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What NOT to do if your car starts sliding on ice!!!
eznfrank - 4/1/10 at 06:41 PM

I can't believe the complete idiocy of what happens in this video.

YouTube Linky


marcjagman - 4/1/10 at 06:45 PM

What numpty's,


Humbug - 4/1/10 at 06:47 PM

Complete 2@


graememk - 4/1/10 at 06:47 PM

unless you nicked it


mangogrooveworkshop - 4/1/10 at 06:49 PM

homo's how would u explain tht to your insurance when your car run u over


luke - 4/1/10 at 06:51 PM

There is a few estates around here that have those bricked junctions. They look nice but in ice they are lethal!

some idiot designer in a housing company thinking they were a good idea!


speedyxjs - 4/1/10 at 06:57 PM

Why was she braking???!!!

I think all new drivers should be taught how to control their cars on slippery surface like they do in Finland


spdpug98 - 4/1/10 at 06:57 PM

What a total idiot, but the people filming them could have been out side warning people and putting salt down – we put warning triangles up at the top of our small drive to stop people coming down it


imp paul - 4/1/10 at 07:01 PM

wow


big_wasa - 4/1/10 at 07:05 PM


russbost - 4/1/10 at 07:15 PM

OK they are total numpties, but that does look seriously slippery - quite why they thought they (& anyone the car could hit) were safer out of the car rather than still behind the wheel & (potentially) having some sort of control is beyond me!

Fairly obvious why the videographer wasn't out there warning people - it would have spoiled his video - wonder how he'd have felt had the result been someone being flattened by an out of control car - with or without driver

Insurance form should make interesting reading!!! Please describe (as the driver) what happened in the accident "I can't I wasn't at the scene of the accident!"


dhutch - 4/1/10 at 07:20 PM

Blood and sand! Not clever.

This is what salt boxes should used for imo, little salt goes a long way if your only aiming for enough grip to get to your drive rather than drive at any speed.

But yeah, depending on what was further down the the road (run off area, steep grad etc) you could prberbly do worse than control round the not-actaully-a-honda and into that hedge!

[Edited on 4/1/2010 by dhutch]


liam.mccaffrey - 4/1/10 at 07:21 PM

They could almost be members of East 17

EDIT
In case anyone doesn't get the reference, Brian Harvey famously ran himself over

[Edited on 4/1/10 by liam.mccaffrey]


will121 - 4/1/10 at 07:24 PM

we sound a bit like we all think we know what we would have done better to control it, watching that a few times now being down hill and way she slides on her arse it was mighty difficult! i believe they were getting out because they thought they could have grabbed onto the car and stopped it, its a hard thing to just sit tight relax when hitting something seems inevitable.
jumping out clearly wrong but what driver inputs would you do to control it?


JoelP - 4/1/10 at 07:28 PM

quote:
Originally posted by will121
we sound a bit like we all think we know what we would have done better to control it, watching that a few times now being down hill and way she slides on her arse it was mighty difficult! i believe they were getting out because they thought they could have grabbed onto the car and stopped it, its a hard thing to just sit tight relax when hitting something seems inevitable.
jumping out clearly wrong but what driver inputs would you do to control it?


err... come off the brakes, try to steer, if you cant stop through careful braking then at least attempt to hit the least expensive thing in sight? Jumping out is criminal, the bloody thing would've spun all the way down that hill. They were DAMNED lucky that it didnt kill them.

It scares me that the driver is that clueless.


clairetoo - 4/1/10 at 07:35 PM

According to a comment on this version of the video .......

quote:

The car slid round to corner and across the Quay into the canal. A police officer said had they not jumped out they would be dead.

...................(spelling corrected )

[Edited on 4/1/10 by clairetoo]


JoelP - 4/1/10 at 07:37 PM

watching it again, they approached too fast in the first place, but once it started skidding, within a couple of seconds they should've realised they couldnt get down the hill, and my first choice would be the hedge behind the parking spaces at the right - depending on the gradient. Im confident it would've stopped on that hedge though.


russbost - 4/1/10 at 07:37 PM

In 36 years of driving (Jeez am I actually that old!!!) I have only ever come across ice that bad & with such complete cover - I finished up after much brake dabbing & tiny steering corrections sliding downhill into a kerb with the wheel turned sideways against it - cost me a wheel (steel Cortina MK3!) but was an awful lot better than sliding out onto the main duel carriageway I was approaching!

Have to say I never contemplated getting out of the car!

& yes, I would agree that I think many people on here, whether they've posted a comment or not could come seriously unstuck in those conditions.

Who remembers the clip on "you've been framed" where the full size (20 - 30 ton???) dustcart pirouettes from a completely standing start - now how would you like to get in the way of something like that sliding at you! (Particularly in your Locost!)


JoelP - 4/1/10 at 07:44 PM

he had a full 7 seconds with the brakes locked to think! Should take less than a second to be off the brakes and gently back on, whilst simultaneously formulating a plot.

btw i dont believe the canal comment, that looks like a devils advocate job.


will121 - 4/1/10 at 07:48 PM

if it was all covered in snow and visually appear slippery, be easier but dont think anyone would believed it could have been that slippery, we can only do but speculate on what we would have done differently/better


gazza285 - 4/1/10 at 07:57 PM




Funny looking canal.


orton1966 - 4/1/10 at 08:03 PM

As someone else said, poor driving - possibly but the car was at walking pace and still not enough grip to stop. I, for one, have certainly seen cars turning into sledges with or without good driver input. Driver and passenger both stupid and irresponsible for jumping. All things considered, it is a poor show on how we are when people are waiting for the next victims to come down the road, for their own entertainment, rather than doing something to warn approaching drivers or make the road safer.

Time was people cleared the pavement outside there house, shops and businesses gritted pavements and car parks and residents used the grit bins to treat minor roads. Now business owners won’t because they are warned by insurance companies not to bother because it actually increases their risk of being claimed against. Councils don’t install or maintain as many grit-bins because they don’t get used and/or get vandalised, plus they only grit a relatively small number "major" routes and still run short of grit.

As a nation we are getting progressively worse at dealing with, what many countries would consider, relatively modest amounts of snow and ice.

[Edited on 4/1/10 by orton1966]


skinned knuckles - 4/1/10 at 08:04 PM

It says that that was the first car to go down that road that day, how long did they have to wait till it came along? if it was the first car, how did they know it would be that slippy?

could be completely wrong but i know of a bloke that went out in to the main road outside his house at 3am when it was -6 and soaked the road with a hosepipe just so he could video the carnage.

anyone else smell a rat with this video or am i just being a tw@t with very little faith in human nature


Xtreme Kermit - 4/1/10 at 08:10 PM

I am lucky to have only hit solid ice once (in a fair few years ) and I sympathize completely.

Although no expert I had been doing much practicing in various snow covered car parks, and IMHO when you hit serious ice, no matter what you do, you become a passenger...

I got on the brakes, off the brakes (repeat), steered left, steered right, tried the handbrake to swing her round - all to absolutely no effect.

I was lucky that when I drifted gently out of a side street into the middle of Barnet High Street, there was no one else coming along


clairetoo - 4/1/10 at 08:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by gazza285



Funny looking canal.

Nuff said


scootz - 4/1/10 at 08:30 PM

I remember traveling up to see my folks at Xmas 2 years ago. Roads were a bit slippy, but nothing obvious. As you would expect for 7am on Xmas day... very little traffic.

Long sweeping bend and I can see three cars apparently parked at the side of the road... get closer and see that they've actually all slid off the damn road and whacked each other!

Then I feel my car sliding... straight towards the cars and the numpties who are standing directly between me their rather solid vehicles!

Thankfully I was in our manual car and could dip the clutch to allow the wheels to start turning at the same speed and regain traction. Had it been the auto, then I was off... definitely into the cars, possibly taking one of the eejits with me!

I just could not believe their stupidity... either get out of your car and get to a point of safety, or if you really MUST stay at the roadside then walk down a bit away from the ice-patch and warn oncoming traffic!


scootz - 4/1/10 at 08:31 PM

quote:
Originally posted by clairetoo
quote:
Originally posted by gazza285



Funny looking canal.

Nuff said


Maybe it was a canal, but has dried up due to global warming!


gottabedone - 4/1/10 at 08:43 PM

Unfortunately this sort of thing just happens. We had it last winter when the local council ran out of grit before the roads really got bad

In a big diesel in first, using engine braking I still couldn't get traction at 5mph down a hill. With small inputs of steering I managed to get my car straight and around the corner at the bottom of the hill. My youngest boy had stopped screaming by this point and I needed a change of underwear

It makes you wonder what would have been reported if this had been at night? ...... was the car "nicked" or would they fess up to it?.........a number may not and this could have ended up in someone's living room!
Thankfully no-one was hurt -well other than the idiot hit by the car she ran away from

Steve


mattg8000 - 4/1/10 at 09:11 PM

according to this link http://www.skiddmark.com/video-ice-skating-in-paignton-dont-try-thi s-at-home/ there was no quay at the end - there is also a picture of the car planted in a brick wall


clairetoo - 4/1/10 at 09:19 PM

I'll admait to getting badly caught out this morning - pulling away from home the road was completly frost covered , and not too bad , but as I came to the `T' junction at the end of the road (which looked clear....) I tried to slow down from the 5mph I was doing in second , and I just carried on.......on black ice , not a sound from the four locked wheels...........
I slid straight out of the junction , turned the wheel , and let go of the brakes - and it turned !
There was nothing coming (for the first time in years) , but there was a car very close behind , who I suspect was sliding as well.......


iank - 4/1/10 at 09:21 PM

Also on that link

quote:
The couple were warned by neighbours not to venture out that day and they were the only people to attempt to drive on that road. There were numerous pedestrians around who could barely walk on the black ice so a car really stood no chance.


So I suspect in that case they'd "forcefully told their neighbours to concentrate on their own affairs" and got video'd for their troubles.


Andi - 4/1/10 at 09:47 PM

I remember coming downhill in ice in a beautiful German Ford Taunus auto (Cortina mk5 in English methinks). Hit the kerbed corner of the bend at about 10mph and burst 2 front tyres.
Mateyboy in the passenger seat had already took off his seatbelt to jump out and smacked his head into the window screen, shattering it (the screen). He was fine apart from a red lump. But even worse was, I left it where it was for the night and came back the next day to find (according to the locals) that the Gyppos had turned up with a hyab truck and nicked it

Out of interest , does anyone think they could handle this road (from a link to the last Bolero video)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWT1pY1mVlY&NR=1


Richard Quinn - 4/1/10 at 09:56 PM

I had a bit of a sideways/opposite lock (rwd tin top) moment this morning at 30mph on Scotland Road in Liverpool. This is a 6 lane major road/bus route. It wasn't particularly early but the car was still showing -5 deg. I took it a little bit easier after that.
You can only really drive to the conditions when you know what the conditions are and that very nearly caught me out this morning and I'm not ashamed to say so.


flak monkey - 4/1/10 at 10:02 PM

At the end of the day if you hit *solid* sheet ice, like in both those vids you dont stand a hope in hell once you have started sliding unless you have spiked tyres. No amount of faffing about with brakes, accelerator or steering is going to stop you, especially if there is a slope. If you are lucky you'll know its sheet ice and might be able to slow using the gears, but chances are you'll still loose it.

Only solution is winter tyres and not getting sliding in the first place....

Agreed the getting out of the car is totally stupid. Basically you just have to hang on for the ride!


Benzine - 4/1/10 at 10:04 PM

quote:
Originally posted by flak monkey

Only solution is winter tyres and not getting sliding in the first place....



or some kind of cunning flame thrower/salt-thrower device.


russbost - 4/1/10 at 10:05 PM

Andi's link above is quite bizarre, I don't know if the road is substantially steeper than it looks (looks flat) but otherwise it's difficult to believe just how little traction there is - one driver in particular appears quite determined to have an accident! Incredibly right near the end someone is wandering about on foot in the middle of the road whilst gassing on his Mobi! Darwinian or what?


flak monkey - 4/1/10 at 10:05 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Benzine
quote:
Originally posted by flak monkey

Only solution is winter tyres and not getting sliding in the first place....



or some kind of cunning flame thrower/salt-thrower device.


I like your thinking! Could also be useful for ridding street corners of chavs


McLannahan - 4/1/10 at 10:21 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CXPTkF-NYs

Russian tunnel under a river - apparently during the freeze these accidents are a common occurance.

The bendy bus has a "challenge"


Andi - 4/1/10 at 11:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by russbost
Andi's link above is quite bizarre, I don't know if the road is substantially steeper than it looks (looks flat) but otherwise it's difficult to believe just how little traction there is - one driver in particular appears quite determined to have an accident! Incredibly right near the end someone is wandering about on foot in the middle of the road whilst gassing on his Mobi! Darwinian or what?



I think its because its shot from a high vantage point in 2d. A bit like when your on a mountain taking a picture from the summit to the ground below. It never looks high/steep


RK - 5/1/10 at 12:36 AM

Having a certain amount of experience in ice - on an ice racing course, no less, I can safely say that flak is right. Nothing would work with that amount of ice. No winter tread short of studs would work. You might try Liam's trick of putting the clutch down, but even then. You're effectively done, once you turn that corner!

I've driven into quite a few snow and ice banks, and it does feel weird at first, having NO control. You still try though.

But I wouldn't jump out. That's asking for it.


dhutch - 5/1/10 at 02:18 AM

Tbh, given the situation, rear ending a wall is probably quite a cheap options.

Do this age of fiesta not have ABS?


iank - 5/1/10 at 07:29 AM

quote:
Originally posted by dhutch
Tbh, given the situation, rear ending a wall is probably quite a cheap options.

Do this age of fiesta not have ABS?


ABS makes no real difference when it's that slick, the whole road looks like it's got a thin sheet of clear ice on it.

If you look it picks up speed while it's broadside to the hill, there's no grip available at all.

(woman can be heard telling the pedestrians to walk on the grass so they must be having trouble on the pavements.)

[Edited on 5/1/10 by iank]


morcus - 5/1/10 at 10:31 AM

I wouldn't have thought that car would have ABS.

I don't understand why they started braking as they don't appear to start sliding until after they brake and they weren't going fast. Looking at the other picture its amazing that it crashed into the wall and not the cars on the other side of the street.

I'm sure that other video was shown on tv around Christmas time '08. Its completely mental. The real question is, how will they get that fire engine out again?


FFTS - 5/1/10 at 10:49 AM

Hmm seems like jumping out of a sliding car isnt exclusive to thick Brits!! Thick Yanks are good at it too haha. Some also seem to think that watching a line of cars shunting one after the other and then sitting between two of them in the gap would make for a fun day DOH!!!

Thicky Linky


MakeEverything - 5/1/10 at 11:36 AM

I reckon thats a setup. Why would you bail out of a car like that?


wheelfelloff - 5/1/10 at 11:44 AM

Have to agree not much to be done once the slide has started. However, my Dads advice has worked for me several times.

1. Get OFF brakes
2. If the front wheels are not turning point them in the direction you are sliding - if you can get them turning you MIGHT get some minimal steering back
3. Pick something soft
4. Hit it early - if you are going downhill you will only go faster

Following his advice, off the brakes, clutch down and steer downhill to get front wheels turning (or with front wheel drive even use engine to get front wheels turning), steer gently towards the hedge past the silver car. Tighten seat belt. Prey to whoever you think protects you. Hold on to wallet you will need it.

In his day of course he always advised going into objects backwards but with today's safety features I would argue that forwards is best.

Regards

Keith


scootz - 5/1/10 at 12:01 PM

That's the way I was trained to do it as well Keith... if you're skidding on ice (PROPER ice) then you can forget the brakes as they aren't going to do you any favours. You will not slow down!

Your only hope is to maintain some level of steering input and try and find a path to safety, or seek a soft place to land.

You will only manage that on ice if all 4 wheels are traveling at the same speed, therefore you have to disengage drive ASAP, so dip that clutch!

Has saved my bacon on quite a few occasions. Even got the missus out of a sticky (well slippy) situation and she didn't even understand the physics behind what she was doing... I just yelled "clutch" as we started going sideways and she steered out of it beautifully. She then parked up the car, burst into tears and instructed me to drive!


morcus - 5/1/10 at 12:06 PM

If your on your own in the car theres a good chance most of its behind you, so at slow speed it might be worth trying to crash backwards because your less likely to block or jam the nearest door (Though only marginally). I would think it would cost less in repairs if you went tail first.

My old car once drove off (Dry conditions and no ice, engine powered and level) without me in it and stopped when it hit a curb, I don't know how fast my car was going or how fast the one in the video was but my brain says the curb should have stopped it. watching it again though they aren't full hight curbs so perhaps that why they didn't stop it.


NS Dev - 7/1/10 at 05:20 PM

quote:
Originally posted by speedyxjs
Why was she braking???!!!

I think all new drivers should be taught how to control their cars on slippery surface like they do in Finland


LOL local finnish guy who comes to our unit a fair bit (car nut!) ditched his volvo just up the road..............how we laughed as we dragged it out with the jcb!


MikeRJ - 7/1/10 at 06:27 PM

quote:
Originally posted by morcus
I would think it would cost less in repairs if you went tail first.


It's easier to write a car off with rear damage; boot floor and rear quarter panels are expensive parts to replace!


JoelP - 7/1/10 at 08:15 PM

i think its just that its better for you to be thrown back into the seat rather than forward into the seat belt. Less pressure on your body as more area to spread it between.


DorsetStrider - 7/1/10 at 11:40 PM

First let me say that ABS doesn't make any difference in these sorts of conditions. My car has ABS and this morning while coming away from my girlfriends I started to slid downhill whilst in second at about 800 revs. ABS kicked in breifly but didn't make a difference. Quick change to down to 1st and lots of clutch control managed to stop me after about 3 car lengths, just before a busy T junction.

When I was a kid I seem to remember councils gritting vertually all roads. I don't remember them running out of grit either. Perhaps if the people at the top stopped mis using tax payers money there would be enough left for little things like...erm...services!

The one and only time I've been pulled over by the police was to compliment me on my driving. I was visiting friends in Norwich and driving up a VERY steep hill in snow and ice I lost all traction. Hit the brakes and the car started sliding backwards. Into 2nd and after a moment of power control managed to get the tyres spinning but the car to stop it's backwards slid. After about 5 seconds the spinning tyres got enough traction to start pulling us up the hill (followed by a police 4x4 thing). At the top of the hill blues lights came on and I pulled over... police driver pulled up alongside, rolled down his window and said "that was a great bit of driving mate, well done. Take care" and drove off. It's nice when the plod compliment you on your driving


David Jenkins - 8/1/10 at 07:23 AM

quote:
Originally posted by DorsetStrider
First let me say that ABS doesn't make any difference in these sorts of conditions.


ABS only works if at least one wheel is turning - if all the wheels are stopped then the ABS controller thinks you're parked! It doesn't know you're still doing 20mph down an icy hill...


morcus - 8/1/10 at 07:02 PM

Like when you spin the wheels and the speedo says your doing 100mph.