Why does snow cause traffic chaos?

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From E Dillon: Pure insanity. That’s all I can describe [Monday] night’s antics on the M50. Cars were skidding all over the road, slip roads were ice rinks and impassable, while there didn’t seem to be much concern or advice expressed over the airwaves. It seemed like you couldn’t get on or off the road. I got out of the car at one stage to see why we hadn’t moved for 25 minutes. The road was sheet ice. There was no evidence of gritting.

Yours is but one of a host of phone calls and e-mails we have received relating to the past few days’ weather events. Clearly it was a nightmare experience for many Irish motorists on all roads, but there seems to be particular ire reserved for the M50.

Responsibility for gritting roads falls upon the local authorities and they were clearly over-stretched. On the M50 it falls to M50 Concessions Ltd to grit the route. It seems that the three gritters it operates for the entire 32km stretch of the M50 didn’t get out in time to avoid rush hour and found themselves caught up in the traffic. They didn’t start their gritting operation until the evening, by which time many commuters had left work early and were already en route.

According to a spokesman for the National Roads Authority: “A meeting was held on Tuesday morning with the M50 concession holders to clarify what happened after a strong level of concern was expressed over the ill-prepared timing of the gritting operation.”

More than 100 cars are believed to have been towed off the M50 yesterday. The late arrival of the gritting trucks seems to be one of the main problems. The ramps were particularly treacherous. In the short journey – though long time – I spent on the M50 that night there seemed to have been real problems with cars getting off the motorway.

These are infrastructure issues that need to be seriously addressed. Given that we are a country in north-western Europe, you would expect that we would be prepared for the odd snowstorm.

The same, with respect, applies to motorists. Driving on ice is always precarious and the primary focus should be on remaining calm and avoiding any erratic changes in steering or acceleration. Gentle on the throttle and gentle on the steering. Advanced driving instructors often say that the best drivers have the hands of a surgeon and the feet of a ballet dancer.

Many of those e-mailing their complaints mentioned that it was the first time they really experienced traction and stability control in operation. These systems adjust the brakes and throttle to catch a car when the wheels start to slide. They have saved many lives and should really be fitted as standard. Drivers might have noticed their cars sliding slightly before a yellow light flickered on the dash. That’s the stability control kicking in to prevent wheelspin. The difference between cars that had it and those that didn’t was very apparent on Monday night.

From GM: With so many motor dealers in trouble, why are car priceS still not as competitive as those in Britain? I did a deal this week on a 2006 Mazda6 for £6,000 sterling in Belfast. It’s a 1.8-litre petrol, 41,000 miles on the clock, with alloys and cruise control. It will set me back €4,700 in VRT. Even with the trip up to Belfast, it’s going to be in my driveway for €11,400. I made a few phone calls to local dealers and the best I could get was €14,500 for a 2005.

There is no escaping the fact that there are good deals out there on both sides and our advice remains the same: shop around. The key thing for readers to do is to contact the local dealer and see what they have to offer: don’t go on their list price.

In many ways, dealers in the Republic are doing themselves no favours by listing their pre-negotiation prices so high. They may point out that they are the opening prices and there are serious drops being made before sales are completed these days, but many buyers don’t like the idea of having to haggle too much. They see a lower price somewhere else and won’t even cross the front door to give the Irish dealer a shot. One further piece of advice to anyone importing: be sure to do a background check through HPI (www.hpi.co.uk).