As one who lives at one end of the Snake Pass, notorious as the first road in England to be closed in bad weather, I have a different definition of "road closed" to many people.

Theirs: There is a hint of snow on the road, and the local council has put red bollards up.
Mine: The sump is dragging through the snow. Usually, the suspension arms are too, which makes the steering a trifle heavy and unpredictable.

If I have a pet whine about driving, it is against far too many of the people who own these whacking great turbo-charged, 4x4 armoured personnel carriers, who use it to ferry their 2.4 children to school (to the hazard of other children who have to, or prefer to, walk), and are generally competent to drive these vehicles as far as Tesco's and back and no further.

Far too often, crashes and blockages on the hill roads in my neighbourhood in bad weather are caused by these overcompensated fools, usually because they are not capable of handling the power available. (Power steering, automatic transmission and over-servoed brakes won't help them get any feel for the conditions, either).

Apologies to any SUV-owning 'Catters. (Are there any?).


Incidentally, I nearly got caught yesterday; a blizzard hit while I was driving through Castleton in the Peak District, and I only just made it up the notoriously steep and narrow Winnats Pass. However, all's well that ends well etc. etc.