Snowchains.

[xyzzyplugh]

A lot of slipping and sliding traffic yesterday. Not being a driver, I am ignorant and curious about lack of snowchains; How come, right; After over 50 years of motoring, drivers still don't have snow chains? Are they illegal in UK? Even for service vehicles? I'm hoping our binmen will make their rounds today. Are their vehicles equipped? Is anyone?

[mikewith]

Snowchains are good for snowy conditions, as you might expect, but extremely damaging to tarmac. In tbis country they might be useful 2-3 days a year - but not every year. Hardly worth the outlay or the hassle of fitting them.

[KARL]

Chains are very noisy and undesirable on snow-free roads, and speeds must be kept down, so most people would very quickly take them off once out of snow because the vehicle simply does not drive well except in snow. Additionally, the chains get worn and damaged quickly out of snow. They are not difficult to fit or remove except you must reach in behind the wheels to clip the two ends together or undo them - the worst thing is you will be doing this in quite low temperatures, but in snow it is at least very clean work. You are correct to be astonished that public service vehicles do not appear to be equipped with them, even though they are only needed a few days a year. The laughable situation was apparently reached recently when a snow plough got stuck. The lack of preparedness does seem to be astonishing - the snow barely covered the ground, what will happen when the 20 year storm (the size which statistically occurs five times per century) arrives ? No breakdown, police, fire, ambulance or any service of any kind (including electricity supply restoration crews) when everyone says "Act of God, unforeseen, nothing could be done" ?

[xyzzyplugh]

Maybe manufactures could produce say, ten foot rolls of double sided grit/grip? Then you could carry a couple in your vehicle for emergencies. - No?

[cupra]

Another option, of course, is Winter Tyres - these are basically profiled to provide maximum grip in ice/snow and look very much like standard tyres (I used to see them on sale in Yorkshire). Interestingly if you visit a mountainous area in Europe in winter, you hardly ever see alloy wheels.... car owners keep a spare set of steel wheels fitted with winter tyres and change them over when the bad weather approches!

[KARL]

To the best of my knowledge there is no UK legislation against chains or the modern solution: studded tyres. These are winter tyres which have thicker "soles" and are drilkled with metal studs or spikes inserted in a pattern. They do not grip as well as chains but are extremely effective in the packed thin layer of snow/ice conditions constituting most of the problem in the UK. Studs are heavily regulated in Europe and in smoe countries they are banned. Chains can be laid out to produce a similar effect to your grit paper idea, although I think grit paper would only be useful in icy conditions and then possibly quite limited at that. Driving technique is the key in the adversity experienced in the UK and almost no-one knows what to do with the result that stuck vehicles block everyone. Front-wheel-drive vehicles are the easiest to manage, and automatic transmission makes the task easier due to lower risk of excessive torque leading to loss of grip (in a sense the reverse of "locking" the wheels when braking).