Police warn of more icy roads
Police have warned motorists to drive according to the conditions in the ongoing cold snap.
This follows two cars going off the road on Sunday night and Monday morning at Brindister and the Black Gaet. The Met Office has issued yellow warnings of snow and ice which last until 11am on Tuesday.
Police stress drivers should leave a safe distance between them and the vehicle in front, thus allowing time for braking. Additionally, keeping sidelights on makes a vehicle more visible, particularly in dazzling low winter sunshine.
Jim Mullay
I cannot believe that the Police would advise drivers to use sidelights only in poor visibility. Surely the last sentence should read ” additionally, keeping DIPPED HEADLIGHTS on makes a vehicle more visible, particularly in dazzling low winter sunshine”. Sidelights would be a complete waste of time. There are far too many cars driving around in bad visibility with either no lights, sidelights or only one headlight.
Maurice Smith
Totally agree, Jim.
I find it encouraging to see many motorists now using dipped headlights at all times – getting seen even half a second earlier can make all the difference. Do you remember Volvo running newspaper ads in the 1970s to the effect “Don’t flash a Volvo driver – he’s only doing his bit for road safety”
John N Hunter
Is it just me or are Shetland drivers losing the ability to drive in a touch of snow or ice?
Colin Hunter
I don’t know what’s wrong with people these days. The winter tyres which are now available are vastly better than standard “summer” tyres, yet some people seem to think they don’t need them. The worst offenders seem to be people who have bought shiney new 4x4s “because they’re safer”. Well they may well be, but they don’t stop or corner any better than a 2 wheel drive car does without winter tyres. And a well shod 2 wheel drive car is probably better than a 4×4 on the stupid low profile boy racer wheels that are factory fitted on the top level models, which now seem to be all the rage!
Haydn Gear
My 4×4 RAV4 runs on so called summer tyres and has never failed to negotiate muddy tracks or wet grass(here in Wales) but my son’s Suzuki Swift shod with 2wd winter tyres has sometimes failed to keep in motion resulting in me having to tow him up gradients a lot steeper than those in Shetland. It’s not so much how you drive but more about HOW and WHAT you drive something which boy racers fail to comprehend. If it’ s noisy,has rapid acceleration and a blasting music system , what else is there to know ??? Winter tyres do assist in deep snow but no tyre is capable of braking quickly on ice or cornering safely at speed. As for fording streams or shallow rivers, winter tyres are useless or at least provide no advantages.Ha