Bl**dy Road Gritters!

[ringway]

Went out tonight for a spin and was driving through rural area of Northwich when not once, but TWICE was showered by the road gritting trucks.

The force of the grit (larger than the usual stuff I should think) hitting the side of my car and the bonett was incredible.

I can tell you that if it had been yobs throwing grit of that size at my car with such force I would have jumped out of the car and given them my free of charge attitude adjustment service!

Surely, with the flashing yellow lights etc the gritters are allowed to stop and turn off the flow of the grit until oncoming traffic has passed?

I had both of my front wings replaced by MB in September (rust warranty)as well as other bodyworks and the car is perfect.
If I see any damage upon inspection in the morning I'll be contacting Vale Royal MBC or whoever about claiming against them.

Does anyone know how the law stands in this type of situation?

 

[GuyFawkes]

Lemmeesee...

1/ it's winter ... check
2/ frost forecast ... check
3/ evening ...check
4/ bloody great yellow wagon with ambers and "GRITTING" sign.

Do you

a/ ignore it and still drive the speed limit or better
b/ slow down as much as safety allows

If you're a biker the answer is always (at least, after the first time) b/

I'm interested in quite how you imagine this classic example of driving without due care and attention can be twisted into Council culpability.

 

[ringway]

Lemmeesee...

1/ it's winter ... check
2/ frost forecast ... check
3/ evening ...check
4/ bloody great yellow wagon with ambers and "GRITTING" sign.

Do you

a/ ignore it and still drive the speed limit or better
b/ slow down as much as safety allows

If you're a biker the answer is always (at least, after the first time) b/

I'm interested in quite how you imagine this classic example of driving without due care and attention can be twisted into Council culpability.

One lane each way.
Each occasion I slowed down to around 5mph drove as close to the side of the road as possible. I couldn't stop because the road wouldn't be gritted where I would be parked.

Because I had slowed to a walking place I think the gritter should have done the same until I had passed. Road was clear behind me.

The roads have to be gritted to keep them safe, but I think that either the gritters are maybe pressed for time (fair enough) or don't care for other vehicles as much as they could do.

At the end of the day they have a job to do, and a very important job too.
I just don't want my car pebbledashing if it can be avoided.

 

[PXW]

you may find it wasn't the old-style grit - some of these trucks are now dispensing wet salt, which apparently is more effective. If that's the case, you will find your car splattered with dull whiteish grey spots that will wipe off rather than peppered like an old tin air rifle target.

 

[rf065]

Surely, with the flashing yellow lights etc the gritters are allowed to stop and turn off the flow of the grit until oncoming traffic has passed?

Not sure you will agree, but how would the roads get gritted if they had to stop everytime a car passed?

In Scotland, where it is typically colder anyway, the councils have changed the gritting system to save costs & the roads are not being done in time if at all. To be blunt about it, people are dying needlessly up here due to this. I doubt anyone involved in these accidents would complain about having their car hit with salt as long as the roads had been done.

Russ

 

[pammy]

Surely if you know it's going to be cold, then you expect the gritters to be out doing their job . I don't quite understand how they'd ever get the job done if they had to stop for every car. What about when they come to parked cars? Turning off the spreader means that grit/salt is not getting distributed. Rather defeats the object doesn't it?

To be fair - grit always sounds far worse than it is. In North Yorkshire the gritters are reknowned for being well managed and gritting the roads well. IE - the weather forecast is for 3 or below - the gritters are out. The result being you do get caught in the crossfire - but I've never had any chips etc to my paintwork.

Simply - if you don't want your car getting caught then don't go out

 

[robert.saunders]

The salting vehicles have to travel fairly fast (or what is considered from a 3rd party as being fast) otherwise the spread rate just isn't met and you'd be left with patchy spread or mounds of 'grit' which is inefficient and can be dangerous.

Was it a Highways Agency vehicle or were you on a local authority road and it was their contractor? Either way, they're doing their job

 

[4plus2]

I would rather be splattered by a bit of grit/salt than an out of control Chelsea Tractor on ice, which did more than put a ding in me paintwork.

 

[maddog]

It sounds bad but is very unlikely to damage the paintwork .

 

[ROBB]

I would rather be splattered by a bit of grit/salt than an out of control Chelsea Tractor on ice, which did more than put a ding in me paintwork.

likewise - you could have a lot more to complain about if they were not out 'n' about
IIRC a couple of years ago the councils were not gritting until the frost/ice had settled (to save cash) & there was carnage (no pun intended)

 

[Dieselman]

The salting vehicles have to travel fairly fast

A cruicial word....It's salt, not grit.

But wouldn't life be dull if people didn't have something to rant on about on a forum...

 

[shorty]

It may bad meeting these grit trucks in a car , but when your on a motor bike and you meet one its 10 times worse .

 

[Smiley]

A cruicial word....It's salt, not grit.

But wouldn't life be dull if people didn't have something to rant on about on a forum...

Quite - tbh if the car is THAT precious you should not be using it in the winter months; get yourself an old hack to run around in and then you won't care two hoots - drive straight through the salt and then hose it off a few days later.

 

[Smiley]

It may bad meeting these grit trucks in a car , but when your on a motor bike and you meet one its 10 times worse .

bet it ends up in your mouth if you have an old open faced helmet?

 

[ringway]

Quite - tbh if the car is THAT precious you should not be using it in the winter months; get yourself an old hack to run around in and then you won't care two hoots - drive straight through the salt and then hose it off a few days later.

Nah, it's not that precious, but if I can avoid any damage to it.. That's Good

As mentioned earlier the gritters job is very important and we couldn't do without 'em

As maddog said, there is no damage, so all is well

 

[Howard]

But wouldn't life be dull if people didn't have something to rant on about on a forum...

Or have a crusade .....

 

[219]

It always strikes me as strange the way people in this country bleat on about roads being treated with salt in cold weather as some sort of essential operation , and seem to get into all sorts of bother as soon as the temperature drops even slightly .....

Elsewhere in Europe , most other countries with weather conditions much worse than ours don't spread salt all over the place : people just learn to drive competently and get on with it .

 

[andy_k]

A cruicial word....It's salt, not grit.

But wouldn't life be dull if people didn't have something to rant on about on a forum...

The other day we were out driving around and this cloud dared to drop some rain on our car - worse still it made the road wet and that meant some dirt from other people's tyres ended up on our car!!

Who do I complain to?

Should I blame the council for not cleaning the roads properly or is there a higher authority I can get in contact with?

 

[Uberwagon]

I don't even slow down in my pride and joy. Just keep going as normal.

On a bike you haqve a sudden urge to abandon ship while screaming "Man down, man down, MEDIC!!!!!!"

What is infuriating when the gritters come out are the cars who hold back, bracing themselves for the final push through the salt like it's some kind of life or death situation.

Dave!

 

[rf065]

It always strikes me as strange the way people in this country bleat on about roads being treated with salt in cold weather as some sort of essential operation , and seem to get into all sorts of bother as soon as the temperature drops even slightly .....

Elsewhere in Europe , most other countries with weather conditions much worse than ours don't spread salt all over the place : people just learn to drive competently and get on with it .

The difference in these countries is that most fit winter tyres, either by choice or it is law in certain months of the year. You are correct though in as much as in these countries people are more aware & accustomed to icy or snow covered roads & drive accordingly. Over here everyone seems to be surprised & ill prepared for snow & ice, maybe because we are used to the roads being salted overnight for us.

It has become apparent due to a fatality on the M8 motorway last week, that the roads authority no longer have a gritter patrol driving about at night looking for black ice and salting the road where it is found. This service has been abandoned to save money & instead they now rely on all the mini weather stations that have appeared by the roadside to indicate if the road needs salt or not.

This resulted in a poor womans death at 05.30 in the morning & the police having to close the M8 in both directions as black ice had caused 8 cars to leave the road at seperate locations. Amey, responsible for gritting, say readings from the roadside weather stations did not suggest gritting was required. Contractors claim if the overnight patrols were still in place, they would have found the road dangerous and gritted it, as well as advising if other gritters on standby were required to assist.

Again, in order to save money, we are relying on technology that is not as good as a human operator. I fear this will get worse before it improves.

Russ