Why Poland is "surprised" by winter and snow every year?

pgtxThreads: 49 Posts: 6,327 Joined: Feb 14, 09 MEMBER ♀	Edited by: pgtx Nov 30, 10, 16:15 #1
every year is the same... snow and cold weather during the beginning of winter "surprises" Poles, drivers, roads are never ready to use, people stuck in traffic, publuic commute is unbearable, broken trams and busses... and helpless faces on tv... hmm... how is it to drive and commute in your city? what's the situation overall? how do you deal with that stress? :)

zetigrekThreads: 59 Posts: 2,709 Joined: May 20, 10 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 16:22 #2
pgtx: how is it to drive and commute in your city? what's the situation overall? baaad, really baaaad.

convexThreads: 46 Posts: 7,185 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 16:31 #3
pgtx: how is it to drive and commute in your city? what's the situation overall? It's terrible. Who was the person that screamed out with glee, "I hope we get a lot of snow" from her house where it doesn't freeze? Evil evil woman! pgtx: how do you deal with that stress? :) I'm (finally) buying a Niva and only leaving the house to get more beer.

Wroclaw BoyThreads: 57 Posts: 5,474 Joined: Jul 3, 09 MEMBER ♂	Nov 30, 10, 16:33 #4
convex: I'm (finally) buying a Niva and only leaving the house to get more beer. I expect you can just walk down the road, i have to dig a frigging path for everything, ive dug so many paths my back is killing me....

frdThreads: 8 Posts: 1,956 Joined: Feb 3, 09 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 16:34 #5
I was pretty surprised.. I've changed my tyres to winter ones today, it was a feat to get to the garage without driving into card in the middle of every junction..

pgtxThreads: 49 Posts: 6,327 Joined: Feb 14, 09 MEMBER ♀	Nov 30, 10, 16:36 #6
frd: I was pretty surprised why? but why?? it's freaking winter! it's not like Poland is a tropical country where people don't know how snow looks like...

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Edited by: Wroclaw Boy Nov 30, 10, 16:37 #7

frd:

I've changed my tyres to winter ones today,

I still have my winter tyres in the garage im putting them on pronto though, its lethal driving without them especially out here in the country.

(offer for Convex, come on down here and dig some paths and i'll give you beer)

pgtx:

why? but why?? it's freaking winter! it's not like Poland is a tropical country where people don't know how snow looks like...

Easily said living in Texas. Its always carnage after the first serious snow fall i dont care what country it is.

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,188 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 16:38 #8
pgtx: how is it to drive and commute in your city? Commute..?? city..??? out where i live you might see a tractor or two on your way to work , but no traffic jams , no matter how bad the snow comes down.... Its gonna be a shock to the system when i find myself in the center of Moscow , time to trade my Jeep in for an armoured car i think...!

convexThreads: 46 Posts: 7,185 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 16:40 #9
You have any scrap metal? Can mount a plow to the front of the Niva.

♂

Nov 30, 10, 16:45 #10

convex:

You have any scrap metal? Can mount a plow to the front of the Niva.

You can mount a plough to anything...given time and a bit of metal...

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Nov 30, 10, 16:48 #11

I took a 300 mile drive from hell last year around Feb time a lot of it consisted of the A4 Krakow to Wroclaw. Speed was down to about 40 KMH on the motorway with snow ploughs overtaking constantly it was snowing that hard and that cold that it literally was every man and his truck/snow plough to the rescue. I lost the back end at one point gently overtaking a slow vehicle - scared the hell outta me.

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,188 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 16:52 #12
When it comes to snow , the best thing is four wheel drive....if it turns to ice , nothing really works unless you have metal studs in the tyres....

convexThreads: 46 Posts: 7,185 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 16:55 #13
Heh, two years ago I was driving from Wroclaw to Frankfurt and got caught in a stau in Chemnitz. Apparently the jam was due to ice on the road (it was a bit under freezing)...while sitting in traffic, the rear end slid until it hit the slush. I nearly peed myself. Needless to say, I worked my way to the next exit and crashed out until the sun came up.

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Nov 30, 10, 16:57 #14

wildrover:

When it comes to snow , the best thing is four wheel drive....if it turns to ice , nothing really works unless you have metal studs in the tyres....

But you said this the other day:

wildrover:

Winter tyres are all very well , but they don,t help much if you don,t have a clue how to drive on slippery surfaces.... I am fortunate that i have spent quite a few years on the race track where power sliding into corners teaches you all you need to know about skid control . and i have quite a lot of experiance of driving off road too on tricky surfaces , a bit of snow for me is good fun....

And don,t think having a 4 x 4 will get you out of trouble if you can,t drive... a 4 x 4 is bigger and heavier than a normal car , and if you get into a skid with one it will slide faster and further than a normal car , and probably won,t stop untill you hit something...!

convexThreads: 46 Posts: 7,185 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 17:00 #15
wildrover: And don,t think having a 4 x 4 will get you out of trouble if you can,t drive You'd be surprised at how many people think that throwing it in to 4 hi will magically make road conditions go back to normal.

noreenbThreads: 4 Posts: 1,082 Joined: Apr 22, 09 ♀	Nov 30, 10, 17:00 #16
how do you deal with that stress? :) I'm not stressed at all. I love the weather. It's fascinating, these little shining snowflakes falling down from the sky. An Old Town in my city looks impressive. However waking up in the morning is not easy. Helpless faces on TV, yeeah, that's right, I decided to watch News only and CNN from time to time.

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Nov 30, 10, 17:02 #17

pgtx:

why? but why?? it's freaking winter!

Well, it wasn't even cold a few days ago, I even did some freaking jogging.. I though I still have like several weeks, time flies. This heavy snow fall was during one night ; o

Wroclaw Boy:

its lethal driving without them especially out here in the country.

To be honest here in the city it's not much better, many smaller streets are really dangerous even with those winter tyres. I didn't see many snowplows on the streets but that's probably a normal course of things in here..

♂

Nov 30, 10, 17:05 #18

Yeah a 4 x 4 is the best thing in slippery conditions , but only if you know how to drive it...

if you think that having a 4 x 4 means you can simply drive faster than everyone else , you can soon get into trouble with it....

If you don,t have a 4 x 4 then the next best thing is to have the engine at the same end of the car as the driving wheels , my Honda accord is front engine , and front wheel drive , so works a bit better in the snow...

The worst thing to have is a powerfull car with low profile tyres , the engine at the front , and the driving wheels at the back..they are pretty hopeless...

pgtxThreads: 49 Posts: 6,327 Joined: Feb 14, 09 MEMBER ♀	Nov 30, 10, 17:09 #19
wildrover: Yeah a 4 x 4 is the best thing in slippery conditions , but only if you know how to drive it... what do you mean "know how to drive 4x4"?... very easy.... my horse is 4x4... wildrover: then the next best thing is to have the best thing is to have a big truck... it sucks to drive on a highway in a little sedan... all the snow-jam from the road lands on your windshield....

TeffleThreads: 28 Posts: 2,105 Joined: Aug 26, 10 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 17:10 #20
wildrover: next best thing is to have the engine at the same end of the car as the driving wheels Indeed. I must admit to a little schadenfreude seeing all the young fart wannabe wise guys and drug dealers in their BMWs in this weather, whirring and slithering everywhere as I merrily trundle past in my battered Nissan : )

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,188 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 17:11 #21
pgtx: what do you mean "know how to drive 4x4"?... very easy.... my horse is 4x4... Anything that has a mind of its own is not easy to drive...but yes a horse does work well in snow.... Not so good on an icey road though...guess how i know that.....?

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Edited by: Wroclaw Boy Nov 30, 10, 17:16 #22

wildrover:

The worst thing to have is a powerfull car with low profile tyres , the engine at the front , and the driving wheels at the back..they are pretty hopeless...

How i miss the old Audi Quattro at times like this.

Wroclaw Boy:

i have to dig a frigging path for everything, ive dug so many paths my back is killing me....

Proof:

Dogs shite path	To the wood
Close up to the wood

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,188 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 17:20 #23
Ha... my garden looked pretty much the same...untill i got a 4 x 4 working... can,t you get a cheap 4 x 4 of some kind...it saves a whole lot of digging in the winter , you can make your own paths through the snow with the car....

pgtxThreads: 49 Posts: 6,327 Joined: Feb 14, 09 MEMBER ♀	Nov 30, 10, 17:23 #24
Wroclaw Boy: To the wood nice... Wroclaw Boy: Dogs shite path the snow is nice and all at the beginning of the winter... and then spring comes, melts the snow and all the dog's shite reveals... clean after your dogs, people!!!!!!!!!!!!

convexThreads: 46 Posts: 7,185 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 17:25 #25
Wroclaw Boy: That'd be me then. Haha, we're members of the "completely worthless in the winter" club.

♀

Nov 30, 10, 17:28 #26

Oh how I envy you in a way. I used to live in the north, but where I am now, snow is something to get excited about. It happens only every so many years that it sticks.

Last year we had it, and everyone was so happy. No one has snow tires here. But the snow generally just sticks to the lawns and not the roads. By the next day, it's all gone.

Even if there are only some snow flurries, school closes.

HarryThreads: 62 Posts: 8,508 Joined: May 2, 07 ♂ [Suspended]	Nov 30, 10, 17:28 #27
wildrover: if you think that having a 4 x 4 means you can simply drive faster than everyone else , you can soon get into trouble with it.... On my way home last night I saw the driver of an Audi S4 learn that the hard way. And on my way to work this morning I saw the driver of a Subaru Impreza making the same discovery.

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Edited by: Wroclaw Boy Nov 30, 10, 17:30 #28

wildrover:

can,t you get a cheap 4 x 4 of some kind...it saves a whole lot of digging in the winter , you can make your own paths through the snow with the car....

I used to do that with the old 4x4, honestly i kind of enjoy shoveling snow, in any case you couldnt get to my back garden even with a Range Rover in these conditions. If its going to be a long hard winter you gotta shovel snow at some point.

Harry:

Subaru Impreza making the same discovery.

Impreza, thats a car.

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,188 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 17:38 #29
Wroclaw Boy: in any case you couldnt get to my back garden even with a Range Rover in these conditions. If its going to be a long hard winter you gotta shovel snow at some point. The snow was two feet deep in my garden last year , with drifts up to five feet deep...my trusty old Jeep managed to plough its way through it....

FUZZYWICKETSThreads: 12 Posts: 1,997 Joined: Nov 3, 09 ♂	Nov 30, 10, 17:42 #30
pgtx wrote: every year is the same... snow and cold weather during the beginning of winter "surprises" Poles, drivers, roads are never ready to use, people stuck in traffic, publuic commute is unbearable, broken trams and busses... and helpless faces on tv... hmm... hahaha, yeah, it's so true. Hellooooo, you live in Poland, people.

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