Overreaction to weather

jaybird said:
thats complete Tosh, IMO.
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:)


jaybird said:
can you supply figures?
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There ya go http://www.injuriesboard.ie/eng/Statistics/Statistics_2008/

http://www.irishlinks.co.uk/injury-compensation-ireland.htm

jaybird said:
Do you think it might have more to do with icy roads, frozen pipes, and the fact that half the schools in the land are made at least partly from temporary buildings and portakabins which may be slightly difficult to heat well in below freezing temperatures?
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I totally agree with you on that one. Leinster and Munster are expected to be under snow by Monday so an early decision to close the schools was the best decision. But RMCF stated that kids are up to all sorts at home so why cant they go into school, and I said that they'd be up to the same in school too
 
Had to go to Tralee last Tuesday. Driving down was a little slow with freezing fog in midlands. But from Nenagh to Limerick it was green. After that you had to drive with care, especially in shady areas (the sun was shining intermittantly).Was supposed to drive back to Dublin on Wednesday afternoon, but just past Limerick I caught the news and decided to turn back and book a room. By the time I was upstairs and settled in and had made a few calls I turned on RTE. If I had seen the pictures earlier I would not have turned around. The news on the TV was OTT but the earlier radio stuff was way, way worse. Totally OTT :mad:. Including fluctuating voice, extra gravitas and one presumes gesticulations. (Since when did Irish people have to behave like an orchestral conductors?) Had a relaxing night and left next morning for an uneventful drive home. So, there was snow at both sides of the motorway and again freezing fog. But you took care. Coming down by the canal there was deep slush. Why oh why do these news editors behave in such fashion? Drove to and from work today. No big deal. Just take it easy, plenty room in front and no sudden braking.
 
gipimann said:
Speaking of "compo culture" (real or imaginary), did anyone see the RTE news reports at 6pm and 9pm this evening?

A personal injury solicitor explained how a person could make a claim from the local authority if the authority says a road is gritted and is clear, but they miss a bit, and the driver has an accident on the untreated road as a result!
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Gipimann, you are being very kind to the said legal virtuoso. Surely common sense should prevail. These ambulance chasers make their margin by pitting one against the other. I'm not saying that they are acting in an immoral fashion but! Could we not have some Biblical wise men dispensing justice? Or am I bonkers?
 
When I heard the schools were closing, the first thought that came to mind was - this will force some parents to stay at home, thus less cars on the road, thus less need for salting. Was it just me?
 
Teatime said:
It is a challenge I have to overcome to get to work, go to shops etc. Yes the roads are dangerous but if you go slow enough and you understand how best to drive on icy roads, you will get there (hopefully). My road has not been gritted/salted once. There is a constant sheet of ice. But people keep telling me the road is impassible and they get annoyed when I disagree.
What is the worst that can happen at low speeds (10mph-25mph) - you could hit a ditch (I already did that), you might hit a harder object and you might slide into another car. The chances are you will be ok if you dont brake hard, dont speed, dont panic, dont turn corners too hard and do keep in the right gear and have good tyres.

The odd thing is that I never ever speed, not sure why, don't like rushing. But when this cold snap ends, we'll be back to the dangerous lunatics on the road and then I will be fearful again...
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I have taken chances myself and have to go to work, but my point is 'the chances are you will be ok' isn't good enough for everyone. I would imagine plenty of people will use any excuse to get out of work, but I would also imagine no shows at work equate to no wages, so its a bit of a lose/lose situation.

Hope I didn't jinx you last night! good luck
 
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gipimann said:
Speaking of "compo culture" (real or imaginary), did anyone see the RTE news reports at 6pm and 9pm this evening?

A personal injury solicitor explained how a person could make a claim from the local authority if the authority says a road is gritted and is clear, but they miss a bit, and the driver has an accident on the untreated road as a result!

There was also concern over claims for personal injuries if householders clear the snow/ice from the footpath outside their homes - if an accident happened, is the householder responsible?

Is it any wonder nobody wants to clear the footpaths if this is what might happen?

When I was younger, any time we had snow or ice, the folks (and children when old enough) cleared their driveway and the footpath outside - as did the neighbours. Meant that people could get from house to house (to check on neighbours) and to the local shop for supplies.
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I know.I thought that whole news item was a sad indictment on the kind of society we've become. When I was a kid I don't think it would have even crossed people's minds to look for someone to sue if they slipped on the snow or ice.
 
Teatime said:
At the start of the cold spell I took my car out (02 Seat) and practiced driving on slippery roads so that I would be calm when things went wrong. I think everyone should do this.
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liaconn said:
Well that's fine if you feel comfortable doing that. It doesn't mean your neighbours are wrong for not feeling safe driving down icy country roads at the moment or that it is not actually a danger.
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The neighbours are probably more worried about the mad bloke in the 02 Seat that was skidding up and down the road last week then they are about the snow.

RMCF said:
Anyone hear Arsene Wenger's comments at his press conference today, after discovering that another 2nd Arsenal game in a week might be cancelled for 'health and safety' reasons?

The pitch is perfectly playable but its due to consideration for people getting to the ground and maybe hurting themselves.

He said that fear, the notion of 100% health and safety and trying to ensure that not a single person of the 60,000 coming to the game got hurt meant that it might not go ahead. You could tell he was a bit miffed about it, but he's right. Of course if you have 60000 people coming to a football ground a few people will fall and hurt themselves, but do you stop all events IN CASE a single person MIGHT get hurt?
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If this is what he said, he is a fool. There is no notion of 100% safety. At any football match or any large gathering, people get hurt and injured. That's why you normally have St John Ambulance or similar. It is a question of degrees. Taking 60,000 into a venue with lots of steps/stairs is a recipe for disaster.
 
jaybird said:
And do you think its a good idea to take that chance if you have one or more children in the back of your car?
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You are assuming that I don't have 2 small kids then? You take a chance ever time you get into your car these days, ice or no ice.
 
MrMan said:
Hope I didn't jinx you last night! good luck
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Nope MrMan, got home safe, took a while tho...you were in my thoughts.

I am going for a walk on Lough Corrib so don't be jinxing me on that! Brrrrr...;)
 
Given the terrible forecast for Monday, I wonder how many people will make it into work. No doubt, some idiot will snowboard all the way in from the back of beyonds somewhere and make all those people who couldn't get in from 'down the road' in Ballinteer, or Santry or Blackrock feel really guilty.
 
Teatime, don't go walking on any lakes.
In a water park in Leicestershire two middleaged brothers died when they went through the ice on one of the lakes.
 
BillK said:
Teatime, don't go walking on any lakes.
In a water park in Leicestershire two middleaged brothers died when they went through the ice on one of the lakes.
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Heard about that - terribly sad. Awful way to go.

The bays in Lough Corrib are frozen now. Amazing scenery. I did not venture onto the ice but there were loads of people on it. A fairly shallow bay (max 4 ft I would guess). I have seen people walking across some of the smaller lakes, risky business!
 
jaybird said:
i read where you said you went into a ditch and it was no big deal, or how it doesn't matter much if you hit another car, and that its fine to take chances. I drive when I need to but not if theres a good chance of crashing, no.
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Oh is that what you read, well i hope your ice age ends soon. The point of this thread is that TV and radio are making it out to be worse than it is - the constant panic about the amount of salt/grit left - my country road has never been gritted and never will be. They would have everyone stay at home. Every news bulletin is dominated by the weather. What will be talk about when the thaw happens?
 
I've worked everyday over the last few weeks except Christmas day and New Years eve. The worst day on the roads by far was St Stephens day. For most of the day my heart was in my mouth, they were really bad. The gritters weren't working Christmas night.

I was involved in an accident on a main road, minor for me, major for the car that clipped the back of me, the car was a right off. Thankfully no-one was hurt.

Since then though, I think it's been ok. If a road has been treated it's ice free in the large part, less travelled roads are a different story though, but still not undrivable. We have got very little snow in my part of the world so that makes a big differance.
 
"Do we need to see snow falling on obscure regions to understand that it is snowing there? And they warn us only to take necessary journeys, but they send out an outside broadcast unit to show us snowflakes. The news is now as hyped as showbiz and heading in the direction of National Inquirer status.
Having travelled about 1300 miles since Christmas holidays, I no longer take notice of the news. Just the forecast at the end. RTE should be ashamed of themselves for churning frightening news stories. But people obviously like it to be dramatic. Otherwise the ratings would show that people were turning away."
This is Tinker Bell, at the side of a side road. Somewhere.
 
liaconn said:
Given the terrible forecast for Monday, I wonder how many people will make it into work. No doubt, some idiot will snowboard all the way in from the back of beyonds somewhere and make all those people who couldn't get in from 'down the road' in Ballinteer, or Santry or Blackrock feel really guilty.
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You keep going on about this Liaconn - anyone would think you had a guilty conscience! ;)

By the way, I wonder how many people who "just couldn't make it in to work because of the life threatening treacherous conditions" managed to make it out to the pub over the weekend? :rolleyes:
 
People can't make it to work, yet the supermarkets I have been in over recent days have been jammed.

Go figure.
 
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