Salocin

Driving in the Snow

In the UK last week, we had a few flakes of snow. This happens rarely in this country, and it's therefore perhaps not so surprising how terribly affected everyone was by it. The BBC has gathered reactions from around the world on the UK's reaction to the weather, and those from colder countries are amazed at how a developed country can be brought to a standstill by temperatures that barely managed to make it below freezing.

I was also a little surprised at the extent to which drivers became overly cautious. I suppose the argument goes that it's better to be too cautious than not careful enough, but the story was repeated around my office: Isn't it amazing how everyone drives so poorly as soon as there's a little snow?.

Indeed, my usual 20-minute commute to work turned into a 1-hour craw, as traffic snarled at junctions and roundabouts because people were unwilling to go any faster than a few miles per hour.

They forgot to grit the roads in Bracknell was another common theme - and my reaction, "why? there's no ice on the roads anyway" didn't really cut any ice (no pun intended) when some people thought the conditions were horrendous. BA cancelled flights because of the snow in Heathrow and drivers panicked when they had to brake, causing crashes (in my opinion) more because of their belief that conditions were bad, and their unusual reactions at the wheel as a consequence, than because their cars really did spin out of control through icy conditions.

One wonders what would happen in Chicago O'Hare airport during the winter if they closed because of ice or snow - or perhaps whether Helsinki would ever have any visitors outside of the summer months. On wonders how anyone would ever get to or from work in Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Canada or any one of a host of other countries that can typically see up to 10 inches of snow overnight.

But I keep reminding myself that it's not usual for there to be snow in England, that the British are not accustomed to dealing with it, and that I should count myself lucky that there's still food in the supermarkets, because if it ever snows for 2 days running, they might assume it's time to stock up on emergency provisions. You may laugh, but it's happened before, and the supermarket shelves were bare for a week.