Main roads left at a standstill after snowfall (From The Argus)

Completely unacceptable, this would not be tolerated in any other civilised country. How were the gritters caught out like this? This snowfall was forecast! Sack Kitkat, he continues to embarrass Brighton and Hove.

Alan G Skinner wrote:
Completely unacceptable, this would not be tolerated in any other civilised country. How were the gritters caught out like this? This snowfall was forecast! Sack Kitkat, he continues to embarrass Brighton and Hove.

You have obviously not been anywhere else in winter.

People who can't drive in snow need to stay at home..and that's most of you, it would seem.

My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Winter tyres do the trick. This is how Scandinavian countries keep going.

What happens if I have to abandon my car due to the icy conditions? At what stage should I return to my car? Will it be towed away, or given a parking ticket?
Sensible answers, please.

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Did you pop into Woodingdean or any of the other places mentioned? Obviously not or you wouldn't make such a stupid comment. If a car can't go up a hill because of the ice it has nothing to do with whether or not a person can drive in snow does it.

Tallywhacker wrote:

Alan G Skinner wrote:
Completely unacceptable, this would not be tolerated in any other civilised country. How were the gritters caught out like this? This snowfall was forecast! Sack Kitkat, he continues to embarrass Brighton and Hove.

You have obviously not been anywhere else in winter.

Does Austria, France, Germany, Norway count in winter count? I have NEVER witnessed cars being abandoned and roads being closed for an inch of snow. Why are people accepting of this. The council have a duty of care to ensure all main roads are safe and serviceable, there are no exceptions. The council have shown themselves to be ill prepared and incompetent. Someone is paid to ensure the roads remain safe and serviceable, that person should be sacked.

Took my partner 4 hours dooor to door from Newhaven to Brighton. Roadworks on A27 into Brighton have caused immense problems; this morning - with no sign of snow - there are tailbacks from Vogue Gyratory to Falmer stadium.

Alan G Skinner wrote:
Completely unacceptable, this would not be tolerated in any other civilised country. How were the gritters caught out like this? This snowfall was forecast! Sack Kitkat, he continues to embarrass Brighton and Hove.

Well Alan G Skinner, the actual forecast was for heavy rain as per the BBC weather forecast, so yes when heavy snow arrived it did catch everyone by surprise.
I live in Hollingbury and I was amazed at how much came down so quickly. As for sack Kitkat, what the hell has he got to do with the snow !!

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Please do advise us as to the route that you took as clearly it was not the A27 which was impassable at 6pm !!
Oh and well done for being such fantastic drivers in driving in these "treacherous conditions" a hero's driving medal is on its way.

Ihopenoonehasthisuse
rname wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Did you pop into Woodingdean or any of the other places mentioned? Obviously not or you wouldn't make such a stupid comment. If a car can't go up a hill because of the ice it has nothing to do with whether or not a person can drive in snow does it.

Obviously I did not and my comment was not stupid, drivers are stupid if they don't prepare. We have winter tyres fitted and snow socks for the tyres too. So the stupid ones are people like you who don't prepare for weather like this depite being warned about it, so wind your neck in and crawl back under the stone from whence you came!

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Lol, the level of nonsense spewed forth on these comments sections is entertainment of itself. "Dumbest comment of the day" is a hotly competed prize but you seem to have taken an early lead. What a plonker.

Ohnotagain ! wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Please do advise us as to the route that you took as clearly it was not the A27 which was impassable at 6pm !!
Oh and well done for being such fantastic drivers in driving in these "treacherous conditions" a hero's driving medal is on its way.

Your sarcasm has been noted! the A27 was not impassable at 6pm if you were prepared for the extreme weather we had. Snow tyres and snow socks are what we used and no we don't have 4x4's just a mini and a citroen oh and the driving skills to drive in conditions like this. We both invested in extra driving courses to learn these skills after the last bout of snow last year, so thanks for the sarcasm but wind your neck back in and until you are qualified to comment I suggest you shut up!

Pitviper wrote:

Ihopenoonehasthisuse

rname wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Did you pop into Woodingdean or any of the other places mentioned? Obviously not or you wouldn't make such a stupid comment. If a car can't go up a hill because of the ice it has nothing to do with whether or not a person can drive in snow does it.

Obviously I did not and my comment was not stupid, drivers are stupid if they don't prepare. We have winter tyres fitted and snow socks for the tyres too. So the stupid ones are people like you who don't prepare for weather like this depite being warned about it, so wind your neck in and crawl back under the stone from whence you came!

When you are already in your car, half way up a hill and an inch of snow dumps down in 15 minutes (5pm last night in Hove) there isn't a lot you can do about it - I have winter tyres fitted and I struggled to make it up Woodland Drive, and then slid about 20 metres down the slip road onto the A27. Nothing I could have done about it

It wasn't the snow that made my journey home 4 times as long last night, it was the roadworks and lane closures on Lewes Road that caused the problems, as usual. I cant see why anyone would want to reduce this road to one lane permanently, that is clearly madness.

Pitviper wrote:

Ohnotagain ! wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Please do advise us as to the route that you took as clearly it was not the A27 which was impassable at 6pm !!
Oh and well done for being such fantastic drivers in driving in these "treacherous conditions" a hero's driving medal is on its way.

Your sarcasm has been noted! the A27 was not impassable at 6pm if you were prepared for the extreme weather we had. Snow tyres and snow socks are what we used and no we don't have 4x4's just a mini and a citroen oh and the driving skills to drive in conditions like this. We both invested in extra driving courses to learn these skills after the last bout of snow last year, so thanks for the sarcasm but wind your neck back in and until you are qualified to comment I suggest you shut up!

Well prepared indeed. I bet you're one of those people who has a toilet roll cover, too.

Ballroom Blitz wrote:
People who can't drive in snow need to stay at home..and that's most of you, it would seem.

And what happens when it hasn't snowed all day, but then does just as you leave work?

TheDelicateOne wrote:

Pitviper wrote:

Ihopenoonehasthisuse


rname wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Did you pop into Woodingdean or any of the other places mentioned? Obviously not or you wouldn't make such a stupid comment. If a car can't go up a hill because of the ice it has nothing to do with whether or not a person can drive in snow does it.

Obviously I did not and my comment was not stupid, drivers are stupid if they don't prepare. We have winter tyres fitted and snow socks for the tyres too. So the stupid ones are people like you who don't prepare for weather like this depite being warned about it, so wind your neck in and crawl back under the stone from whence you came!

When you are already in your car, half way up a hill and an inch of snow dumps down in 15 minutes (5pm last night in Hove) there isn't a lot you can do about it - I have winter tyres fitted and I struggled to make it up Woodland Drive, and then slid about 20 metres down the slip road onto the A27. Nothing I could have done about it

You forgot snow socks! They are a godsend in this weather. I suggest you invest in some, you may think it's a waste of money but it's not, and yes when I was driving it was dumping snow at the same rate.

harrisimo wrote:

Pitviper wrote:

Ohnotagain ! wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Please do advise us as to the route that you took as clearly it was not the A27 which was impassable at 6pm !!
Oh and well done for being such fantastic drivers in driving in these "treacherous conditions" a hero's driving medal is on its way.

Your sarcasm has been noted! the A27 was not impassable at 6pm if you were prepared for the extreme weather we had. Snow tyres and snow socks are what we used and no we don't have 4x4's just a mini and a citroen oh and the driving skills to drive in conditions like this. We both invested in extra driving courses to learn these skills after the last bout of snow last year, so thanks for the sarcasm but wind your neck back in and until you are qualified to comment I suggest you shut up!

Well prepared indeed. I bet you're one of those people who has a toilet roll cover, too.

Nah, they're totally naff, but I do have a booble hat does that count? lol

Man With No Name wrote:
It wasn't the snow that made my journey home 4 times as long last night, it was the roadworks and lane closures on Lewes Road that caused the problems, as usual. I cant see why anyone would want to reduce this road to one lane permanently, that is clearly madness.

Well said the Man With No Name...its an absolute nightmare on Lewes Road at the moment, with so many lane closures and roadworks along this extremely busy route. Bad news for drivers, cyclists and bus users alike. Who is responsible for scheduling so many lane closures at the same time? They need to be named and shamed.

Man With No Name wrote:
It wasn't the snow that made my journey home 4 times as long last night, it was the roadworks and lane closures on Lewes Road that caused the problems, as usual. I cant see why anyone would want to reduce this road to one lane permanently, that is clearly madness.

Without doubt, one of the most sensible comments I have ever read on here. Surely the congestion last night and this morning as a result of reducing this main thoroughfare down to a single lane is testament enough to maintain it as a dual carriageway, albeit under the newly enforced speed restriction.

best comment..... sack kitkat... best get used to gridlock on lewes road soon to be known as kitkats folly ... what you see now is how it will be when finished .traffic nightmare a greens utopia shame on them

Yes it was forecast, yes the roads were gritted. We had a fairly unique problem yesterday, and I'm surprised at the level of intelligence here being so low. Oh no, it's the Argus site, no I'm not.

Anyone with a window will know the roads were wet yesterday PM. This, combined with rain, washes grit off. Anyone that has ever driven on a main road will know most of the salt ends up stuck to cars. So, grit or no grit, the roads are pretty bare and running well.

Now, because of our locations we are often in that magic "half a degree" when it could be reason or snow, although there is no set temperature as other atmospheric conditions decide when precipitation is snow. It can snow at five degrees, yesterday in Bexhill it was 0.5°C and raining.

So, cue rush hour, the South Downs and the minutes conditional change required to turn water into wet snow: the worst, most slippery type. Now cars slow, and the volume of traffic soon means you have a jam. Snow falls around the stationary vehicles and those on the gradient struggle for grip. The traffic builds, people then try and rat run out the jam, but the increased volume of traffic brings these roads to a stand: gridlock!

Now, for grit to work, traffic has to go over it. If traffic is stationary a) the gritter is in the jam and b) traffic isn't activating the grit.

At 11am yesterday the Met Office increased the existing ice warning to include snow and the possibility was mentioned on BBC Weather the night before.

So there we have it. Weather, traffic levels, time of day and bad luck.

But a gritter can't grit through traffic and can't be effective on a wet road in advance, plus we were all warned the night before, so all made contingency plans, filled car up, put a small box of grit in the back and a spade to help us if we get stuck. And a Thermos and blankets.

It is winter. You have to look after yourselves like adults. Be aware. Be prepared. Research.

It caught council gritters unaware? So they weren't listening when the met office said there would be up to 5cm of snow FIVE HOURS BEFORE IT HIT!!! It was unacceptable. Winter tyres or not, the roads were pure ice rinks and no amount of fancy rubber or chains on your car wheels would have made a difference. It took my mum 4 hours to get home from Lewes to Woodingdean in a 4x4. It took myself 3 hours to travel along warren road down into falmer road due to the conditions and weight of traffic too.

As for places being cut off from bus services, Woodingdean always gets cut off when it snows, why stop now. This is probably the first year I've known for buses to attempt going in or out when it snows.

Perhaps this is just the plan of our green council to get us all using our cars less and walking more?

I believe that it's the Highways Agency that's responsible for gritting A roads, nothing to do with the council.
I hope I drive sensibly, but there's nothing to be done when stuck in a line of stationary traffic, so I think it's unfair to blame the drivers. I arrived at the A27/A23 junction at 5.30 last night, and reached the Kingston roundabout at 9:30; no ninja driving skills would have got me there any faster, but a more proactive approach by the Highways Agency might have done

Pitviper wrote:

TheDelicateOne wrote:

Pitviper wrote:

Ihopenoonehasthisuse



rname wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Did you pop into Woodingdean or any of the other places mentioned? Obviously not or you wouldn't make such a stupid comment. If a car can't go up a hill because of the ice it has nothing to do with whether or not a person can drive in snow does it.

Obviously I did not and my comment was not stupid, drivers are stupid if they don't prepare. We have winter tyres fitted and snow socks for the tyres too. So the stupid ones are people like you who don't prepare for weather like this depite being warned about it, so wind your neck in and crawl back under the stone from whence you came!

When you are already in your car, half way up a hill and an inch of snow dumps down in 15 minutes (5pm last night in Hove) there isn't a lot you can do about it - I have winter tyres fitted and I struggled to make it up Woodland Drive, and then slid about 20 metres down the slip road onto the A27. Nothing I could have done about it

You forgot snow socks! They are a godsend in this weather. I suggest you invest in some, you may think it's a waste of money but it's not, and yes when I was driving it was dumping snow at the same rate.

It wasn't snowing when I left work! Why would I have snow socks on!?

Joined the end of the A23 queue at 6pm last night. Took 30 mins to move about half a mile so i came off at the Albourne exit and down through Sayers Common and across Devils Dyke. Was a bit of a gamble given the weather but it paid off. Roads were slushy but i stuck to 20mph liike everybody else all the way and kept my distance from the car in front and we kept moving all the way. Shame about the idiot behind me who thought 20mph was too slow for him and tailgated me all the way - so close at one point i couldnt see his headlights!

wis wrote:
Yes it was forecast, yes the roads were gritted. We had a fairly unique problem yesterday, and I'm surprised at the level of intelligence here being so low. Oh no, it's the Argus site, no I'm not. Anyone with a window will know the roads were wet yesterday PM. This, combined with rain, washes grit off. Anyone that has ever driven on a main road will know most of the salt ends up stuck to cars. So, grit or no grit, the roads are pretty bare and running well. Now, because of our locations we are often in that magic "half a degree" when it could be reason or snow, although there is no set temperature as other atmospheric conditions decide when precipitation is snow. It can snow at five degrees, yesterday in Bexhill it was 0.5°C and raining. So, cue rush hour, the South Downs and the minutes conditional change required to turn water into wet snow: the worst, most slippery type. Now cars slow, and the volume of traffic soon means you have a jam. Snow falls around the stationary vehicles and those on the gradient struggle for grip. The traffic builds, people then try and rat run out the jam, but the increased volume of traffic brings these roads to a stand: gridlock! Now, for grit to work, traffic has to go over it. If traffic is stationary a) the gritter is in the jam and b) traffic isn't activating the grit. At 11am yesterday the Met Office increased the existing ice warning to include snow and the possibility was mentioned on BBC Weather the night before. So there we have it. Weather, traffic levels, time of day and bad luck. But a gritter can't grit through traffic and can't be effective on a wet road in advance, plus we were all warned the night before, so all made contingency plans, filled car up, put a small box of grit in the back and a spade to help us if we get stuck. And a Thermos and blankets. It is winter. You have to look after yourselves like adults. Be aware. Be prepared. Research.

Very glib.

TheDelicateOne wrote:

Pitviper wrote:

TheDelicateOne wrote:

Pitviper wrote:

Ihopenoonehasthisuse




rname wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Did you pop into Woodingdean or any of the other places mentioned? Obviously not or you wouldn't make such a stupid comment. If a car can't go up a hill because of the ice it has nothing to do with whether or not a person can drive in snow does it.

Obviously I did not and my comment was not stupid, drivers are stupid if they don't prepare. We have winter tyres fitted and snow socks for the tyres too. So the stupid ones are people like you who don't prepare for weather like this depite being warned about it, so wind your neck in and crawl back under the stone from whence you came!

When you are already in your car, half way up a hill and an inch of snow dumps down in 15 minutes (5pm last night in Hove) there isn't a lot you can do about it - I have winter tyres fitted and I struggled to make it up Woodland Drive, and then slid about 20 metres down the slip road onto the A27. Nothing I could have done about it

You forgot snow socks! They are a godsend in this weather. I suggest you invest in some, you may think it's a waste of money but it's not, and yes when I was driving it was dumping snow at the same rate.

It wasn't snowing when I left work! Why would I have snow socks on!?

You have them in the boot of the car and put them on when needed, simple really!!!

The main cause of the problems yesterday was the idiot who crashed in Hove yesterday afternoon and caused traffic to back up from the westbound Hove exit of the A27 all the way back to Falmer.

The resulting queues combined with the snow meant the road was not cleared by moving traffic like it was when it snowed last friday afternoon and everyone was bumper to bumper. This led to problems getting up the hills, Hollingbury in particular which resulted in cars getting stuck and abandoned. I know this because I was one of them although I managed..just..to get up the hill.

I would actually like to slap this person repeatedly.

If you need to blame anyone for this, blame them...!!!!

I have recently started driving to the office in Worthing and I notice the amount of cars that are not fit for winter months.

The number of cars that have lights out, one eyed monsters as my father called them, and then like this morning you have the Community bus that had one light out so put on their full beam to make up for it!

That blue light on the instrument panel indicates your full beam is on; which should only be used on unlighted roads and only when you are the lead and please DIP when a car comes towards you.

Then we have the Speeders, A27 last night at 6:40 it was sleeting, which and settling and drivers flash past at over 70.

Not to mention the tailgaters, what is the point in me leaving sufficient space between the car in front when you’re making love to my exhaust?

No wonder we have so many collisions, they are not accidents just carelessness.

Made In Sussex wrote:
The main cause of the problems yesterday was the idiot who crashed in Hove yesterday afternoon and caused traffic to back up from the westbound Hove exit of the A27 all the way back to Falmer.

The resulting queues combined with the snow meant the road was not cleared by moving traffic like it was when it snowed last friday afternoon and everyone was bumper to bumper. This led to problems getting up the hills, Hollingbury in particular which resulted in cars getting stuck and abandoned. I know this because I was one of them although I managed..just..to get up the hill.

I would actually like to slap this person repeatedly.

If you need to blame anyone for this, blame them...!!!!

Exactly!

Stationary roads can't be gritted and any existing grit can't be activated!

Made In Sussex wrote:
The main cause of the problems yesterday was the idiot who crashed in Hove yesterday afternoon and caused traffic to back up from the westbound Hove exit of the A27 all the way back to Falmer.

The resulting queues combined with the snow meant the road was not cleared by moving traffic like it was when it snowed last friday afternoon and everyone was bumper to bumper. This led to problems getting up the hills, Hollingbury in particular which resulted in cars getting stuck and abandoned. I know this because I was one of them although I managed..just..to get up the hill.

I would actually like to slap this person repeatedly.

If you need to blame anyone for this, blame them...!!!!

For Hove, Holligbury and the A27, possibly. And I would like to be next in line to give out the slaps. Although, as for the falmer road and Woodingdean, if its ok with you, I'd still like to put it on the council.

The obvious solution is to move a key bus depot up near the top of Carden Avenue, er..............

nuff said wrote:
The obvious solution is to move a key bus depot up near the top of Carden Avenue, er..............

Great idea in theory, but then all the buses will just be stuck there instead due to no gritters.

The Hove accident may explain the westbound queues, but not the eastbound, and in my view the root cause was that the inclines on the A27 between the A23 and Falmer weren't gritted. Once drivers were stuck there, the situation snowballed, if you'll pardon the expression, as we collided with one another, abandoned cars, etc.

harrisimo wrote:

Pitviper wrote:

Ohnotagain ! wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Please do advise us as to the route that you took as clearly it was not the A27 which was impassable at 6pm !!
Oh and well done for being such fantastic drivers in driving in these "treacherous conditions" a hero's driving medal is on its way.

Your sarcasm has been noted! the A27 was not impassable at 6pm if you were prepared for the extreme weather we had. Snow tyres and snow socks are what we used and no we don't have 4x4's just a mini and a citroen oh and the driving skills to drive in conditions like this. We both invested in extra driving courses to learn these skills after the last bout of snow last year, so thanks for the sarcasm but wind your neck back in and until you are qualified to comment I suggest you shut up!

Well prepared indeed. I bet you're one of those people who has a toilet roll cover, too.

Could not have put it better myself,it sounds a case of I love me who do you love

http://www.bbc.co.uk
/news/magazine-20785
406

This makes interesting reading and some good points.

These days everything is run at full tilt, roads and rail, air ports.
Thus the slightest hiccup and it all comes crashing down; for the vast majority of the time it works very well though and is convenient.

@pitviper. If every single car were to use snowsocks/chains the traffic would possibly flow somewhat easier but how on earth could you ensure everyone does?
I have seen chaos in all countries in Europe - when a snowstorm hits.
Last night the falling snow turned VERY slushy and made driving very unpredictable - and I am an experienced HGV/PSV driver.
I only had to drive 6 miles last night and it was hair-raising!

Noah Lott wrote:

Man With No Name wrote:
It wasn't the snow that made my journey home 4 times as long last night, it was the roadworks and lane closures on Lewes Road that caused the problems, as usual. I cant see why anyone would want to reduce this road to one lane permanently, that is clearly madness.

Without doubt, one of the most sensible comments I have ever read on here. Surely the congestion last night and this morning as a result of reducing this main thoroughfare down to a single lane is testament enough to maintain it as a dual carriageway, albeit under the newly enforced speed restriction.

The Lewes Road works (scheduled to finish in December!!!) are the main cause for the delays - I was held up there long before the snow started in a once free flowing section

This road used to work well. Yes, improvements to the gyratory and cycle lanes are needed but these can be done without reducing it all to one lane (plus a bus lane)

These kind of delays are now here to stay unless a U-turn happens on these "improvements". Currently they're not helping anyone - the number 25 buses had to abandon usual running as delays were so bad. Buses will get caught once the new scheme is built - they will need to move out of their dedicated lane to move around other buses, those loading, broken down etc. Then all stuck in these newly formed, polluting queues....

Pitviper wrote:

Ohnotagain ! wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Please do advise us as to the route that you took as clearly it was not the A27 which was impassable at 6pm !!
Oh and well done for being such fantastic drivers in driving in these "treacherous conditions" a hero's driving medal is on its way.

Your sarcasm has been noted! the A27 was not impassable at 6pm if you were prepared for the extreme weather we had. Snow tyres and snow socks are what we used and no we don't have 4x4's just a mini and a citroen oh and the driving skills to drive in conditions like this. We both invested in extra driving courses to learn these skills after the last bout of snow last year, so thanks for the sarcasm but wind your neck back in and until you are qualified to comment I suggest you shut up!

You really are someone of the highest plonker rating, sarcasm is my forte and actually I am very well qualified to comment as someone who has taken and passed the advanced driving test, so shove that up your snow socks.

Noah Lott wrote:

Man With No Name wrote:
It wasn't the snow that made my journey home 4 times as long last night, it was the roadworks and lane closures on Lewes Road that caused the problems, as usual. I cant see why anyone would want to reduce this road to one lane permanently, that is clearly madness.

Without doubt, one of the most sensible comments I have ever read on here. Surely the congestion last night and this morning as a result of reducing this main thoroughfare down to a single lane is testament enough to maintain it as a dual carriageway, albeit under the newly enforced speed restriction.

There should be a standing rule that as soon as the first snow flake is seen, the bus lanes should be suspended. After all, the buses are!

The people who were really to blame for the long queues coming into Brighton yesterday evening were the drivers sitting in them. By the time they reached either of the Lewes roundabouts it was obvious that there were problems, which would have been greatly reduced if drivers had considered alternative routes.
Lewes - Ditchling - Clayton - Brighton. Clear all the way through.

Except for when they closed Clayton Hill. Two hours after leaving work by Ditchling Common I was still stuck at the B2112/A273 junction. We had to go back up the A273 and through Hurstpierpoint. After another hour I had cleared Hurstpierpoint. Fortunately for me I didn't need the A23

The Real Phil wrote:
The people who were really to blame for the long queues coming into Brighton yesterday evening were the drivers sitting in them. By the time they reached either of the Lewes roundabouts it was obvious that there were problems, which would have been greatly reduced if drivers had considered alternative routes.
Lewes - Ditchling - Clayton - Brighton. Clear all the way through.

Utter Tosh! Its is impossible to always predict whether you will encounter a queue and once you are in it the options for leaving the queue can be non existent.

Not all of us in the queue would automatically consider the alternative routes you suggest to get home and not all the routes you suggest were in clear of problems..

The problem lies with idiots that cannot drive that cause the queues and the lack of preparedness of the council\highways for forecast weather conditions..end of story..

The Real Phil wrote:
The people who were really to blame for the long queues coming into Brighton yesterday evening were the drivers sitting in them. By the time they reached either of the Lewes roundabouts it was obvious that there were problems, which would have been greatly reduced if drivers had considered alternative routes.
Lewes - Ditchling - Clayton - Brighton. Clear all the way through.

That's an idiotic thing to say. Most of the time, by the time you find yourself in a traffic jam, it's too late to back out and find an alternative route because there are cars stacked up behind you. Good for you for finding an alternative route, though. I hope you enjoyed your evening.

There are almost 2 cars for each person in the UK, more than half of us live in urban areas and the UK is a tiny place.
It's hardly surprising that when weather conditions become extreme there will be accidents causing gridlock.
You live here - deal with it!
As for me, I'm giving up the bar work (that no poms will do!) and going back to the old country!
Hahahahaha, hahahahah!!

Man With No Name wrote:
It wasn't the snow that made my journey home 4 times as long last night, it was the roadworks and lane closures on Lewes Road that caused the problems, as usual. I cant see why anyone would want to reduce this road to one lane permanently, that is clearly madness.

Here here

Ohnotagain ! wrote:

Pitviper wrote:

Ohnotagain ! wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Please do advise us as to the route that you took as clearly it was not the A27 which was impassable at 6pm !!
Oh and well done for being such fantastic drivers in driving in these "treacherous conditions" a hero's driving medal is on its way.

Your sarcasm has been noted! the A27 was not impassable at 6pm if you were prepared for the extreme weather we had. Snow tyres and snow socks are what we used and no we don't have 4x4's just a mini and a citroen oh and the driving skills to drive in conditions like this. We both invested in extra driving courses to learn these skills after the last bout of snow last year, so thanks for the sarcasm but wind your neck back in and until you are qualified to comment I suggest you shut up!

You really are someone of the highest plonker rating, sarcasm is my forte and actually I am very well qualified to comment as someone who has taken and passed the advanced driving test, so shove that up your snow socks.

Mmmm I think the plonker is you, if you have taken the advanced driving course then you should be able to cope! so methinks you lie and are therefore NOT qualified to comment. I have taken the advanced driving course and one for driving in adverse conditions so again wind your neck back in and wallow in your own sarcasm!!! by the way where's my hero medal as promised earlier!

farang wrote:
There are almost 2 cars for each person in the UK, more than half of us live in urban areas and the UK is a tiny place. It's hardly surprising that when weather conditions become extreme there will be accidents causing gridlock. You live here - deal with it! As for me, I'm giving up the bar work (that no poms will do!) and going back to the old country! Hahahahaha, hahahahah!!

Bye !

Maybe so but you can only drive one car at once!

Alan G Skinner wrote:

Tallywhacker wrote:

Alan G Skinner wrote:
Completely unacceptable, this would not be tolerated in any other civilised country. How were the gritters caught out like this? This snowfall was forecast! Sack Kitkat, he continues to embarrass Brighton and Hove.

You have obviously not been anywhere else in winter.

Does Austria, France, Germany, Norway count in winter count? I have NEVER witnessed cars being abandoned and roads being closed for an inch of snow. Why are people accepting of this. The council have a duty of care to ensure all main roads are safe and serviceable, there are no exceptions. The council have shown themselves to be ill prepared and incompetent. Someone is paid to ensure the roads remain safe and serviceable, that person should be sacked.

On holiday for a week? I've seen cars abandoned by the road and I grew up, went to school and worked in Canada. People here have an unrealistic and unobtainable expectation of what can and cannot be done. Roads in snow countries are not cleared the same day and the councils only try to keep main roads as passable as they can. Secondary roads will be left until the snow has stopped falling so they are only ploughed once and it is illegal to park on the road as you will be blocking a snow route People in snowy places do not carry on as though nothing has happened they only go out if they have to and companies will close so that their workers can get home safely. While it is safer to wear rose tinted glasses in the snow it doesn't give you a realistic view of what happens day to day.

I am one of the lucky ones who have managed to get around ok, just by keeping in low gear and not breaking much and I have been lucky in that I have been able to avoid the really badly hit areas. I just want to comment about how many very selfish 4x4 drivers I have come across. On several occasions I have been struggling to get up hills and a 4x4 driver has come bombing down the road forcing me to stop and then I have had difficulty getting the car to grip to get going again. This has happened even though I have had right of way. And on another subject, have drivers forgotten how to indicate? Very few drivers seem to use their indicators these days!

BMW and Audi drivers are not required to use direction indicators and have exclusive use of the outside lane of divided roads.
Seriously, I agree but you just have to be 'driver aware'.
Also most drivers are not aware of the code of giving way to an oncoming vehicle coming up hill, among other more courteous conduct.
It has become a dog eat dog world on the road.

farang wrote:
BMW and Audi drivers are not required to use direction indicators and have exclusive use of the outside lane of divided roads. Seriously, I agree but you just have to be 'driver aware'. Also most drivers are not aware of the code of giving way to an oncoming vehicle coming up hill, among other more courteous conduct. It has become a dog eat dog world on the road.

Thank you so much for taking the words out of my mouth regarding BMW and Audi drivers. I do t actually think they come fitted with indicators for that very reason and to also cut costs.

Just do what i do...stay indoors with the central heating on full blast lol you can't beat it hahaha i can't understand what all the fuss is about

People in Brighton should learn to drive.

Pitviper wrote:

TheDelicateOne wrote:

Pitviper wrote:

TheDelicateOne wrote:

Pitviper wrote:

Ihopenoonehasthisuse





rname wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Did you pop into Woodingdean or any of the other places mentioned? Obviously not or you wouldn't make such a stupid comment. If a car can't go up a hill because of the ice it has nothing to do with whether or not a person can drive in snow does it.

Obviously I did not and my comment was not stupid, drivers are stupid if they don't prepare. We have winter tyres fitted and snow socks for the tyres too. So the stupid ones are people like you who don't prepare for weather like this depite being warned about it, so wind your neck in and crawl back under the stone from whence you came!

When you are already in your car, half way up a hill and an inch of snow dumps down in 15 minutes (5pm last night in Hove) there isn't a lot you can do about it - I have winter tyres fitted and I struggled to make it up Woodland Drive, and then slid about 20 metres down the slip road onto the A27. Nothing I could have done about it

You forgot snow socks! They are a godsend in this weather. I suggest you invest in some, you may think it's a waste of money but it's not, and yes when I was driving it was dumping snow at the same rate.

It wasn't snowing when I left work! Why would I have snow socks on!?

You have them in the boot of the car and put them on when needed, simple really!!!

Did you miss the point where 2 inches of snow fell and settled within 15 minutes?? It wasn't possible to get out of the car on a hill that's on a 40 degree (at least) incline so I whatever was in my boot wouldn't have helped in the slightest!

Pitviper wrote:

Ohnotagain ! wrote:

Pitviper wrote:

Ohnotagain ! wrote:

Pitviper wrote:
My daughter managed to get from Gatwick to Eastbourne without any problems around 6 pm last night! and I managed to get home from Brighton around 8pm. We both did it without abandoning our cars so why did other people, do they not know how to drive in treacherous conditions???

Please do advise us as to the route that you took as clearly it was not the A27 which was impassable at 6pm !!
Oh and well done for being such fantastic drivers in driving in these "treacherous conditions" a hero's driving medal is on its way.

Your sarcasm has been noted! the A27 was not impassable at 6pm if you were prepared for the extreme weather we had. Snow tyres and snow socks are what we used and no we don't have 4x4's just a mini and a citroen oh and the driving skills to drive in conditions like this. We both invested in extra driving courses to learn these skills after the last bout of snow last year, so thanks for the sarcasm but wind your neck back in and until you are qualified to comment I suggest you shut up!

You really are someone of the highest plonker rating, sarcasm is my forte and actually I am very well qualified to comment as someone who has taken and passed the advanced driving test, so shove that up your snow socks.

Mmmm I think the plonker is you, if you have taken the advanced driving course then you should be able to cope! so methinks you lie and are therefore NOT qualified to comment. I have taken the advanced driving course and one for driving in adverse conditions so again wind your neck back in and wallow in your own sarcasm!!! by the way where's my hero medal as promised earlier!

I really think you need to get over yourself - who are you to question whether someone else has passed the advanced drivers course? So you got home ok, bully for you. You were just lucky you weren't in the situation half the people in Brighton and Hove found themselves in and were able to get out of it. And for the record - snow socks don't alleviate traffic / speed bumps / 45 degree inclines!