Visability always helps...

[crazylegs]

Well, for those of you who don't know we're currently going through a bit of a cold snap in the UK, we have ice, snow and temperatures in minus figures. This is a bit of a shock to us as although we talk about the weather an awful lot not a great deal happens with it and this funny falling white stuff is quite odd to us!

Bearing this in mind I've witnessed several people deciding that the best way to drive on an icy road is harsh, full acceleration and sudden hard braking. In addition it's also a requirement (it would appear) to drive so close to the person in front at 35mph that you can see the detritus on the back seat of the car in front.

This isn't the meat of the story today though.

I was called to a Road Traffic Collision (car crash in plain english) and it was a 4 car shunt. The three cars at the front were in a stationary line of traffic, sat on their brakes when they were hit from behind by a psychic.

I can only assume that this was his chosen proffesion as the forward visibility from his car was exactly nil, he'd only scraped the ice from the bare minumim are from his windscreen (I suspect that he'd used his windscreen wipers and screenwash only) and the inside of his windscreen was misted over. Well it wasn't *all* misted over, there was a 1 inch gap at the bottom where the windscreen was clear.

So boy genius was travelling too fast for the road conditions, couldn't see where he was going then slammed on his brakes. End result? His car going straight to the nearest scrapyard and three other angry people during rush hour.

Lovely.

[AirHostess]

How do these idiots pass their driving tests?

[crazylegs]

Christ alone only knows.

[AirHostess]

Where do you work Crazylegs? You have intrigued me by being called to the scene!

[crazylegs]

I'll PM you.

[Chromatix]

The trouble is that the car heaters (which are used for demisting) only work when the engine is warm. This takes a while if you're just sitting in the driveway, and *some* people just aren't patient enough. Sounds like this id10t was one of the impatient ones.

Could you book him for "driving without due care and attention", or something worse than that?

ETA: heated garages are popular over here. The temperature is kept at about 5°C - not exactly room temperature, but it keeps the ice off and stops the windows misting over. It also makes diesel engines that much easier to start.

[crazylegs]

I wasn't first there so that thorny issue would have been dealt with by the first person attending. All I had to do was to wave my arms at the traffic!

[Animae]

yeah, sadly that is just more of a people in cold weather thing. Ice=fast in places that get cold, snowy and icy on a season basis. It's like everyone suffers from amnesia.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Better there than here. We've got idiots here who won't put on their headlights at night, or in fog and rain.

I find that running the blower and setting it to blow on the windshield helps to keep the windshield from fogging or frosting up on the inside in winter. The movement of air keeps moisture from settling on the windshield and condensing. You don't even have to be blowing hot air for it to work.

[Primer]

I was called to a Road Traffic Collision (car crash in plain english) and it was a 4 car shunt. The three cars at the front were in a stationary line of traffic, sat on their brakes when they were hit from behind by a psychotic.

edited for my amusement...oh wait, that was already obvious!

[Crosshair]

I find that running the blower and setting it to blow on the windshield helps to keep the windshield from fogging or frosting up on the inside in winter. The movement of air keeps moisture from settling on the windshield and condensing. You don't even have to be blowing hot air for it to work.

Yup, that's what I do. Even when its -22 F like it was yesterday the windshield stays clear with only a slight bit of frost, not enough to impair visibility. I also have one of those heaters that you plug into the cig adapter. Wedge that against the windshield and I always have a section fog free so I can see what is in front of me.