Don't travel unless absolutely necessary ?

dnme

Constant advice from the Gardai - Don't travel unless absolutely necessary ?

What does this mean?
Is work necessary?
Is a school run necessary?
Shopping (well stocked v no food in the house)?

Is this just another exercise in PR trying to cover themselves?

sink

It means use your head.

fiacha

I think they are just reminding people to use common sense. Buying food / fuel, getting to work, checking on neighbors etc are obviously necessary.

Some people need to be hand fed information and to be honest the Gardai shouldn't feel the need to "cover themselves".

People should take responsibility for their own and others safety in situations like this.

Fyr.Fytr

There is no hard and fast rule, it just means people should use their cop on

Urgent medical appointments, picking up prescriptions, getting shopping cause youve no food in the house, getting fuel to heat the house, calling to relatives or neighbours to check their welfare - All necessary

Going out to buy a bottle of coke because you want one or going for a spin to take a look at all the pretty snow - not necessary

Also id add to the not necessary catagory driving to the shop when its a 2min walk like most of my neighbours did

gbee

Driving like crazy in a wide tyre studded 4x4 just for the fun of it?

Bleedin spoilers ...

Irish Steve

Even after 3 weeks of winter weather, there's still a huge number of people driving who are clueless:mad::mad::mad: and I don't think they have the ability to learn how to drive in the present conditions.

It's really not hard, or that demanding.

If the car is rear wheel drive, put some heavy items in the boot to help keep the back where it belongs.

Make sure all the tyre pressures are correct, and DO NOT lower them, you run the risk of damaging the tyre and maybe also the rims if you hit a significant pothole, as did a business associate in his Merc the other day, took out 2 245/45/17's and cracked an alloy wheel in a pothole near Ashbourne on a back road. That's expensive!

Forget that first gear exists, all it does in these conditions is put too much torque onto the road too quickly. Reverse is even worse, and the number of numpties I've seen in recent days trying to do 3 (30) point turns in totally inappropriate places beggars belief. Spinning forward, spinning backwards, going nowhere and blocking the progress of everyone around them.

Once the speed is above 15 Kph, pretend the brakes don't work, and leave them alone, use the engine and appropriate gear to slow down. Don't use high revs.

If about to climb a hill, if there is any chance of losing grip, make sure that you are in an appropriate gear for the entire hill, and doing enough speed to avoid gear changes if possible. Do everything possible to avoid having to drop into first gear, all that will do is probably lead to a spin out, even on a gentle slope. That may mean increasing speed, which as long as you're going in a straight line, it won't be a problem. If that means waiting for someone else to clear the hill, that's better than being stuck half way up and sliding in all directions. Going down a hill, get into a low gear before starting down, don't rely on using brakes at the bottom, especially if there is a stop or traffic lights there.

Despite all the advice, do NOT drive too slowly. This morning was a classic example. From Ashbourne to Finglas, the M2 motorway was one lane down to tarmac, which was wet, with a snow ridge in the middle, and the right lane was about 1 to 2 cm of loose wet snow. A line of vehicles travelling towards Dublin were being balked by a car doing about 25 kph. A 40 Ft artic was the first to move, he went out into the snow in L2, followed shortly by a number of other trucks, including 1 artic tractor with no trailer, and a couple of 4 x 4's. The right hand lane which was snow covered was totally safe with appropriate braking distances (see above) at 70 Kph, as long as nothing sudden was done. The left lane on water would have been safe at over 100 kph, again with appropriate braking distances, and all that 25 kph did was cause complete frustration to the drivers that do know how to drive in the conditions.

I travelled from Balbriggan to Ashbourne last night at 18:30 over the hills in significant snow. I know the road well, and it normally takes 30 minutes for that journey. Last night, it took 40, and at no stage did I have any concerns about exceeding safe margins.

Make sure you can see out in all directions. A 6 x 4 hole in the snow on the windscreen, nothing else removed, and the lights still snow covered is not safe, saw an 04 sKoda ( I think) leaving Ashbourne last night like that, on sidelights, at 19:05, and he was nearly on the pavement, at 10 Kph, probably because he couldn't see out of the thing.


A lot of countries deal with these conditions for or 4 months of the year, and don't grind to a halt just because there's a couple of centimetres of snow on the ground. In Colorado, it's not unusual to see a fall of 50 Cms of snow in a night, and within 3 hours, the roads are open again, the schools are open, and there's no gridlock. Most of the time, they don't even bother to get the snow ploughs out for less than 5 cm, it's not worth it.

If you are travelling a distance, make sure that there's plenty of fuel in the tank, it's very easy to use extra fuel on a trip like this. Also, for a long trip, make sure that all in the vehicle have suitable clothing for an emergency. It's all very well going dressed for a special event, but a different story if for some reason you end up stranded and only wearing party type clothes, especially if for some reason there's no engine to provide heating during what may be a long wait for assistance.

Check the screen wash levels, and make sure that there's appropriate additives in it to prevent freezing.

There's still 2 months of potential snow this winter. A lot of people need to cop on very rapidly to what's happening around them.

Steve

djmc

Very good advice steve I think a lot of bad drivers are holding up the roads
I travel in second gear and under 40 mph on snow covered roads and have winter tyres on the car.
I have met cars doing 5mph in first gear with car ticking over holding everyone up, its trying to pass these cars can be dangerous more so on back roads.
If there is no car in front of you and cars behind you pull in and let them pass.
I think it would be a good idea also if the rsa put some sort of a skid school
onto the driving test maybe with some ice rally driving instructers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rDrcor2zPk

JuliusCaesar

I've been through Dublin city centre a couple of times in recent days, and OBVIOUSLY buying Christmas presents of useless junk is absolutely necessary for thousands of people.




*Yes, I'm anti-useless junk that gets passed around at this time of year. If it's edible or drinkable, it's not junk.

irishmotorist

I'm looking at it as practical advice.

I live in Lucan and work in Dun Laoghaire. It's not necessary for me to drive there because I can get bus/dart. This worked to my favour last night when I hopped off the bus when it got stuck in unmoving traffic and walked the rest of the way home. Also, I know that by not being in a car, I contributed by some percentage to allowing other people home earlier. If more people who were driving through town for work got the bus, traffic problems would have been much reduced yesterday. I wonder how many of the Kms of queues of people last night had no other option?

I'm not going to drive to the local shops. I got a big shop late last week based on forecasts and knowing that roads would be difficult. I'll stick with walking for little upgrades as needed.

As said above, it means use your head and think of the big picture.

cabot

Only yesterday hundreds trekked to Stonehenge for the winter solstice, like that was a necessary journey.

ExiledDub

I'm driving from Cork to Killiney on Friday.

Does anyone know if Church Rd in Ballybrack or Ballinclea Rd have been gritted?

Thanks.

irishmotorist

ExiledDub wrote: »

Does anyone know if Church Rd in Ballybrack or Ballinclea Rd have been gritted?

I don't know, but I'd doubt it. The N11 or M50 have just about been gritted.

Andrew42

When's the last time you went for a drive just for the sheer pleasure of it anyway?

00112984

Andrew42 wrote: »

When's the last time you went for a drive just for the sheer pleasure of it anyway?

About 2 weeks ago. I'm letting my gender down here but, while I'm a confident driver in normal circumstances, I don't have experience of ever having to drive on thick snow and ice. Yes, I know I'll never learn by NOT doing it but I live in Dublin City Centre and it's not practical to practice on these roads in these conditions. Chances are I'm going to get into trouble somewhere and I don't have the confidence to get myself out of a sticky situation in a timely manner that won't impede other drivers- especially on a busy city street.

So, my car is staying put except for his nibs (who is a very competent driver in this weather) using it. My little contribution to the country these days is keeping myself off the road until things clear up a bit.

Sparks

cabot wrote: »

Only yesterday hundreds trekked to Stonehenge for the winter solstice, like that was a necessary journey.

And hundreds of thousands went to mass on sunday, the idiots.


Anyone who knows how much salt the relevant councils have care to guess at whether the M7/M9 from Dublin to Kilkenny will be gritted by Friday morning?

Andrew42

Sparks wrote: »

Anyone who knows how much salt the relevant councils have care to guess at whether the M7/M9 from Dublin to Kilkenny will be gritted by Friday morning?

Who cares? I live in Dublin. Everyone knows Santa only does the Capital when the weather is bad;)

Sparks

Andrew42 wrote: »

Who cares? I live in Dublin. Everyone knows Santa only does the Capital when the weather is bad;)

Three guesses where I live?
But needs must and the wife's family must be fed, and I'm the chef. So to Kilkenny I must go...

TJJP

Irish Steve wrote: »

Even after 3 weeks of winter weather, there's still a huge number of people driving who are clueless:mad::mad::mad: and I don't think they have the ability to learn how to drive in the present conditions. It's really not hard, or that demanding. <snip>
Steve

Great post, says it all. Here's a thank you photo for you:

00112984 wrote: »

I live in Dublin City Centre and it's not practical to practice on these roads in these conditions. Chances are I'm going to get into trouble somewhere and I don't have the confidence to get myself out of a sticky situation in a timely manner that won't impede other drivers- especially on a busy city street.

True too; Dublin isn't good just now. It's not so much the driving but the others; bald tyres on junkers in one place and superman in a 4x4 somewhere else.... not to mention the important calls that just must be taken.

Sparks

Irish Steve wrote: »

Make sure you can see out in all directions. A 6 x 4 hole in the snow on the windscreen, nothing else removed, and the lights still snow covered is not safe

+1million. Some stupid driver in an 09 megane who hadn't even gotten a 6x4 hole in the snow on her windscreen (there are countries where you lose your licence for that), dove across two lanes of the M50 and nearly hit the inner divider at the N3 junction yesterday, and she only had to make one lane change to get onto the N3 anyway if she'd just taken the roundabout instead of insisting on using the direct slip road. Damn near caused a bad accident because the rest of us couldn't see her indicate through the snow over her indicator, couldn't see her brake through the snow over her brake lights, and couldn't exactly stand on the brakes ourselves at the time; all because she didn't want to take an extra 30-40 seconds on the roundabout.

And can I add to the advice, clean off your roof. Takes about ten seconds and stops the snow you've collected on your roof blowing back into the windscreens of the traffic behind you on the road :mad: