Good driving?

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Fri 10 Dec 2010 19:07
Good driving? - P3t3r

I've just seen this http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/10122010/36/bus-driver-shrugs-snowy-hill-0.html

Is this skillful driving, or was it the bus that made it look easy? The wheels did slip in places but the driver managed to keep the speed quite high. If there wasn't much grip then I don't think the bus would have been doing that speed.

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Fri 10 Dec 2010 19:29
Good driving? - dieseldogg

I should perhaps post that on the Briskoda forum, where I caused a furore by suggest that some (incl me, being country bred/farmer born) could drive in snow/poor traction conditions whilst it was evident that many other cannot(irrespective of tyres)

These others seem to prefer slippng the clutch at umpteen thou revs or perhaps instead spinning the tyres at umpteen thou revs.

And the revs appear to be the critical bit.

just a thought

M

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Fri 10 Dec 2010 19:32
Good driving? - daveyjp

Not much different to what I saw last week when walking home - my daughter's school is off a steep hill, the only vehicle I saw going up it was a bus (a double decker too) and there was much more snow than the video - you couldn't see any tarmac.

Engine over the back wheels, very chunky tyres and plenty of torque - no probs.

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Fri 10 Dec 2010 19:55
Good driving? - Cymrogwyllt
big deal. only a slight smattering of snow. I've seen buses stopped by snow half way up the windscreen. I've often driven busses in conditions where the thought 'How the ***** am I going to get home after the end of the shift' has come to me more than once. Answer: take the bus home. literally.
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Sun 12 Dec 2010 16:27
Good driving? - dieseldogg

Except that this same section of roadway appeared to be littered with abandoned cars, now how long they had been there? or what it was like when they were abandoned?

Were some of them still occupied or being driven?, i got the impression this was the case.

Some of them appeared to be 4*4 too

Anyway:Point is the driver was GOOD, he kept it smooth, did not let the tail pushing wide a bit, (quite a bit wide?) panic him, etc.

Basically he made it look easy.

i.e. Some can drive in snow, some CANT

PS

I know we do not live in the Alps but a bit of observence of the Alpine driving code during snow in this country would help,

i.e. Downhill traffic should give way to uphill traffic.

just a thought

M

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Mon 13 Dec 2010 14:54
Good driving? - SteveLee
In slushy conditions the heavy vehicle will just melt the snow beneath the tyres, the bus has the engine sitting over the rear driven wheels (My Imp is unstoppable in the snow for the same reason) and the driver did not need to stop as everyone got out of his way. Had he needed to stop (if he could) he may have got himself in trouble.
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Mon 13 Dec 2010 16:39
Good driving? - injection doc

when I was bus & coach driving in the 80's double decks & leyland nationals were good in the snow, apart from freezing air tanks whci we had flares that we had to put under the tanks to de-ice

2.5 tons of engine & gearbox sitting over rear wheels just perfect, the only downside was some of the LN's could have vicious brakes & the air throttle was a little delayed for tricky ice driving

I remeber taking a 12mtr coach down a 1/10 gradient for 2 miles in thick snow at 5am in the morning , heart was in my mouth all the way to the bottom but i got there & thats where it stayed for 3 days! as the road was closed minuets later! oh but it was fun in those days

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Mon 13 Dec 2010 20:41
Good driving? - pcvpilotmick

I spent quite a bit of time the week before last driving around Halifax and Huddersfield in a variety of Dennis Dart and Volvo B10BLE single deckers in some of the deepest snow we have seen for a while. Never had a problem with the snow itself, just kept the speed down, increased the braking distance and tried to keep everything as smooth as possible.

The main problems were other drivers getting stuck due to being completely clueless about how to drive in snow, like the man I sat and watched attacking a short, slight incline in his Vauxhall Astra in first gear with the throttle buried in the floorboards.

The other problem was the people who just gave up and abandoned their cars. Every diversion that I had to contend with was due to badly parked/stuck/abandoned cars rather than the depth of snow.

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Tue 14 Dec 2010 10:47
Good driving? - dieseldogg
Thank you pcvpilotmick, my observations exactly.
cheers
M
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Tue 14 Dec 2010 14:01
Good driving? - dieseldogg

A wee "for instance" I forgot

Friday past the Postman ventured in our lane and got stuck, mostly because for whatever reason he ventured "off road" and into a slight hollow alongside the lane.

So i runs over to give him a push, it was only a Corsa Van, he was asking "have you got a 4*4 to give me a pull" but no towing eyes to be seen? so how?

So whilst I sympathised with him because his tyres were near the legal limit, I tentatively says, could you keep the revs down a bit and try rocking her instead.

So he rocks her at unnecessarily ( but hey its not my clutch) high revs and I got him out.

I then had to "gulder" at him as he proceed to attempt to turn & reverse down into the lower ground at the other side, whilst straight back & level was quite clear ??

I explained that if he went into the low ground he would need rescued again.

So he then proceeds off forward and quite needlessly drives into another slight hollow.

From whence myself & another neighbour rescued him once more.

He then admitted defeat & "bailed out"

So, why would he not listen to reasonable advice given in a friendly & sympathetic tone, because I was genuninely glad that he had made the effort to come in our lane as we had not had post for 10 days or so.

just a thought

M

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Tue 14 Dec 2010 14:27
Good driving? - NARU

I agree.

I went to help a neighbour struggling to get up the hill in a BMW (rear wheel drive). Simply let it roll back a foot or so (so it wasn't on the piece of polished compacted snow she'd created), put it drive and with almost no throttle moved away, gradually increased the throttle to get to the top of the hill.

Despite seeing how it should be done, she got in and immediately gave it full throttle, spinning the wheels and getting stuck again. Talked her through rolling back a foot but when I said almost no throttle she floored it again!

You can't help some people.

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Tue 14 Dec 2010 19:40
Good driving? - galileo

In slushy conditions the heavy vehicle will just melt the snow beneath the tyres, the bus has the engine sitting over the rear driven wheels (My Imp is unstoppable in the snow for the same reason)

Steve

I had 3 Imps in the 70's, amazingly good as you say - went to watch the RAC Rally in the Yorkshire forests, 4 or 5 inches of snow fell but no problem getting back to the Pennines. Mind you, I had a spare pair of steel wheels with Town and Country tyres which helped!

Edited by galileo on 14/12/2010 at 19:41

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Tue 14 Dec 2010 19:40
Good driving? - galileo

In slushy conditions the heavy vehicle will just melt the snow beneath the tyres, the bus has the engine sitting over the rear driven wheels (My Imp is unstoppable in the snow for the same reason)

I had 3 Imps in the 70's, amazingly good as you say - went to watch the RAC Rally in the Yorkshire forests, 4 or 5 inches of snow fell but no problem getting back to the Pennines. Mind you, I had a spare pair of steel wheels with Town and Country tyres which helped!

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Tue 14 Dec 2010 19:41
Good driving? - galileo

In slushy conditions the heavy vehicle will just melt the snow beneath the tyres, the bus has the engine sitting over the rear driven wheels (My Imp is unstoppable in the snow for the same reason)

I had 3 Imps in the 70's, amazingly good as you say - went to watch the RAC Rally in the Yorkshire forests, 4 or 5 inches of snow fell but no problem getting back to the Pennines. Mind you, I had a spare pair of steel wheels with Town and Country tyres which helped!

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