As we all know we was blessed with snow from Friday (17th December 2010). Although brilliant for the children at Christmas time, it would appear not so for the people having to drive. Many people are severely unprepared.
I spent 10 hours on Saturday towing people up Millbrook Hill (yes close to the famous Millbrook test track). Working well after dark a few of us 4×4 owners spent most of the day and night clearing a massive back log of vehicles through this little village.
I would just like to express my digust at the local police and their attitude towards the whole situation. I will explain why: A police officer pulls up to a junction, after we had already recovered approximately 20 cars. When asked if he could close the road he replied ‘Do you know what resources are required to do this?’. He was heading down the hill and could simply of place a couple of cones out. So I explained there is an issue because the gritting lorry cannot get down the road and there are cars with children etc in. He told us to go home and let people fend for themselves. At this half the people who had already spent time helping became angry and the policeman left.
Of the people we recovered there was two police heading to start their shift, a fireman been called in for an emergency and a handful of emergency medical staff. None of these would have been able to get to their emergencies without our help.
All this aside most people was very grateful we was on hand to help. Unfortunately a few people thought it would be a good idea to go past the queued cars as fast as possible in an attempt to have momentum to make the hill. 90% of the time this failed causing us more trouble than had they waited.
I would just like to mention a few cars which I would not use in the snow and the reasons why:
- Skoda Fabia (new shape) – the towing eye has to be inserted through the grill and cannot be screwed into place without removing trim.
- BMW 1xx – a small hatchback which being rear wheel drive has little traction on slippery surfaces.
- Ford Mondeo Estate (new shape) – terrible traction as no weight over front wheels, had to be towed over a mile!
- Vauxhall Insigna – traction control cuts engine if wheels spin slightly.
- Modern Vans – most are now front wheel drive and terrible in the snow.
I would just like to congratulate the 4×4 owners from Marston and surrounding areas on a job well done. We moved an estimated 200 vehicles on Saturday and successfully managed to clear all the traffic.
I took some photographs on Saturday:
