British and the snow – why are there so many problems?

 After more than a week of ice and general snowy crap blocking my street, I think I have a fair idea of why Britain suffers so badly when the weather turns it up a notch. Popular opinion would suggest that it is down to the inability of local councils to clear roads due to limited resources – I beg to differ somewhat – there must certainly be something deeper at work in order to cause such widespread chaos.

Firstly – sure a council snowplough can clear snow a lot faster than a single chap with a shovel, but a snowplough cannot make it everywhere, nor can it really compete with the mass action of a whole neighborhood equipped with snow shovels to clear otherwise inaccessible routes! For 2 weeks my street sat covered in a thick layer of snow, which within a few days became an ice skating rink to play car hockey on. Not once did it get cleared, nor did anyone in the neighborhood attempt to shovel anything out. One of the locals at the local pub suggested that people were afraid to clear driveways and streets for fear of being sued should someone slip! I cant help but think if people shouldered some group responsibility and got on with the job that it might just be a success.

           

Another reason for the chaos has got to be the supreme lack of desire to go to work. Pretty much everyone knows about the great Australian sickie – the snow must be the same for the British – maybe it is symptomatic of an overworked society, sick of their soul-destroying, dead-end jobs?

While on the topic of snow - one of the most marked difference I have noticed, having soldiered on to work through the snow is the dramatic drop in traffic on the roads. Seeing a similar trend over the Autumn school holidays, It seems a no brainer to put this down to school closures. To go off on a small tangent, it amazes me the amount of parents who insisit on driving their children to school, and the difference this makes to an already overstretched road network.  It comes as no surprise then that school is canceled when it snows – that would mean 3 hours in traffic to get anywhere. Perhaps that is the answer to the mystery of school closures due to snow in Britain?

Finaly I have to say it, but Inexperience has to be at play; the Brits are better drivers than Australians every day of the week, but when some drivers decide to drive at 10Mph in a 60Mph zone, with no foreseeable obstacles to hit if braking was not possible, it would seem a tad ridiculous.  Inexeperience is not just limited to driving techniques, it also extends to equipment– Britain is one of the few European countries where winter tyres are not required by legislation, nor is the carrying of chains. It then comes as little surprise that several motorists became stranded on certain sections of road last week What is suprising however is how long it took for them to get out  - up to 2 days stuck on the side of a road! The whole event was a crisis, with motorists having to stay in their cars overnight to be rescued by the mountain rescue the next day– all within a few miles of the nearest village. I guess this is a reflection of modern society – someone else will look after it- look out if someone was to do something radical like take responsibility for their own actions and bail on foot to the nearest town and get a train home – crazy talk!

Overall I think the chaos in the snow can be put down to a society that is unorganized, and overly reliant on others to get the job done. I cant help but wonder what a difference it would make if people helped each other out and tried to get the whole country running, rather than simply complaining that things are not being done on their behalf. At the end of the day, I say let it snow – I can get to work faster, enjoy the drive much more, and keep up with my offices archaic HR policy and avoid losing pay.

“ You’ll never get good parts for it” – Peugeot Parts update

A while ago I comented on the parts shortage, or at least the perceived parts shortage for European vehicles in Australia. Now it would appear the shoe is firmly on the other foot. In September I became the proud owner of one of Peugeots smaller offerings for the equivalent of a measly $1,100 AUD equivalent. On face value, it was a bargain – 1 year registration and tax, recently serviced, well presented, and low mileage. Unfortunately I realized it was cheap due to a nasty underlying problem – a head gasket failure.  For those who are not into cars, these are caused by either running the engine too hot, or running out of water, but I can firmly add another to the usual list in the UK: Cheap parts.

I bought the car with a freshly done head gasket with a machined head, complete with new thermostat, radiator cap, and the works. Usually enough to secure the nasty job of changing the gasket done and dusted for the foreseeable future.  A few weeks into ownership I experienced the first overheating due to a dud thermostat. Whether or not this was the cause of what was to come who knows. After replacing the thermostat and radiator cap ( and discovering  much to my delight that they were the worth equivalent of about 2 seconds of a Peugeot mechanics time in Australia) along with 10 L of water in a few weeks, became obvious that the head gasket was gone. Big bucks in Oz. Thankfully this sort of thing is part and parcel for a UK mechanic and was taken care of backyard style in a day with just over a hundred bucks worth of bits. Yep some were even the real deal.

So whats the point of all this? Sure European car parts prices are overinflated in Australia, but clearly the opposite problem is being faced in the UK, whereby cheap and nasty parts are readily available. There use is made even more attractive by the fact that cars are worth next to nothing after 10 years and the price of proper repair becomes significant in comparison. Sure the UK is far more competitive when it comes to business, as it still has a pseudo class structure, low minimum wage, and a far bigger market with enhanced buying power. But these very things that conspire to a varied and competitive market are also those that bring about the market for a cheaper option, of which my 106 had fallen victim.

I do wonder if there a country where one can have a Peugeot, and have it repaired reliably at a reasonable price? Think I’d better look at France, but then again, that brings a whole new problem when you considers the effects of the ever present touch-parking there!