Latest posts for the topic "drivers"

drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:40:43 GMT

While I am sitting in the passenger seat of the car going down a hill chained up. Time for a rant.

1. Why don't people read the instruction when they put them on instead of letting them snap or come off while driving

2. Why do BMW drivers try to get uphill without chains and end up getting towed?

3. Why do some 'local' drivers seem think it is ok to race down a snowy road and overtake on the outside of a bend with cars coming the other way?

4. At what stage do you take the chains off?

Safe journey to all those going back today, and for the guy who just passed us with his rear wheel wobbling, don't use luck - use a spanner!!!!

:shock:

drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 09:59:37 GMT

Iceman wrote:
4. At what stage do you take the chains off?
:shock:

Sometime before you reach the channel ports is usually advisable :mrgreen:

Re:drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:09:41 GMT

We went for the slush time. Now on tarmac and still some drivers with them. Don't think they were compulsion today as police not enforcing

drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:48:38 GMT

Iceman wrote:While I am sitting in the passenger seat of the car going down a hill chained up. Time for a rant.

1. Why don't people read the instruction when they put them on instead of letting them snap or come off while driving

2. Why do BMW drivers try to get uphill without chains and end up getting towed?

3. Why do some 'local' drivers seem think it is ok to race down a snowy road and overtake on the outside of a bend with cars coming the other way?

4. At what stage do you take the chains off?

Safe journey to all those going back today, and for the guy who just passed us with his rear wheel wobbling, don't use luck - use a spanner!!!!

:shock:

Hi, Iceman...

In answer to your thoughts may I offer my own :D ..

1- Lack of foresight and thought, and maybe they think yes we will take them , but we wont need them ....bad move, practice before you go is my answer.

2- As Mr Clarkson says on many occasions , BMW's are driven by c***s ( mind you it's changed to Audi drivers now I think ? )...it's the I have an expensive German car, I should be able to go anywhere syndrome.....again in the winter....delusional I fear.

3- In my part of the Alps ( Tarentaise/Savoie ) tail-gating seems to be a national sport , which is undertaken by those whom consider dents in their car/s as badges of honor, drive slower it annoys the hell out of them :D ......your life is more important than the idiot doing the tail-gating :D

4- Chains should be taken off when the road has insufficient snow/ice cover ( when the road is pretty much clear to be honest ), if you continue to use chains when the road is clear you will eventually destroy your tyre's rubber and in many cases the road surface ( this is the advantage of snow/winter tyre's , you do not have to keep taking them on and off when the road gets clear again only to put them back on further up or down the road ).....but in many countries even if you have winter tyre's it's still a legal requirement to have chains ).

jon.

Re:drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:24:01 GMT

Cheers Jon!

Tail gating was not a problem, they just overtook up to 5 cars at a time. Assuming nothing was coming round a bend.

Now, putting chains on a bus must be hard!!

Re:drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:42:51 GMT

BMW drivers. Simple, as Jon G says, Clarkson is right. ALL of them.

Re:drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:47:16 GMT

I haven't needed to use my snow chains yet apart from last week when I got stuck on ice in a car park. I didn't however put them on. What is did was wedge the whole bag (one set of our chains are in a round canvas bag) behind the wheel that was spinning and reverse over it slowly. I then got out put the bag back in the boot and carried on my way. :thumbup:

Re:drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:26:59 GMT

She wont learn how to put them on!! I have tried and tried!

Re:drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:35:31 GMT

scapula wrote:She wont learn how to put them on!! I have tried and tried!

It's a division of labour issue Scapula.
I am sure S4B does many things that you are incapable off?
:thumbup:

Re:drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:27:01 GMT

Wow Iceman, was that a fab week in VT or what, you obviously had the foresight to drive yourself, we were on a package and our transfer collection was 3 hours late resulting in 15 hours door to door but had the most brilliant week and not going to let it spoil it. Hope you also had an amazing week and get back safe.

Re:drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:54:43 GMT

Hello playmates .... no snow chains required the morrow as the winter tyres gave a slip free ride
..... now back to the washing 8)

Re:drivers

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:38:20 GMT

Abi, great wasn't it!! We followed 2 snow plough out of val thorens took us 2.5 hours to get to moutiers - very slow!! Think the total journey back to Geneva was over 4 hours. We left at 10am, when did you leave?

But the week was fantastic!! Wish I was there skiing next week!!

Staying at parents tonight.. mum said she will do my washing and cook roast lamb before I go back tomorrow....

Good to be home!!

Re:drivers

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:14:43 GMT

Abi, great wasn't it!! We followed 2 snow plough out of val thorens took us 2.5 hours to get to moutiers - very slow!! Think the total journey back to Geneva was over 4 hours. We left at 10am, when did you leave?

But the week was fantastic!! Wish I was there skiing next week!!

Staying at parents tonight.. mum said she will do my washing and cook roast lamb before I go back tomorrow....

Good to be home!!

Forget the skiing, roast lamb sounds like the highlight of the week to me. I going to bed tonight dreaming of mint sauce.

BTW Quotes haven't been working very well lately

Re:drivers

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:33:55 GMT

Trencher wrote:

Abi, great wasn't it!! We followed 2 snow plough out of val thorens took us 2.5 hours to get to moutiers - very slow!! Think the total journey back to Geneva was over 4 hours. We left at 10am, when did you leave?

But the week was fantastic!! Wish I was there skiing next week!!

Staying at parents tonight.. mum said she will do my washing and cook roast lamb before I go back tomorrow....

Good to be home!!

Forget the skiing, roast lamb sounds like the highlight of the week to me. I going to bed tonight dreaming of mint sauce.
BTW Quotes haven't been working very well lately

That's just because BB Code and smilies are disabled - Ice is on a mobile I think.

Re:drivers

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:37:43 GMT

Iceman, fantastic week wasn't it. We were due for pick up at 6.05am but it ended up as 9.20 due to them closing the road for the avalanche blasting, took us 4 hours to Chambery (dont recomment this airport!) arrived half an hour after the flight should of left but they managed to delay the plane!

Definately wish I was still there and next week will be awesome but we had a great week although Friday was interesting took the Peclet up and took Tete Ronde to do Christine but couldn't see it! Ended up being virtually blown down the rest of the blue but worth it. Definately going back next year and would recomment to all.

Hope you enjoyed the roast lamb and I am off to carry on with all that washing!!!

Re:drivers

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:36:06 GMT

OldAndy wrote:That's just because BB Code and smilies are disabled - Ice is on a mobile I think.

That is exactly right. You can enable them all again by unticking those boxes. I am back home now so the majority of my posts (less) will be done on laptop!

Ooooo :roll:

Re:drivers

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:59:01 GMT

Abi, what happened at Chambery airport to make you not like it ? Just asking because my sis & friend are using that airport in a couple of weeks when they come to join us. (We drive- works out a lot cheaper when there's 5 of us plus I like driving). I've flown in there once- amazing take off and landing over the lake in between the mountains. Not for the fainthearted !
My sis also finding return transfers from Chamberey to Peisey
VERY expensive- any advice ?

Re:drivers

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:50:58 GMT

I hired a car from Chambery last year - very easy airport IMO.

Re:drivers

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:07:50 GMT

tin pot wrote:I hired a car from Chambery last year - very easy airport IMO.

Unlike Geneva where you have to take a bus to pick up your hire car :evil:

Re:drivers

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:29:17 GMT

AJMCA basically Chambery is too small to cope with the amount of flights at ski time. We were delayed getting off the plane as they shipped us in in small groups and then had to proceed through a marquee which was passport control! Once inside there was one small baggage reclaim for a whole flight with all that extra luggage and you just couldnt get to the baggage conveyors. We ended up holding up our transfer bus as it took us so long to retrieve 9 peoples ski luggage!! My boots and our skies were the last to come out.

On the way back it was carnage as we were late as our transfer bus was 3 hours late collecting us from val thorens and then stopped off in Les Menuires and Saint Martin. Some poor people had got there early and they dont allow you through passport control or security until you can board the plane so you had to wait by the check in desks!

I am sure it is a great airport in quieter times but for ski season its a joke. I heard of some people flying back to Dublin whose bags couldnt join them as there wasnt room on the plane if they wanted it to get off the runway!

I unfortunately did the tourist bit and took a package so the transfer was included but was grateful in the end as we didnt arrive at the airport till half an hour after the plane should of left but they managed to delay it. Hope your sis has a good time.

Re:drivers

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:38:25 GMT

Unfortunate;y the experience is no better at Geneva!

My experience this year:-

- Passport control = 30 minutes (usually walk straight in!)
- Baggage collection = 40 minutes with the conveyor stopping at least 4 times and announcements that all the bags from Liverpool at been unloaded and to visit baggage trace...all 100 of us :shock:
- Bus for the car hire, not walk straight to the garage. No such thing as a quick getaway/arrival
- Horrendus queues to check in - taking at least 40 minutes
- 30 minute queue to get through security
- return passport control - 30 seconds :)

Geneva airport has increased its flights but not facilities! It needs some serious attention!! :evil: :twisted:

Re:drivers

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:30:56 GMT

That's why I like driving- it's all part of the holiday. We can pack what we like, stop when we like, chat, play music, watch France go by. Usually takes us 14-15 hours door-door (home > ski chalet) including Eurostar and stops and refuels. I know some people do it a lot quicker but it's not a race for us - we've got kids so we like to stop a few times en route for a quick walkabout, picnic, coffee. I like to maximise our ski time, it would upset me to waste any of our lift pass and mountain time so we always travel out the day before, (never in convoy) meet up with our friends (also driving) for a stay overnight in Chamberey. Leave at 6.30 am next morning and we're wearing our ski boots by 8.30am. 8)
Driving saves us a lot of money compared to other travel methods.
If going for a Saturday-Saturday ski holiday then my 2nd choice would be the overnight "Snowtrain" from St Pancras, via Paris for dinner (and breakfast on the way back.) Love it ! Quite an adventure if you've got kids too. Not for everybody I guess, but then, I don't mind sleeping on the train, I had plenty of practice in my backpacking days ! Snowtrain arrives in the Alps at 7am ish with short transfer (20 mins) to resort. :wink:

Re:drivers

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:06:24 GMT

For us northern monkeys, driving is a long way. It takes us 5 hours to get out of the UK :(

Re:drivers

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:23:30 GMT

Iceman wrote:For us northern monkeys, driving is a long way. It takes us 5 hours to get out of the UK :(

Options .... Move down Soooufffff

Re:drivers

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:36:06 GMT

I may well do that once I have sorted out my with - soon to be ex :twisted:

Re:drivers

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:38:29 GMT

Iceman wrote:I may well do that once I have sorted out my with - soon to be ex :twisted:

Trouble Tut mill Lad ........ )

Re:drivers

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:39:56 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:

Iceman wrote:I may well do that once I have sorted out my with - soon to be ex :twisted:

Trouble Tut mill Lad ........ )

I will set t'whippets on her :evil:

I should have known it was not right when she told me she did not like skiing :roll:

Re:drivers

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:41:01 GMT

Iceman wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

Iceman wrote:I may well do that once I have sorted out my with - soon to be ex :twisted:

Trouble Tut mill Lad ........ )

I will set t'whippets on her :evil:

I should have known it was not right when she told me she did not like skiing :roll:

Educate or dump that is the question ...... I managed to educate mine 8)

Re:drivers

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:47:27 GMT

latter is mine 8)

anyway back to drivers/airports/northern monkeys :D

MY mate lives in Norwich. Takes him 5 hours to get out of East Anglia!

Re:drivers

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:58:18 GMT

Iceman wrote:latter is mine 8)

anyway back to drivers/airports/northern monkeys :D

MY mate lives in Norwich. Takes him 5 hours to get out of East Anglia!

You have a mate !!!!!!!

It's the Horse & Carts that stop us getting any where fast 8)

Re:drivers

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:29:24 GMT

Yes I do, just teh one but he is a boarder without a lid 8)

Re:drivers

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:43:13 GMT

Iceman wrote:Yes I do, just teh one but he is a boarder without a lid 8)

Good Norfolk Lad then ...... "Strong in the arm... thick in the head" :lol:

Re:drivers

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:06:12 GMT

Iceman - I'm sorry to hear you are soon to have an ex :cry:

Never mind, there are lots of tips on that romance thread to help you pick the next one more carefully :D

I live a long way out as well. It would take me about 6 hours to drive to Dover.

Ally

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:27:57 GMT

Iceman wrote:While I am sitting in the passenger seat of the car going down a hill chained up. Time for a rant.

3. Why do some 'local' drivers seem think it is ok to race down a snowy road and overtake on the outside of a bend with cars coming the other way?

They have proper winter tyres and lots of experience driving on snow. With chains on you have to drive very slow which is really very anoying for the natives ;)

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:37:51 GMT

merry wrote:

Iceman wrote:While I am sitting in the passenger seat of the car going down a hill chained up. Time for a rant.

3. Why do some 'local' drivers seem think it is ok to race down a snowy road and overtake on the outside of a bend with cars coming the other way?

They have proper winter tyres and lots of experience driving on snow. With chains on you have to drive very slow which is really very anoying for the natives ;)

That makes sense. :thumbup:

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:22:24 GMT

merry wrote:

Iceman wrote:While I am sitting in the passenger seat of the car going down a hill chained up. Time for a rant.

3. Why do some 'local' drivers seem think it is ok to race down a snowy road and overtake on the outside of a bend with cars coming the other way?

They have proper winter tyres and lots of experience driving on snow. With chains on you have to drive very slow which is really very anoying for the natives ;)

I really do hope you are joking :twisted:

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:37:58 GMT

Iceman wrote:

merry wrote:

Iceman wrote:While I am sitting in the passenger seat of the car going down a hill chained up. Time for a rant.

3. Why do some 'local' drivers seem think it is ok to race down a snowy road and overtake on the outside of a bend with cars coming the other way?

They have proper winter tyres and lots of experience driving on snow. With chains on you have to drive very slow which is really very anoying for the natives ;)

I really do hope you are joking :twisted:

The same applies to this country, and by the way I'm not saying that overtaking on a bend is right, but since I have been driving for a living you really do realise how incompetent the average driver on the Uk roads is.

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:43:12 GMT

Yes, but my point of overtaking 4 cars at a time on ice/snow conditions on a bene still stands. My brother was driving who is very experienced in driving in the snow. Probably not as much as the locals that grew up in the snow.

It is still dangerous and can kill people. How does the frenchman know that either a snowplough oor tour bus was not coming the other way? His Renault would be a pile of metal. And we would miss our flight :twisted:

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:36:27 GMT

I got re-trained to drive a few years back on a emergency driving course whilst working for the ambulance service. Previous to this I thought I was a competent driver and having my licence for over a decade, no crashes and no points.
One thing that was evident in the group of twenty on the course was nobody had never been taught how to safely overtake another vehicle other than dual carriageway.
Last year whilst on holiday in high land of Scotland on the windy a Roads over took 12 cars and the caravan that was holding them up in one manoeuvre.not bragging or being big headed but I could see it was safe to do so and the positioning of my car correct at all times. Lots of horns and flashing lights as if I was being dangerous but it wasn't.
I would say im a more cautious driver now than I was before the course however my skills are so much higher.
It might be a case that the local drivers are looking further down the road then others very often you can see the next switch back or they might just be mental!

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:43:10 GMT

I hear what you are saying John, and agree with you.

On mountain roads you generally cant see the next corner. It frustrates me that ****heads like that take risks and end up killing others, like my good friend!! I am sure you as an Ambulance driver have seen that many more time than my 1 horrific experience.

I have 6 points, have has 3 accidents but would never never dream of driving like that imbosele did that day! :twisted:

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:09:08 GMT

Driving standards vary so much, it at times is very scary.during a mid life crises seriously thought of getting a bike licence until I remembered if drivers can't see the six foot wide yellow vehicle with flashing lights and a siren what chance has a motorbike.
So often you hear "you don't learn to drive until you pass your test".
The stats of Young recently passed drivers for accidents are not a pretty read and I don't think they are given the skills to drive but given the skills to pass the test and the two are not the same.
The cost of learning to drive and applying for licences is ridiculous but at the same time you hear of people travelling to Briton because the driving tests to get a full licence is easier than there home European country

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:05:21 GMT

The strange thing is that where we live it's the other way round. The locals generally drive very carefully (apart from the idiotic kamikaze youngsters of course) around the bends on our single track roads, and it's the holidaymakers who go tearing round the bends on the wrong side of the road and can't reverse when they meet up with a car. With us, at any rate, the difference is down to experience. At some point we've all met a cow in the road or nearly gone into the back of a hay trailer etc. on a bend and we've learnt to slow down.

I do know what Iceman means. The last time we were in France we had a taxi from Moutiers to Meribel and the taxi driver nearly scared us all to death overtaking on the bends and made those sitting in the back pretty car sick. At one point I did feel like asking if we could get out and walk, but it was a long way to go with all our luggage! The bus, however, which we took back to Moutiers, was driven extremely well and we didn't feel at all nervous (or sick!).

I understand the point about winter tyres being faster than chains and that the locals know the road and can therefore drive faster on it, but it would be nice to know how many crashes there are on those mountain roads during the ski season.

Ally

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:39:35 GMT

AllyG wrote: it would be nice to know how many crashes there are on those mountain roads during the ski season.
Ally

ermmmm .........
No it wouldn't IMHO, prefer not to be scared and still go to the resorts with a smile on my face.
:D

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:53:21 GMT

OldAndy wrote:

AllyG wrote: it would be nice to know how many crashes there are on those mountain roads during the ski season.
Ally

ermmmm .........
No it wouldn't IMHO, prefer not to be scared and still go to the resorts with a smile on my face.
:D

Wear your lid whilst driving and you will remain safe ;)

Why do we do a driving test, pass it then the following day can go on a 4 lane motorway without any prior instruction :roll:

Helmets when driving, thats the future!! :D

Re:drivers

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:07:44 GMT

snowb4ndit wrote:

merry wrote:

Iceman wrote:While I am sitting in the passenger seat of the car going down a hill chained up. Time for a rant.

3. Why do some 'local' drivers seem think it is ok to race down a snowy road and overtake on the outside of a bend with cars coming the other way?

They have proper winter tyres and lots of experience driving on snow. With chains on you have to drive very slow which is really very anoying for the natives ;)

That makes sense. :thumbup:

I have to revise this post...

I agree to a certain extent, in that I have, and will continue to overtake very slow traffic, especially when I am on my way to work. Mostly it is vehicles with snow chains or people who do not know their way. I understand why and am not an agressive driver but sometimes I just don't have the time to hang around. However I am not the kind of idiot that does it on a bend and/or when traffic is coming in the other direction.

Re:drivers

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:09:33 GMT

AJMCA wrote:My sis also finding return transfers from Chamberey to Peisey
VERY expensive- any advice ?

I flew into, and out of Chambery last year and drove to Tignes. It was pretty quiet, but can see it being a nightmare if the weather is bad, or it's busy.

Prices were way higher this year (not helped with me booking a few weeks later) so we're flying into Turin, and driving from there. It's going to take a bit longer, but as others have said, I quite like driving.

It'll certainly be very scenic.

Re:drivers

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:51:59 GMT

snowb4ndit wrote:

I have to revise this post...

I agree to a certain extent, in that I have, and will continue to overtake very slow traffic, especially when I am on my way to work. Mostly it is vehicles with snow chains or people who do not know their way. I understand why and am not an agressive driver but sometimes I just don't have the time to hang around. However I am not the kind of idiot that does it on a bend and/or when traffic is coming in the other direction.

Lucky for us there are not too many out of State drivers in MN in the winter. When the weather does change at the start of winter, we don't automatically switch to winter driving mode. Every year it takes a while to get a feel back for the conditions and assessing how much grip there actually is. Just as the Eskimos are supposed to have a hundred different words for snow, so the roads are different everyday. Sometimes snow crystals are very slippery, sometimes they are very grippy. Being able to quickly (and subconsciously) asses how to drive takes while.

Re:drivers

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:18:56 GMT

Other than driving with a degree of common sense, the biggest aide for driving on snowy/icy roads is the use of winter tyres. And I mean 'winter' tyres not mud/snow or all season.

We own an Audi four wheel drive (A6 Quattro). When we bought it (December 2010), I also acquired a 2nd set of alloys which I had shod in Vreidstein winter tyres as we were planning to take the car over to Norway. The additional grip on snowy roads was a revelation. We drove from Oslo up to Hemsedal in April 2011 and December 2011 without incident. Not as good as studded tyres of course but definitely the next best thing for general use. We were able to drive up and down the access road to our cabin in Hemsedal even though it was permanently covered in snow and was a series of switchback bends. The majority of the german and dutch visitors were using chains.

Interestingly the tread has now worn down to between 4mm and 7mm and the grip is already going. Apparently winter tyres need changing earlier than summer tyres.

We uploaded a couple of clips to youtube when 1st trying out the tyres:-

Re:drivers

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:25:22 GMT

abi wrote:AJMCA basically Chambery is too small to cope with the amount of flights at ski time. We were delayed getting off the plane as they shipped us in in small groups and then had to proceed through a marquee which was passport control! Once inside there was one small baggage reclaim for a whole flight with all that extra luggage and you just couldnt get to the baggage conveyors. We ended up holding up our transfer bus as it took us so long to retrieve 9 peoples ski luggage!! My boots and our skies were the last to come out.

On the way back it was carnage as we were late as our transfer bus was 3 hours late collecting us from val thorens and then stopped off in Les Menuires and Saint Martin. Some poor people had got there early and they dont allow you through passport control or security until you can board the plane so you had to wait by the check in desks!

I am sure it is a great airport in quieter times but for ski season its a joke. I heard of some people flying back to Dublin whose bags couldnt join them as there wasnt room on the plane if they wanted it to get off the runway!

I unfortunately did the tourist bit and took a package so the transfer was included but was grateful in the end as we didnt arrive at the airport till half an hour after the plane should of left but they managed to delay it. Hope your sis has a good time.

Flew into Chambery 22nd Jan, bang on time, absolutely no delays, about 8 aircraft on the ground at the time. Luggage came through in about 20 minutes, although theres only 2 belts to fight your way to.

Its a small airport, its close to the resorts, it does what it says on the tin.
It doesnt pretend to be T5.

If you prefer fluffy airport, fly into Zurich and take a long transfer to France )