ICE ON ROADS THIS MORNING whats happening!!

ukgalwaymcguire

hi, the ice on the roads was terrible this morning. fair enough time of year etc.
but, as many of you know i hail from the uk, i dont understand why the salt gritters didnt start gritting the roads until 8am..

the traffic was terrible , of course people were being careful but, in the uk when theres weather that the roads need gritting they start at 12am and go through the night till morning, thus accidents are few.

so does anyone know what happened this morning to galway council and what is the usual procedure for gritting the roads ??

and how did everyone else fair driving on the ice this morning??

Mr. Presentable

Ah, but now they're running out in the UK, while Galway CC will have plenty left for the next few days!

kinetic

ukgalwaymcguire wrote: »

hi, the ice on the roads was terrible this morning. fair enough time of year etc.
but, as many of you know i hail from the uk, i dont understand why the salt gritters didnt start gritting the roads until 8am..

the traffic was terrible , of course people were being careful but, in the uk when theres weather that the roads need gritting they start at 12am and go through the night till morning, thus accidents are few.

so does anyone know what happened this morning to galway council and what is the usual procedure for gritting the roads ??

and how did everyone else fair driving on the ice this morning??

Welcome to Ireland,road gritting to commence after Paddys day I believe!

ukgalwaymcguire

nipplenuts wrote: »

Ah, but now they're running out in the UK, while Galway CC will have plenty left for the next few days!

thats probably because they have had so much snow:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

thats not my point, my point is what is galway council doing coming out at 8am.. the amount if disruption a thin layer of ice caused, i would hate too see what would happen if galway had the snow and yearly thick ice the uk has.
8am is not early enough, its putting lifes at risk and also causing disruption for everyone travelling by road in the morning.
they need too get out of there beds a lot earlier and grit the roads and i dunno what salt there using, but its white!! stuff in the uk is red, and works instantly
just worrys me, accidents that could be avoided.

Sponge Bob

At 6am the roads were all fine , then we had an Ice storm/glaze event either side of 7am and by 7.30am the whole of Galway was a shiny sheet of ICE .

Most of it had melted by 10am .

ukgalwaymcguire

kinetic wrote: »

Welcome to Ireland,road gritting to commence after Paddys day I believe!

lol!!! very funny kinetic!!


but every driver pays road tax, nct.. why should lives be at risk when something as simple as salt will stop that.

the tail backs were terrible and i do hope there wasnt any accidents, and it was just due too careful driving

ScumLord

Your absolutely right but in a way I'm sort of glad Ireland isn't as well oiled as the UK. If everything went like clockwork life would be dull.

Robbo

ukgalwaymcguire wrote: »

but every driver pays road tax, nct.. why should lives be at risk when something as simple as salt will stop that.

Motor tax.

Was it really that bad this morning? Because coming from Silver Strand in at 8am, I couldn't see or feel anything to worry about yet there were some drivers crawling around at 15 mph.

snubbleste

Yeah it was that bad
Children going to school had to walk slowly because the footpath was so slippery and i had to get off my bike and walk. I saw a few cars skidding after they braked. The ice was invisible!

Diabhal Beag

I fell on my ass in front of a bus and nearly cried with embarassment

Zzippy

Plenty of black ice alright, not just in Galway. Friend of mine went off the road in Mayo, no damage done thankfully, just his pride

In fairness to GCC, Met Eireann last night forecast no frost for the west, it was supposed to be 1-2C at the lowest...

Black_Knight

Gritters were out at about 8pm yesterday evening on the Quinn bridge. Dont know if they were out for the morning, I was asleep in bed.

Chris_533976

My car said 3 degrees this morning. Saw two accidents on my way into work, one person had driven parallel into the side of someone else. A second driver had ploughed into a wall.

Absolutely lethal it was, but I think this one caught everyone off guard. Especially as the temperatures were above freezing. Weird stuff.

I was before the bulk of the traffic but I was glad to get into work. Hope tomorrow isnt the same.


But thanks to the idiotic van who tailgated me halfway into work. You stupid retard.

JohnCleary

Don't know what the big deal is - I drove 90 miles this morning (left at 7am) and not a bother. Use yer feckin gears to slow down instead of your brakes and ye'll be grand :pac:

Mrs OBumble

ukgalwaymcguire wrote: »

hi, the ice on the roads was terrible this morning. fair enough time of year etc.
but, as many of you know i hail from the uk, i dont understand why the salt gritters didnt start gritting the roads until 8am..

Ahh sure'n you'll be grand. The Irish don't get up until 8am, so no need to start things any earlier than that. 'Tis colder in Poland, so the workers who start before 8am know how to cope with icy roads, no need of salt/grit for them.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Gaillimh1990

I really do not think it is fair to criticise the GCC... They are doing a great job all year around and nobody has the right to 'down' them.... If the uk is so great why are you here? - no offence.:rolleyes::D:D

Webbs

Yeah i slid yesterday about 15yds into a pole, it was one of those lovely new junctions the council have put up with the red brick, whatever about tarmac being bad this stuff was unbelievably slippy and icy.
And to compound matters if there had been a kerb i would have just bounced off as was just crawling/sliding, instead of which all there is, is a series of metal poles! so a fair bit of damage to the car results!
These junctions may look nice but again no real thought from the council, Ok this was a particularly bad day, but it does get cold and icy in the west of Ireland!

Das Kitty

JohnCleary wrote: »

Don't know what the big deal is - I drove 90 miles this morning (left at 7am) and not a bother. Use yer feckin gears to slow down instead of your brakes and ye'll be grand :pac:

Which side did you come from by the way?

I felt confident to drive yesterday but you can't account for the flipping idiots who are reckless like the tool who nearly slid into me.

Even though I was being very careful yesterday morning in the car I skidded twice thankfully at low speeds.

I was most annoyed that I didn't realise the ice was there when I got out onto the driveway and did a comedy fall.

JohnCleary

Came from the Whesttt of the city and did the whole N17

leninbenjamin

ukgalwaymcguire wrote: »

hi, the ice on the roads was terrible this morning. fair enough time of year etc.
but, as many of you know i hail from the uk, i dont understand why the salt gritters didnt start gritting the roads until 8am..

the traffic was terrible , of course people were being careful but, in the uk when theres weather that the roads need gritting they start at 12am and go through the night till morning, thus accidents are few.

so does anyone know what happened this morning to galway council and what is the usual procedure for gritting the roads ??

and how did everyone else fair driving on the ice this morning??

Galway is so close to the sea that gritters do hardly any use, there's enough salt in there air to begin with. if there's serious ice in Galway, then gritters aren't going to make a huge amount of difference as chances are it's that cold that the amount of ice would overpower the grit.

secondly, why can't people learn to drive on slippy surfaces? in my day we had to drive up a 40 degree incline daily, there'd be so much ice you'd be on your arse before you left the house... young people today...

Das Kitty

JohnCleary wrote: »

Came from the Whesttt of the city and did the whole N17

There was only ice in Newcastle and Knocknacarra from what I could see. Once on the Quincentenary it was grand. I was the only one in the office late as no one else lives on the same side as me. Thankfully they'd heard about the ice on Galway Bay so I didn't look like a bluffer.

04KY

JustMary wrote: »

Ahh sure'n you'll be grand. The Irish don't get up until 8am, so no need to start things any earlier than that. 'Tis colder in Poland, so the workers who start before 8am know how to cope with icy roads, no need of salt/grit for them.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Here would you ever f*ck off out of Galway, all you do on here is complain.

JohnCleary

Das Kitty wrote: »

There was only ice in Newcastle and Knocknacarra from what I could see. Once on the Quincentenary it was grand. I was the only one in the office late as no one else lives on the same side as me. Thankfully they'd heard about the ice on Galway Bay so I didn't look like a bluffer.

Yeah heard KC area was terrible bad alright

Black_Knight

04KY wrote: »

Here would you ever f*ck off out of Galway, all you do on here is complain.

I dont think she was complaining at all... looks your the complainer. So much so that you read post as if its a complaint, and then complain about them complaining!

04KY

Black_Knight wrote: »

I dont think she was complaining at all... looks your the complainer. So much so that you read post as if its a complaint, and then complain about them complaining!

Maybe it's because of her aggressive post style. Have a look at her post history. Full of complaining about Galway and Ireland in general.

Zzippy

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Galway is so close to the sea that gritters do hardly any use, there's enough salt in there air to begin with. if there's serious ice in Galway, then gritters aren't going to make a huge amount of difference as chances are it's that cold that the amount of ice would overpower the grit.

secondly, why can't people learn to drive on slippy surfaces? in my day we had to drive up a 40 degree incline daily, there'd be so much ice you'd be on your arse before you left the house... young people today...

I think you're confusing grit with salt. Salt lowers the freezing point so that ice doesn't form. Grit breaks up the surface of the ice (it sticks up above the surface) so that even if ice forms you still have some grip.

Oh, and "in my day"?? What are ya, 80?

Webbs

JohnCleary wrote: »

Don't know what the big deal is - I drove 90 miles this morning (left at 7am) and not a bother. Use yer feckin gears to slow down instead of your brakes and ye'll be grand :pac:

So how when you are going at approx 10-15mph in 2nd gear on a residential street and touch the brakes (as the car in front has done 30 yards in front of you) and your car just does an impression of a duck on ice do you propose that you use your gears to stop.
Why the holier than thou attitude? As was mentioned there was freezing rain in the city around 8ish, main roads were pretty much unaffected just side roads carparks etc.

Black_Knight

04KY wrote: »

Maybe it's because of her aggressive post style. Have a look at her post history. Full of complaining about Galway and Ireland in general.

I know, ive seen her about. But you picked the wrong post to complain about her complaining dont ya think? :P

JohnCleary

Webbs wrote: »

So how when you are going at approx 10-15mph in 2nd gear on a residential street and touch the brakes (as the car in front has done 30 yards in front of you) and your car just does an impression of a duck on ice do you propose that you use your gears to stop

You knock her into 1st, maybe? :rolleyes:

Why the holier than thou attitude?

Because I am :pac:

Webbs

I did go into first, made no difference as car was just sliding no traction whats so ever!
Hopefully you wont ever be in similar situation we arent talking about a little patch of ice here and there but sheet ice in all directions.
As I got out to look at my car another car coming to the junction at snails pace put on brakes to stop at junction and just slid straight into the middle of the junction thankfully there wasnt anyone else coming, pretty mad conditions that thankfully lasted a short time, you just coudnt see the ice at all
As was said it seemed pretty localised to Newcastle, Rahoon etc

JohnCleary

Webbs wrote: »

I did go into first, made no difference as car was just sliding no traction whats so ever!
Hopefully you wont ever be in similar situation we arent talking about a little patch of ice here and there but sheet ice in all directions.
As I got out to look at my car another car coming to the junction at snails pace put on brakes to stop at junction and just slid straight into the middle of the junction thankfully there wasnt anyone else coming, pretty mad conditions that thankfully lasted a short time, you just coudnt see the ice at all
As was said it seemed pretty localised to Newcastle, Rahoon etc

Happened me plenty of times before (Not necessarily in Ireland) - Maybe I was just lucky?

leninbenjamin

Zzippy wrote: »

I think you're confusing grit with salt. Salt lowers the freezing point so that ice doesn't form. Grit breaks up the surface of the ice (it sticks up above the surface) so that even if ice forms you still have some grip.

yeah, but it's rocksalt salt they put down here isn't it? that's why i'm saying it's near useless as the salt in the air lowers the freezing point anyway... well in and around the city and coastal areas like salthill/barna.

Zzippy wrote: »

Oh, and "in my day"?? What are ya, 80?

grew up in Donegal

Webbs wrote: »

I did go into first, made no difference as car was just sliding no traction whats so ever!
Hopefully you wont ever be in similar situation we arent talking about a little patch of ice here and there but sheet ice in all directions.
As I got out to look at my car another car coming to the junction at snails pace put on brakes to stop at junction and just slid straight into the middle of the junction thankfully there wasnt anyone else coming, pretty mad conditions that thankfully lasted a short time, you just coudnt see the ice at all
As was said it seemed pretty localised to Newcastle, Rahoon etc

be thankful you're living in one of the mildest parts of the country then. happens a hell of a lot in other parts of the country. you learn to cope...

LowOdour

I slid into a poll on the moycullen-barna road, had my little one in the back. Was freaked out all day yesterday of what could have happended. Heard that in the hour or so after that happened, 3 cars were lying in ditches around the barna golf club.

P.s - if the fooking lorry driver ,who was parked down from the golf club where I had my accident, is reading this...you my friend or a w*nk job for
A: being parked where you were - i mean wtf?
B: not even asking if I wanted any help.

Zzippy

JohnCleary wrote: »

You knock her into 1st, maybe? :rolleyes:

Or reverse! :pac:

Webbs

leninbenjamin wrote: »

be thankful you're living in one of the mildest parts of the country then. happens a hell of a lot in other parts of the country. you learn to cope...

I didnt grow up in Ireland and agree its mild here, but the conditions werent the usual icy conditions, I have only seen it like that a couple of times in my life where the rain freezes as it hits the ground so that it just creates a sheet of ice not just icy wet patches.
I remember many years ago something similar (though on a wider area and heavier rain) happen in Bristol area, every tree looked like it was made of ice, it was incredible as any car that turned on to a downslope was unable to stop, it looked like something out of a disaster movie, where cars had slid down hills hitting parked cars on both side of the roads as they went, the entire city just ground or slid to a halt

snubbleste

Gaillimh1990 wrote: »

I really do not think it is fair to criticise the GCC... They are doing a great job all year around and nobody has the right to 'down' them.... If the uk is so great why are you here? - no offence.:rolleyes::D:D

I would not mind hearing the answer to this either.

KevR

The footpaths were fairly slippery on Monday. Luckily I managed to walk into college without falling on my face!

My driveway and the roads in my estate were quite bad but the main roads didn't seem to be as icy (I'm guessing the main roads were salted and the roads in my estate weren't).