The weather men have been forecasting snow and freezing conditions for the last week and most places have had some snow although amounts have varied. We got a light covering last night and today, in common with the rest of the country, traffic was brought to a standstill. Cars, buses and lorries were not only unable to negotiate minor roads but as shown on the local news, major roads into the city were also badly affected.
Every time we get a few flakes of snow, enough to barely cover the pavements, traffic comes to a grinding halt and we hear about people being trapped in their cars for hours then we are warned 'not to travel unless it is absolutely necessary'.
It's all very well to dish out advice to the great British public about not travelling, or if you do, making sure that you've got blankets, spade, thermos flask and torch etc., but how about those responsible for our roads. Isn't it time they started to listen to advice from the people that pay their wages and get a system in place so that we are not inconvenienced every year when the weather gets very cold. These are not extreme conditions, they are quite normal and even I can remember really cold spells with sleet, snow or freezing rain which occured regularly when I was a lot younger. I don't think we encountered half the problems that we have now when the weather gets bad.
Maybe they should contact the appropriate people in countries that have snow every year to find out how they deal with it. Heaven knows there are enough of them, any amount in Europe and then there's Canada and the USA to name but a few. How would it look if France or Switzerland or any other country where people go for skiing and winter sports were to come to a complete standstill after one paltry centimetre of snow? Their income from holiday makers would disappear and no-one would bother to travel to those countries again.
Perhaps I ought to work out how much of my council tax goes towards maintenance of highways in cold weather and retain it until we don't have these problems anymore.
We've had a couple if inches and the roads have been awful. I was a bit gobsmacked having heard the council on the news telling everyone how marvellously well prepared they were, and when we went out there was no trace of grit. And the back roads were actually better than in town!!
ReplyDeleteSupermarkets apparently can't be bothered to look after their customers by gritting the carparks either, which are trecherous. I'm of a mind to slip over in Tesco's and put in a claim!!!!
We had the same idea about Tesco! But, surprise, surprise, on Saturday Sainsbury's HAD salted their car park. Must be a more upmarket store!
ReplyDeleteMum x