Okay, so the forecasters got it right for a change and it snowed a bit this morning.
No problem, thought I. I have nearly two decades of driving experience, including a number of police driving courses (and a standard course which coincided with some of the worst snow we’ve had for quite a while), and a stable and highly dependable vehicle equipped with flourescent jacket, first aid kit, food supplies (well, some dextrose tabs and chewing gum) and I was prepared for the journey.
I forgot about other motorists, though.
You know the weather’s been bad when you see people driving past in their people carriers, their driving experience limited to doing the school run through the spring/summer months, with no headlights on and the tiniest slit carved through the snow and ice across their windscreen to peer out of like some WW2 armoured scout vehicle. And when they finally summon the courage to exceed 10 mph on a dual carriageway with nothing more offensive than salty water on it, their vehicle turns into a mobile blizzard as the 6″ of snow caked onto the roof gets blown off in intermittant avalanches of visibility-impairing snow.
And best of all, they still think their headlights and indicators work, despite the fact they couldn’t be bothered to scrape a foot of snow off them, either.
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- A long, cold car park, earlier this morning
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- Who’d drive an Audi R8 in these conditions?!
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- Not so fast now, are you?
kKop's Blog 
December 18, 2009 at 4:11 pm |
Yeah, I must confess that seeing a car that’s had maybe 5 seconds spent on the smallest of small viewing slits scraped across the windshield really does boil my piss – if that’s how much the safety of you, your passengers and other road users matters to you, best hand back your license, eh?
And on another, entirely unrelated note, criminals-get-appropriate-sentance shocker.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6839246/Men-who-murdered-sub-postmaster-jailed-for-life.html
December 18, 2009 at 4:18 pm |
I find that if you start yelling about careless and inconsiderate, people will get out and clear the snow from the windows. Ironic that in less than perfect conditions, these massive vehicles are almost grounded by the walking victims that drive them!
I will be taking my thermals into work tomorrow, without a doubt, lest I get stuck at a cold and messy RTC.
PB.
December 18, 2009 at 5:49 pm |
The slushy stuff hasn’t landed in the midlands yet, due tonight… brrr!
Great to see you up and running kKop! I’ve put a link to your pages on our site under our favourite police blogs section in the side bar.
Keep em coming mate.
Kind Regards
Steve
December 18, 2009 at 6:09 pm |
Cheers Steve – it seems we’re a day ahead of the Midlands with the bad weather! I was going to turn my hand to making a snowman for miniKop this afternoon as he loves that kind of thing, but it was a bit too chilly. *8)
December 18, 2009 at 6:35 pm |
We’ve had some of the white stuff as well, but as this is Scotland, the trains all ran, the buses all ran, everyone got to work/school (albeit maybe 10 minutes late) and things are just, well, colder.
The “girls” and I are off out for drinkies in half an hour, and I foolishly promised my youngest I’d take her sledging at the Braids if we get more snow tonight/tomorrow. Sledging with a hangover – that’s parental dedication.
December 18, 2009 at 7:27 pm |
Welcome to the blog, Fee!
Now, you see, places like Scotland are no strangers to inclement weather like snow and as a result are so much more able to deal with it without running around throwing hissy fits because there’s a dusting of white stuff on the road.
I spent a week in Finland many moons ago and it amazed me how they took weather in their stride that would leave us all shell shocked and afraid to step out of our doors. Mind you, each parking space over there had a hookup to plug the car into the mains: the engine was kept warm overnight and there was no chance of the coolant freezing. Plus you had a warm car to start you journey with in the morning, even though it was -15 degrees!!
December 19, 2009 at 11:32 am
Found you via Gadget, by the way.
No more snow so far (so one huffy nine year old!) but I did have a nice wee chat with a couple of your brother officers in Edinburgh city centre last night. They were lovely chaps, slightly bemused when several women approached them offering Cadbury’s Roses from a big box! They were gratefully received, and they very gracefully dealt with the (perhaps) slightly off-colour jokes about the handcuffs … but I suppose it made a nice change from getting dog’s abuse from random drunks.
December 19, 2009 at 11:52 am |
Oh trust me, it’s a real treat to get attention like that instead of the usual abuse and violence. 🙂
My nine year old (snap!) was buzzing yesterday and reeling off a list of casualties at the snowball fight he had at school. There was a depressed little face this morning when there was no fresh snow here, either.