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The recent
snowfalls – said to be the worst for over 30 years - certainly
seemed to have caught many people off guard, causing misery to
commuters and taxi drivers alike. Because snowfalls are a
relatively infrequent occurrence here in the UK, we always seem
to be unprepared and unable to cope adequately with any of the
consequences caused them. During the latest snowstorms, some Dial-a-Cab subscribers actually parked their cabs and made their way home on foot – or on what remained of the public services that were running. Neil Johnson (K13) was struggling up the A1 at Mill Hill, until he became stationary in a hold-up for over an hour. Leaving his cab where it was, he walked to the head of the queue to see what the cause of problem was. It turned out to be two heavy goods vehicles that had jack-knifed across the carriageways, completely blocking the road so that nothing could get through. Police eventually arrived on the scene, urgently requesting the local council to send gritting trucks to clear the carriageways – a lack of grit seeming to have been the problem. After a long delay with the offending HGVs spinning and slewing in all directions, the second of the two trucks managed to move around 3 metres, which meant that the huge build-up of traffic could just squeeze through the narrow gap between the stranded trucks. Being close to the front of the traffic stuck behind the HGVs when they got into difficulties did have its upside though, with Neil telling Call Sign afterwards that as soon as that small gap appeared, he was through it and out of there rather lively! "I felt sorry for the HGV drivers," said Neil, "but was I pleased to get away from there!" Stephen Taylor (O50) faired little better in his Mercedes Vito. He was skidding and sliding along The Highway, until finding himself |
DaC drivers slippin’ and slidin’!!! |
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stuck in the Limehouse Link
for around 90 minutes - before emerging into even
deeper snow! However, the time Stephen had spent in the Link was
used to good effect, as it allowed him to read the Vito Owner’s
Manual - and particularly page 157 which deals with the ASR
button (acceleration skid control) sited on the dashboard.
Activating this control reduces the tendency of the driving
wheels to spin by engaging a higher gear, so improving traction
and keeping engine revs low. "Closer to home the roads were like a skating rink," Stephen told Call Sign. "The cab’s handling did improve though with the ASR engaged. When I bought the cab, the salesman told me to leave that control alone, presumably on the basis that we generally don’t get much snow here. But it did help and meant I could control the cab – albeit very gingerly - while other vehicles dropped by the wayside," he said. Call Sign Editor, Alan Fisher was another casualty. Coming into work on the A12 in his TX4 at around 4pm, he spotted a long tail back and decided to leave by Olympic Park exit. "Bad move," said Alan, "not only wasn’t the traffic moving, but it was like driving on a block of ice. With rear-wheel drive and a very powerful engine, even pulling forward |
without touching the
accelerator saw theback of the cab slide! Coming towards the
traffic lights at the junction with Lee Conservancy Road sees a
nasty slope, so I got out and told the car behind to make sure
he gave me plenty of room as I didn’t know what was going to
happen! It took around 30 minutes before we reached the slope,
but I managed to get down without hitting anyone! I had intended
turning right there and going back home onto the eastbound A12,
but unfortunately for me the cab wanted to carry straight on! By
the time we reached Victoria Park, I decided that I might as
well go into town where the roads were said to be slightly
better. When I reached Hackney Road, with cars sliding all over
the show and buses parked up because they couldn’t grip the
road, I decided to go home." Finishing off his tale of woe, Alan told us: "I thought I’d go back via Queensbridge Road, but nothing was moving as one of the last buses still in service had got stuck going over the hill. I tried to turn round but the cab just slid so I resigned myself to a long haul. I eventually got home around 5 hours after leaving – not having done one single job!"
Ron Yarborough |
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