to do what usually takes two,but the load and me got there in the end.safely.
90% of the problem most people experience is cos your running around with tyres which are not designed for the conditions.
using the incorrect gear for the condition.
Not really, Bedgar. We use standard highway tyres on the trucks here and you should see where we take them!.
The cars I have are usually on all season tyres, much the same as in the UK, but the Explorer has snow tyres simply because they were on it when I bought it. Once they are worn it will be all season on there too.
The most serious problem with people driving in the snow or ice is that they simply are not accustomed to it. You have to drive as though yu had a cup of coffe on the dashboard and don’t want to spill it. If you do things smoothly and don’t do anything radical then you can easily negotiate the roads in surprisingly bad conditions.
bobthedog:
Not really, Bedgar. We use standard highway tyres on the trucks here and you should see where we take them!.
The cars I have are usually on all season tyres, much the same as in the UK, but the Explorer has snow tyres simply because they were on it when I bought it. Once they are worn it will be all season on there too.The most serious problem with people driving in the snow or ice is that they simply are not accustomed to it. You have to drive as though yu had a cup of coffe on the dashboard and don’t want to spill it. If you do things smoothly and don’t do anything radical then you can easily negotiate the roads in surprisingly bad conditions.
I’ve been working in Hellifield for the last few weeks, which means a trip up the M6 onto the A59 and then hang a left onto the A682 for 5.4 miles.
The 682 has got to be one of the scariest roads i’ve driven on, and why, quarry wagons, it’s quite clear that because they know the road so well they assume they own it and anyone else shouldn’t be there.
Thursday morning at 6.30am the snow was coming down very hard and quick and as it had frozen the night before and the gritters hadn’t been out it was very slippy, 20mph was in order as I don’t fancy a drop into a field.
Nearly every corner I came to was a bit of an epic, very slippy, but what was going through my mind the most was seeing the tyre tracks of the quarry wagons, they were always on the wrong side of the road, how someone wasn’t hit i’ll never know.
I had a wagon right up my arse about 2 miles from the Hellifield turning and my van was slipping a bit so even at 20/25mph I was at it’s limit but it was quite clear that I wasn’t going fast enough for MR Wagon behind me.
I want to get to work alive, if other people don’t then fine but don’t kill me in the process.
It’s not a pop at everyone, and yes most car drivers are the worst, the standard of driving that i’ve seen this week has been down right pathetic by people who obviously don’t care.
I enjoy sitting behind you guys on the motorway on my way home, chills me out, calms me down when the traffic is a pain in the arse and I always get to where i’m going just as quick as the guy trying to avoid all the traffic, don’t ruin it for me lads.
chaversdad:
i know were you are coming from but… i have to admit to being one of the so called idiots coming down the outside lane simply because i honestly think most drivers have forgotten how to drive in the snow, i wouldnt consider myself dangerous but it was ridiculous the other morning on th A19 following each other in a mile long que in the inside lane at 25 mph, if you dont like the snow then stay in the inside lane and plod along, but if your not frightened of it and know what your doing then get out ang get on!
I was another one, I’m afraid.
Another trick, btw, is to open the window a crack. You can soon tell when you hit ice, it all goes quiet. 
Simon:
I wasn’t that far behind you, Northbound on the A19.
Your hero was just about to be pulled off the central reserve.When I was going up, where he would have passed you, the outside lane was ok, a bit slushy with a few ice cobbles.
Where he came off there was a lot of ice cobbling, (where snow had been compressed into ice, the plow hadn’t shifted it and the salt hadn’t melted it).
I’d just come off the boat after fighting snow in Germany, so my snow driving skills were getting refreshed thereI was overtaking in the outside lane, but saw the ice cobbles getting worse so eased back into the granny lane.
A mile or so after your hero I could see the suicide lane was merely slushy again, so pulled out and speeded up a bit, to pass all the 20mph grannies.
I felt quite happy at 40 - 50. It still took over 4 hours from Hull to Newcastle with no dramas.You felt that the tipper drivers were going too fast. Don’t forget, they have at least 3 advantages over you.
- 6 x 4 or 8 x 4 wagons so better traction on the drives
- Lots of experience driving in slippery conditions.
- Better trucks for driving in poor traction conditions all together, by design.
With that in mind, where they really driving so poorly?
What experience do you base your judgement on?
what experience do i base my judgement on■■? ok then.i may not be a “rope and sheet,shap to carlisle took 5 days” man(no disrespect to old timers,purely comedic purposes only so dont have a pop".a driving career spanning thirteen accident free years,covering aprrox 3000 kms week in,week out,mainly car transporters driving the latest design 11 plus car transporter at sixteen foot high and gaps you couldnt get your fingers in between cars,damage free may i add,central london in a artic car transporter(not for the faint hearted),and for the past two years a hell of a lot of scotland including the snowy/icy far north highlands,where they do tend to get a wee bit of snow in the colder months.
oh and i am a fully time served hgv mechanic,with ten years in the trade under me belt,and ive got me cpc.apart from also knowing i have never ended up the wrong side of the middle barrier,like those i witnessed last week who have"experience",i suppose THATS what i base my judgement on.as far driving poorly naaa,just driving i thought absolutley dangerous in said conditions!
Simon:
I wasn’t that far behind you, Northbound on the A19.
Your hero was just about to be pulled off the central reserve.When I was going up, where he would have passed you, the outside lane was ok, a bit slushy with a few ice cobbles.
Where he came off there was a lot of ice cobbling, (where snow had been compressed into ice, the plow hadn’t shifted it and the salt hadn’t melted it).
I’d just come off the boat after fighting snow in Germany, so my snow driving skills were getting refreshed thereI was overtaking in the outside lane, but saw the ice cobbles getting worse so eased back into the granny lane.
A mile or so after your hero I could see the suicide lane was merely slushy again, so pulled out and speeded up a bit, to pass all the 20mph grannies.
I felt quite happy at 40 - 50. It still took over 4 hours from Hull to Newcastle with no dramas.You felt that the tipper drivers were going too fast. Don’t forget, they have at least 3 advantages over you.
1. 6 x 4 or 8 x 4 wagons so better traction on the drives
2. Lots of experience driving in slippery conditions.
3. Better trucks for driving in poor traction conditions all together, by design.
With that in mind, where they really driving so poorly?
What experience do you base your judgement on?
Exactly!
and 2 more point
The snow is often less hard packed and easier to drve on in the outside lane
There’s often nothing in front of you (Greater stopping distance)
being a mechanic does NOT mean that you are qualified to say he was a danger to himself and others just my opinion 
renaultman:
Simon:
I wasn’t that far behind you, Northbound on the A19.
Your hero was just about to be pulled off the central reserve.When I was going up, where he would have passed you, the outside lane was ok, a bit slushy with a few ice cobbles.
Where he came off there was a lot of ice cobbling, (where snow had been compressed into ice, the plow hadn’t shifted it and the salt hadn’t melted it).
I’d just come off the boat after fighting snow in Germany, so my snow driving skills were getting refreshed thereI was overtaking in the outside lane, but saw the ice cobbles getting worse so eased back into the granny lane.
A mile or so after your hero I could see the suicide lane was merely slushy again, so pulled out and speeded up a bit, to pass all the 20mph grannies.
I felt quite happy at 40 - 50. It still took over 4 hours from Hull to Newcastle with no dramas.You felt that the tipper drivers were going too fast. Don’t forget, they have at least 3 advantages over you.
1. 6 x 4 or 8 x 4 wagons so better traction on the drives
2. Lots of experience driving in slippery conditions.
3. Better trucks for driving in poor traction conditions all together, by design.
With that in mind, where they really driving so poorly?
What experience do you base your judgement on?Exactly!
and 2 more point
The snow is often less hard packed and easier to drve on in the outside lane
There’s often nothing in front of you (Greater stopping distance)
lol.
Lucy:
chaversdad:
i know were you are coming from but… i have to admit to being one of the so called idiots coming down the outside lane simply because i honestly think most drivers have forgotten how to drive in the snow, i wouldnt consider myself dangerous but it was ridiculous the other morning on th A19 following each other in a mile long que in the inside lane at 25 mph, if you dont like the snow then stay in the inside lane and plod along, but if your not frightened of it and know what your doing then get out ang get on!I was another one, I’m afraid.
Another trick, btw, is to open the window a crack. You can soon tell when you hit ice, it all goes quiet.
And another is, in snow, see if you can see ‘black’ in your tyre tracks
so the guy i went past on the m180 in snow on wednesday morning (no snow sticking to the ground and wasnt freezing at that point ) in the 18 tonner doing 40 mph wasnt a danger to anyone on the road apart from at least 6 trucks that nearly hit him up the arse.( i wasnt one of them) but heard it over the cb
people in this country just cant handle any snow. we panic at 6inches falling for gods sake you think wed actually had a blizzard get real we had a light sprinkling i shudder to think how we would cope if we ever actually get some proper snow
ps alix776 posting this as on jens lappy