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Most of the country is covered in snow and ice at the moment, but do the people who clear snow from the pavements realise they are leaving treacherous sheets of ice for pedestrians to walk on?
I walked into my town centre today and found a small narrow path cleared on the pavement. The people who had cleared this narrow path had somehow failed to realise that when they removed the compacted snow, they left a large very slippery and thick layer of ice right in front of Greggs. I was literally left terrified to walk on it even though I had good quality walking boots on; I nearly slipped a few times, surely someone at some point during this cold weather has slipped on it.
What used to be fluffy white snow has been left to be trampled on and then to freeze solid in the very low temperatures the UK has had over the last few weeks; what is left is a very hard surface that when fallen on could cause injury and there is no way for people to avoid the ice as it is right outside the doors of many of the commonly used shops. The ice is become so hard that you could easily break a bone or at least become bruised; plus with the path being on a slight incline it makes it even more treacherous.
I could understand it if we had any more snow, but we had a lovely sunny weekend, without much of a thaw unfortunately. They could have at least cleared more pathways properly or at least put some salt on the ice to melt it and make it a bit safer.
Pavements are somewhat neglected just the same as minor roads, although it is recognised that it would be an impossible task to clear all pavements and minor roads with snow ploughs and gritters, which is why we had salt bins. But even these have disappeared over the years, mainly due to vandalism or people taking too much salt and they become empty very quickly.
Please shop owners, if you're going to clear paths, put some salt down and don't leave an ice rink that someone can fall over and hurt themselves on.
By: Dommy
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Does anyone know any good techniques to improve confidence when walking in slippery conditions and which brands of shoe have good non slippy soles? I think rubber soles are best but it is very hard to find out what shoes are made of as there are a lot of synthetic rubber soles and the labelling does not demand that a difference is made between real rubber and synthetic
I thought the time had come to replace them - all 4. A new Nissan Altima S2.5 or 3.5 is favored, or a Camry, but not a VW plus a 2-3 year old used. Yes, Volvo is a fine specimen of a reliable counterpart, but not in the cards.
I'll check it out, anyway, and may even test drive one, who knows? I know little about foreign cars, except Nissan, Toyota and Honda, being among the top sellers.
I think we are in the wrong venue to be to discuss this topic. We'll get a shellacking from some irritable folks. Happy New Year to you and yours, and to all our readers.
By the way, "cheap motor" means trouble free, right?
Read your comment on VW. I may weigh in. My son just dumped on to me his old "new" Passat 4 cyl 1.8T (1999) in favor of the 2010 Ford Edge.
Great motor the VW, incredibly rich ebony black interior, sunroof, but no end to mechanical and electrical problems compared to my two old "new" Buick LeSabre (1997 and 1999 with 350K and 170K km: not a hint of trouble and rust, none, and in mint condition). I'm replacing them.
I think it's just that year and model. What do you think? It's fast turning into an inherited rust bucket. Made in Germany too - today's USA's all from Mexico. In fact, we rented one lately and drove from SF to LA and back. Very driveable, but a bit of a gas guzzler I thought for a tiny 2010 Jetta.
The VW is turning into a rust bucket.
Yes, sir, right questions and truly plausible. Don't know about the UK, parts of our world can be brutally enveloped and buried under ice and snow "occasionally," although just a few miles from us in Illinois, Michigan and other Midwest towns and cities are consistently cursed and worst hit than those in Southern Ontario.
Not a few months ago in Sarnia a few hours to our north, 300 vehicles were stranded and 250 passengers had to be choppered out to safety - but a rare occurrence. Oddly, we are more blessed than our cousins to the immediate (one to three-hours) south.
You must have a similar system in place of neighborhood watch whereby neighbors look out for one another. I've hardly heard of anyone being fined anytime, anywhere, as we love shoveling snow.
Do it after each snowfall, at the crack of dawn for exercise, when the fresh snow is manageably powdery and easily removable.
There have been more heart attacks and instant deaths every single year than fines. It's work for the elderly and the unhealthy, the sedentary, those unfit who do absolutely no workout.
Gains, most of us can count on our next door neighbors anytime of the year. We've been to Ireland and twice to California (just got in after a month) this year for extended periods and leave the lawn mowing, keeping an eye of our property, so on, to them. It worked out fine as usual.
Yes, Gains, the couch potatoes, a good one. Gotta walk at least half an hour a day to keep fit, or you'd die a quiet death in your TV rec room.
Most of us have great neighbors. We just have to co-exist and get along well, and that takes time and effort. Nice chat, Gains.
PS - an American couple in an Irish restaurant thought I was his compatriot. "Nope, a Canadian." "Same thing," he replied. Nope - it's not. Maybe he was right. We are North Americans.
Clearing sidewalks of snow is mandated by most municipalities under threat of heavy fines, ranging from $50 - $200 per case. It's a relatively simple task - first shovel, then generously sprinkle with salt pellets as you suggested. Be sure than sorry.
There wouldn't be a snowball's chance in hell if our insurer refused to go to bat for us if some poor soul slipped, fell and sustained serious personal injuries on our icy sidewalk and sued on failure to exercise duty of care.
Want to lose your house?
The pavement outside my house was clear for days and not at all slippy.
There are laws in certain parts of the country, cities to be exact, where you can recieve fines if you do not shovel your own pathway or walkway when it snows. Therefore, shovelling snow from ones path cannot always neccesarily be helped.
Nervous person