Well, it's winter in the UK again, and we've got snow again, and the country has come to a standstill again. And we're probably the only country that suffers from this problem. We're definitely the only country to suffer from this problem on such a regular basis.t
This is a national embarassment. And it's a good indicator that we are no longer the great nation we thought we were. Instead, we're a nation of life's failures.
It's snows in the UK. Deal with it.
It's not a surprise, especially if you've lived here all your life. It's part of what British life is all about. So it's something you need to take responsibility for.
In Scandinavian countries, the roads get gritted, and gritted, and gritted. And the paths too. The paths get gritted repeatedly until by the end of winter it's at least an inch thick. They then collect it up again and save it for the following year.
It's a major part of the state budgets for these countries.
But we are not a scandinavian country, so it's not fair to compare ourselves to them. It doesn't snow here for 3-4 months continuously. Our grit gets washed away by the rain so it can't be retrieved and saved for the following year. We need to use it sparingly.
Other countries don't get snow at all, so they don't need to worry about it. And some countries get snow so rarely, that when it does happen, they are unprepared and the whole area grinds to a halt. For them, losing a couple of days of production in their economy every 20-30 years is more cost effective than trying to store grit and road gritters and snow ploughs.
We cannot compare ourselves to those countries either. Even though that seems to be exactly what happens. We get snow almost every year. It's not cost effective for our economy to lose a few days of production.
So, what do they do in countries that do get snow on a regular basis for a few days or weeks of the year?
Well there's a range of different measures taken by different countries.
Some of them grit the roads, some of them don't. Some of them scrape the roads with snow ploughs, some of them don't. Some of them grit the roads until the stocks run out, then they scrape the roads. Some of them grit certain types of roads and scrape other types of roads.
But in almost all developed countries with similar climates, it's a legal requirement to have either snow tyres*, snow chains* or both during winter months.
In other words, not only is it made clear that you cannot rely on someone else to deal with the snow (ie. the Government), but you WILL NOT rely on someone else to deal with it. If you try to shirk that responsibility, you will pay for that mistake with heavy fines.
There are a lot of people in the UK with 4x4s these days. And during the snow they get very smug that they got the last laugh. They spend all year getting ridiculed that they have a 4x4 in the middle of London and never take it off road. Then the snow comes and they're the only people that can get about.
That's one way of taking responsibility for yourself in this situation. But it's quite an expensive way of doing it.
If you can afford a car, but not a 4x4, that doesn't relive you of the moral requirement to take responsibility for yourself.
Snow chains* can cost as little as £40-£50 and are the cheapest way to deal with snow in the UK. But you can only use them on snowy, ungritted roads. They have a habit of tearing up roads that don't have snow on them. They take a few minutes to put on and take off which can get annoying if you have to keep doing it.
Snow tyres* are another option, which are more expensive to start with, but they pay for themselves over time.
So many people say, I can't afford to be buying 2 sets of tyres for my car. But just think about it. Each set lasts twice as long because you're using them for half the time. Over the life of the tyres, you're spending the same amount of money.
You put them on when the weather starts to look bad at the start of winter, and you take them off when it clears up at the end of winter.
If you've been stuck in the snow recently, holding up traffic, and you didn't have a 4x4, snow chains* or snow tyres*, then YOU brought the country to a standstill not the snow.
This is the 21st century. We have the technology to deal with this. You just have to use it.
