Take your Life in yer Hands.

[derekgas]

Dont forget the roadtax lancsdave, I pay plenty of that too, didnt prevent me crashing my car into a street sign on an untreated road though!

Shouldnt have posted this, they will probably inspect the sign for damage now, and charge me if they find any damaged!!

[Eric]

Originally Posted by accyman

councils are claiming that gritt is useless when temperatures are as low as -6 and this is there excuse now for not gritting

in germany where a few friends of mine have lived it reaches -20 degrees and the gritt is quite effective

cant really believe anything these council idiots say why dont they just admit they blew the budget on trivial crap and have gotten caught with tehir pants down by teh unexpected snow

you can buy gritt at a farm i think it is on the way to blackburn accross from where daisy dairy used to be as you leave ossy if you need any for your drive or somthing , theres a sign outside, they seem to be able to get a supply so god knows why councils cant

I don't know what kind of grit you guys are using, but our sanders are out at all temps. Last weekend, they were sanding at -25. When freezing rain is in the forecast, the sanders are out before it starts. With climate patterns changing the way they are, it might be a good idea to do the boy scout thing. Keeping things moving in severe winter weather is expensive; Montreal's snow removal budget is in excess of $600 million.

[Margaret Pilkington]

But then it is expensive not to do it Eric.....losses in commerce and business soon mount up, and litigation for accidents doesn't come cheap either.
One day, over here, they will get that message.
Everything here seems to be reactive, rather than proactive.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

But then it is expensive not to do it Eric.....losses in commerce and business soon mount up, and litigation for accidents doesn't come cheap either.
One day, over here, they will get that message.
Everything here seems to be reactive, rather than proactive.

Indeed ... but it's much easier to be proactive when you expect it ... we know that winter is going to throw us some wicked curves (sorry about the baseball metaphor); so, we are ready for the worst, even if sometimes the worst doesn't happen. Once in a while, even we get overwhelmed. At least once every winter, something comes along that slows things down.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Yes, other parts of the world can plan and make contingencies for snow....and yes we appreciate that the weather can be unpredictable and bowl us a googly(sorry for the cricket metaphor)...but somehow we fail over here.
It does make us look like wimps in the eyes of the world.
I have lived a longish time, and can remember winters that have been worse than this one....but I don't recall things grinding to a halt....maybe it was some 'rubbed off' wartime spirit...or something pretty close to it.

[accyman]

another excuse councils are using is that to gritt pavements as well as roads would add 5 million to the budget and this is also total crap

i dont think anyone has said the pavements should be gritted they never have been but what people do expect is a bare minimum of teh streets to be gritted so that people can at least walk at teh edge of teh road when walking to teh shop if teh pavements are slippy but due to teh severe lack of gritting been done in hyndburn you cant even walk at the side of teh road without slipping on ice but is it really too much to expect that the town center with thousands of pedestrians using it each day be gritted appropiatly so they can do shopping and pay tehir bills without fdear of breaking bones every time they exit a shop

[Neil]

I think the pavement should be gritted

[lancsdave]

They have been gritting pavements down town today.

[Eric]

OK ... serious question ... how do they sand the sidewalks over there? Do you have special sidewalk plows? Or is it done by shovel?

[accyman]

absolutely nothing is done and if you do clear teh snow outside your house and somone slips they can sue you

[accyman]

Originally Posted by Neil

I think the pavement should be gritted

so do i and if teh council refilled the gritt bins at least some would be

[cashman]

Originally Posted by accyman

absolutely nothing is done and if you do clear teh snow outside your house and somone slips they can sue you

Thats exactly what i was informed only today.

[Gingerninja]

It's the opposite here in Germany - if you don't clear the pavement and any access to your house (even if you live in Army Houses) you are liable if someone slips. That means every street is cleared and the grit (which is running out even here in Germany) can be used on major roads and side roads. So I've been clearing my steps and the pavement since before Christmas and we're still getting the damn stuff coming down!! But unlike the UK - we have to get to work - no excuses - because if the buses are running - which they are (damn them!) we have to get into work - even if it means walking 20 mins from the bus stop into camp!

[Tealeaf]

We had no snow forecast for London last night but this morning I awoke to find about an inch had fallen overnight; by 7.30 this morning, the pavements had been gritted. I must admit I was so impressed by the efficiency of this otherwise loony borough that I gave some loose copper to the beggar by the cash machine. Mind you, he was covered in the aforementioned snow, he did say good morning and addressed me as sir, which made a pleasant change from the Polak/West African mumbo-jumbo I usually get from these characters who usually receive a kick up the arse for their troubles.

[Gayle]

They were clearing the pavements in Ossy today. Trouble was, it seemed to make it slippier - I much prefer walking on the crunchy snow, much less risk of slipping.