New driver - can employer force me to use my car if it’s snowing

caz_cardiff87

vikingaero wrote: »

Best thing to do is to find a nearby empty car park with no lampposts or bollards and practice. Try slamming on the brakes at 10mph and above and see how long it takes to stop. They try turning and accelerating to learn the limits.

It’s pretty much all gone now except for a few patches in our car park, some residential roads are a bit icey but nothing major. So unfortunately it will have to wait till the next time! I do think its a good idea tho!

Also just to note - my boss didn’t make it in on friday (and trust me if she could she would, her journey is pretty epic on the best of days so for her to not turn up means it was pretty bad! there is no issue from work with me, just a few snide comments from colleagues that got my back up a bit and left me wondering if i was being a pansy about it

i’m glad the majority of you appreciate those who recognise their ability or lack thereof and decide not to risk it. Being a new driver insurance premiums are epic (i’m paying 170 a month!) the last thing i need is an accident or to write the car off and not be able to replace it.

As for the tyre issue, for those who didn’t appreciate my legal but albeit low tyre tread, my car is booked in for tuesday - 4 new tyres for the grand price of 200 quid.

I understand its annoying when people bang on about not being able to afford maintenance on their cars but insist on driving - trust me i would never drive my car if it was illegal to do so, i need my license and could not put that in jeopardy by being ignorant of the risks. I’ve budgeted for mot repairs and left myself very little disposable income for the next two months, no biggie, it’s doable and i always put my car first because i have no other choice!

What does irk me a little is when some people (and again i’ve had this from colleagues) who flipantly say ‘get a credit card / loan / car finance’ and assume a graduate, living in an overdraft and already paying off a credit card (albeit a small one and forking out a ton on insurance) who only recently got turned down for credit, would automatically be accepted for loans of upwards of 3 - 4 grand on a nearly new or used car with warranties and whatever else....admittedly i haven’t shopped around too much as i am aware to many applications for credit can mess up your ability to be accepted so i’m really dubious about sneding off too many applications.

yes in an ideal world i won’t have to rely on trade dealers or private sellers for a cheap runaround, and actually have a car i trust for more than pootering from hospital sites and around town. I’ve got a financial plan for the next 12 - 18 months, to clear my debt, live as frugally as possible, build up a ’safety net' and wait for my insurance to come down significantly.Digging yourself out of the financial hole after uni just takes time, and i think a lot of people forget that or just don’t understand. All i can say is i do everything possible to keep my car going so for those who can replace things willy nilly and not worry about it, thats great for you, but not everyone can do that.

StrongWork

Gilbert2 wrote: »

This always crops up.

You have to realise that the UK is not in mainland europe, it is an island with quite a different climate.

Even German, Dutch, French, Polish etc airports have problems regularly, as does their roads, with snow despite seeing a lot more of the stuff and having a better infrastructure to deal with it.

When taking into account the relative historical rarity of significant snowfall in the UK, to how we cope, then it isn't really such an issue.

Get over it!

Maybe it always crops up because the way we deal with it is utterly pathetic. Even the way it is reported in the news makes it seem as though the Mayan prophecy is coming true.

Perhaps if UK drivers thought about using winter tyres (and actually learnt how to drive properly) we wouldn't have gridlock/abandoned cars/utter chaos with 2 cm snow.

suki1964

I would still practice driving and stopping in snow and ice every opportunity. Winters aren't going to get better, we are bound to get ice, snow and black ice every winter

I live in a very rural part of the country and we only get bad weather.. I'm a new driver - in comparison to my hubby - me 5 years, him 33 years, yet I'm a better night driver and bad weather driver then him, because all his driving was London, and mine has all been here

I think I was actually lucky that my first winter driving the weather was so bad, because I was still pretty cautious and didn't have well ingrained bad habits, it wasn't so difficult

Snow/ ice driving is really stressful but is doable and the sooner you start learning the better for you

Get yourself a winter kit together ( I even have two SIM cards for my phone case one network isn't working where I am) snow shovel, blanket, big bottle of water, biscuits and chocolate, tissues, and cat litter or the old carpet and make sure your car is ok, oil, water, window washers, enough fuel, spare wheel etc etc etc

And most of all allow time for your journey. Expect to be only driving at 10 - 20 miles an hour. Keep a car distance between you and the car in front (at least) and remember your brake is your worse enemy on ice , slow down by decelerating and using your gears

Gilbert2

StrongWork wrote: »

Maybe it always crops up because the way we deal with it is utterly pathetic. Even the way it is reported in the news makes it seem as though the Mayan prophecy is coming true.

Perhaps if UK drivers thought about using winter tyres (and actually learnt how to drive properly) we wouldn't have gridlock/abandoned cars/utter chaos with 2 cm snow.

It's reported as it is because that in itself shows how exceptional it is for the UK to have a deluge of snow, it is essentially a rare event, especially southern areas.

We get far more tornadoes than snow.

I've never used winter tyres yet and i haven't ever had problems driving in snow or on ice with budget tyres.

I do agree with part of your statement in bold.

Splott

londonTiger wrote: »

1.6mm is the legal limit, not 2mm+

Yes, the legal MINIMUM limit and its a good idea to change them before they get to that point from a safety point of view.

Splott

redux wrote: »

None of this macho posturing bollux would be necessary if the councils would get themselves and their contractors off their !!!!!! and treat the roads

Road salt only works down to around -5C.

Gilbert2

Splott wrote: »

Yes, the legal MINIMUM limit and its a good idea to change them before they get to that point from a safety point of view.

By that logic it would be safer to change tyres at 7mm because they are not at 8mm!:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Just get in your car and drive. All this snow and ice is good practice. Which is what you need wise you end up becoming one of those fair-weather-only drivers.

I've done a 100 miles today in the snow and ice going out for lunch, meeting friends and having a general mooch about. No problems.

redux

Splott wrote: »

Road salt only works down to around -5C.

I didn't actually mention only salt.

It depends on the amount used

Rock salt, sodium chloride, can lower the freezing point of water down to minus 20 C, but it's several times more effective on roads at minus 2 or 3 than at minus 8 or so and then diminishes in effect. Below minus 10 they might add some calcium or magnesium chloride, but maybe that doesn't happen here, I don't know.

But the amount used on a road usually isn't enough to totally melt all the snow. Pre-treatment stops it sticking as well to the roadway, and after treatment helps break up the snow and keep it workable so they can plough it more easily.

So usually we might have enough salt on a bus stop pavement or station platform to melt it all - and the thing to do is shovel or sweep it clear first and then salt what's left - but on a road they also need the ploughs out.

And that's what was missing in some areas. Pre-salting the road overnight isn't going to do the job on its own.

dacouch

I'm not long back from driving from London to Aberdeen and back, I left at stupid o'clock on Friday.

Plenty of snow all along the route but hardly any traffic.

The gantry signs made me laugh, in England they had "Sever weather forecast" and were generally panicky warnings. Once over the border the gantry signs just had the legend "Snow forecast".

The Scots who once again were amazingly friendly to an Englishman were laughing at how we handle the snow south of the border.

P.S Why do people use fog lights in snow?