# Gritters



## JonW (Feb 1, 2004)

Just got in having just had serious skirmish with a gritter. :evil: :evil:

Yes I kmow they're doing a useful job making road safe ......., but for F sake is there not a better way of doing it then plastering the front of my car with a shower of half inch chunks of rock travelling at about 50 mph.

We get it worse in TTs than others as we are so low down, with the amount of shite that hit my windscreen, I'm surprised I can still see out of it.

It's dark now so I can't inspect the damage to the paintwork, but tomorrow morning.......you'll be glad you're not working for me tomorrow :twisted:


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

I had an encounter recently too but the car was fine. The noise that they make as they crash on the car is so loud...I was thinking that my windscreen was going to crack any minute...but all was well.


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## chip (Dec 24, 2002)

I was once stuck behind a gritter in my old 318iS on the M25. Got bored following behind @ 50mph, and accelerated through the shower of stones & gravel. That 5 secs of madness costed me a new radiator :shock: Damn stone/gravel punctured my radiator clean as a whistle!!

If I see a gritter now, I just hang back and cruise at 50mph!


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## jgoodman00 (May 6, 2002)

In *theory* it shouldnt harm a car. AFAIK the salt they normally use is Halite, which has a hardness approximately equal to your fingernail...


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## chip (Dec 24, 2002)

just a thought, can you claim from the Local Authority if the gritters damage your car/paintwork?

Even so, be bit hard for me to claim as it happened well over 8 years ago!


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## vagman (Sep 6, 2002)

chip said:


> just a thought, can you claim from the Local Authority if the gritters damage your car/paintwork?
> 
> Even so, be bit hard for me to claim as it happened well over 8 years ago!


Almost impossible to claim successfully. The local authority responsible refuse to deal with such incidents and pass you onto their insurance company.

They will then investigate your complaint and report back that said gritter was driving and being operated within the correct parameters, i.e a fukcing whitewash.

After six months of argy bargy, I threw in the towel. I just couldn't be arsed with the hassle any longer and was losing the will to live.

Due to the thousands of complaints every winter, local authorities were instructed to use a much finer mixture, which should do less damage to cars. However, I have seen no evidence of that up here.........grrrrrr.


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## garvin (May 7, 2002)

vagman said:


> Due to the thousands of complaints every winter, local authorities were instructed to use a much finer mixture, which should do less damage to cars.


That explains it then. I was gritted t'other day and 'braced' myself for that unmistakeable sound of the paint being scraped off ............. but no ............. just a slight swish as the grit 'washed' over the car. Sorry to tell you but they must be using the finer grains down here


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## Jac-in-a-Box (Nov 9, 2002)

Bad enough meeting a gritter in winter, try meeting one in summer when you least expect!

And yes, it's happened. 5 or 6 years ago travelling back from Edinburgh to Dundee on an exceptionally hot day, there is this brown cloud up ahead.
All along this piece of dual carriageway there are cars pulled into the side with their owners checking out the fronts of their cars.

Carry on at 70 ish and travel through this dense brown cloud and lo and behold a f'ing gritter... two cracked head lamps, fog lamp, chips all over windscreen, stone chips all over front and side of car of car.
No warning signs, no nothing.

It wasn't just grit it was lumps of crushed granite and all sorts....cheap attempt at resurfacing road?

Road departments answer...."you wouldn't want skid off on the soft tarmac"
A few days later council sent out assessor and paid through their insurance, a Â£1400 bill for repairs.

Had as hot days since, never seen a gritter though!


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

COming back from friends in Brackley the other weekend I noticed the all too familiar brown cloud and lots of slow cars. Gritter was in the central lane of the M40 to ensure it got all lanes.

Hung behind it in the middle lnae where there was no grit and then decided to go for it. Got past the shower of grit it was chucking out and drove about two miles past it to find another one.

After the last time I decided to just hang back and it eventually turned off at the next junction. Went on to find another one in front of that. They must have only been doing a couple of Junctions each and I happened to catch them all.


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## jdn (Aug 26, 2002)

My father was driving home in his TT when it was relatively new. Took evasive action and added at least 20 miles to his journey to avoid three gritters.

Got within 3 miles of home and as he passed under a flyover a gritter went over the top showering the roof of his car with grit.

He still can't laugh about it.

(No damage done by the way)


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

A mate of mine got hit by grit on the M6 a couple of years back. I was following behind and we pulled into gretna services and I spotted a load of water under his car. Turned out there was a lump of "grit" the size of a golf ball lodged in his radiator. Mind you, the radiator had absolutely no protection whatsover (mk 2 MR2).


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## JonW (Feb 1, 2004)

Well after inspecting this morning not a problem, must have that soft stuff in the Midlands too, it just sounded like a hail of bullets.

I normally hang back if I see one, but this one snuck round a bend coming towards me, big kerbs on the left no where to go.

Glad I'm not the only one they really p**s off. Anyway got it off my chest now, until next cold snap, s'pose I could move to warmer climate


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## vagman (Sep 6, 2002)

[quote="JonW"I normally hang back if I see one, but this one snuck round a bend coming towards me, big kerbs on the left no where to go.

[/quote]

I was speaking to a bloke today, when the topic if gritters came into the conversation. He was saying how he took evasive action or go on elaborate detours to avoid the buggers. [smiley=rifle.gif]

I'm glad it's almost springtime and I forgert about 'em until November.


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

Moan fecking moan - oh btw gritting during the summer - it was probably sand and was being used to treat an oil spillage.


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

Just remember what happened last year on the M11 and across the UK when the gritters didn't manage to spread the motorways.

Without them the roads would be undrivable and I think we can tolerate the occasional encounter with them.

Needless to say that it is scary overtaken them, but they have to de-ice the roads somehow.


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## paulb (May 6, 2002)

I have to say that I agreee with Nick. Having been on the M11 last year and been one of the lucky ones (it only took me 6 hours to do the 28 miles home) I think they do a valuable job.

The official advise is to follow at a safe distance and not try to overtake. Therefore, I wouldn't except petty claims for paintwork to be honoured. It's just a car FFS. Gritters save lives.


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## scoTTy (May 6, 2002)

paulb said:


> It's just a car FFS.


I wonder who owns a Vauxhall? :lol:

I actually agree totally. It has to be done so you just have to minimise the imact by keeping as much distance as possible. :?


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

vagman said:


> chip said:
> 
> 
> > just a thought, can you claim from the Local Authority if the gritters damage your car/paintwork?
> ...


In a slightly different circumstance, i bought a new Mkii golf Gti in the 80s of which I was very proud. Avon CC were surface dressing near the village where I lived, so I ws crawling along at 15mph so as not to get tar and chippings everywhere. A local authority highways truckbalsted past me throwing up grit and chipping my windscreen. I sued and they settles out of court for a new windscreen. However I think this was because there was a clear 20mph temp limit posted. But it can be done - probably harder for gritting as it is a safety measure ultimately.

I never hang back behind one; the cars that pass you throw back up even faster. I either do the off/on junction trick (although they do go quite quickly), or just steel myself pull out s far as I can and floor it past as fast as I can. It's the noise that sounds so bad.


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

Also - claim the council = more council tax 4 us to pay..... weeeee


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## JonW (Feb 1, 2004)

scoTTy said:


> I actually agree totally. It has to be done so you just have to minimise the imact by keeping as much distance as possible. :?


Don't get me wrong, I know it's got to be done,I spent 4+ hours on M6 on Jan 28th this year doing 7 miles when the gritters failed to perform, but there are ways of doing things. This has been a problem for years stripping paint off cars, can't they do something better other than spinn this crap out at about 3' off the ground.

We're all in a world where there are tech advances, are Local Authorities bloody well exempt with their monopoly position?

BTW, Jan 28 was my daughter's 21st b'day, due home 6.15 to take family etc out for dinner, home 10.30, cancelled night out, f*****g gritters! :evil:


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

Last year when the chaos occured I was unfortunate enough to have planned a day trip to Calais. In the morning the sun was shining and it was a lovely day. Nevertheless it didn't go very well as I managed to crack the windsceen from the stone coming flying on the A12.

On the way back I was stuck on the M20/M25/A12 and a journey that took me two hours in the morning, took me about 7 in the evening. I was sitting in the queue next to a gritter on the A12. So was watching how the bloody thing works and I was very happy to see that when the truck stopped moving it wasn't spraying, which was great as I was right next to it.

With no gritters, chaos rules on the road network.

They were thinking about experimenting with alternative solutions. I was reading about a way of installing heating elements on the tarmac that were using solar energy to warm up the roads. I am sure there are more ways of doing this, but they have to be financially viable and be able to be used when needed.

What about some heating from our car engines is diverted to the tarmac so as we pass we keep it warm? :idea: :?


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## vagman (Sep 6, 2002)

paulb said:


> I have to say that I agreee with Nick. Having been on the M11 last year and been one of the lucky ones (it only took me 6 hours to do the 28 miles home) I think they do a valuable job.
> 
> The official advise is to follow at a safe distance and not try to overtake. Therefore, I wouldn't except petty claims for paintwork to be honoured. It's just a car FFS. Gritters save lives.


1. It is gritters that you meet coming from the opposite direction that cause the most damage.

2. There is no need for the stuff they spread on the roads to be so hard. In this day and age, it is surely possible for the mixture to be smaller and softer.

3. Why should car owners, of any make, have to put up with damage to their vehicles and why can't they complain, without being criticised, if they do.


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## vagman (Sep 6, 2002)

saint said:


> Also - claim the council = more council tax 4 us to pay..... weeeee


What the fuck are you on about. [smiley=huh2.gif]


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

If everyone ran winter tyres gritting would not be a necessary evil. (?)


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

how about heated tyres - they would melt any ice as they went along.

Re Cooncil Insurance - Council pays insurance - we pay council tax - claim council through their insurance = costs more for the council to insure themselves - so they need to fund it from somewhere.

Re the grit - its actually a high percentage of crap - more dirt than anything else - IIRC its only about 15% salt. Pure rock salt would be nice but that costs about 2 or 3x as much and a nightmare to keep in a free flowing form.


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

garyc said:


> If everyone ran winter tyres gritting would not be a necessary evil. (?)


Not really. Traction will be better but still not as good as when the roads are ice free on summer tyres.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

vlastan said:


> garyc said:
> 
> 
> > If everyone ran winter tyres gritting would not be a necessary evil. (?)
> ...


Then you need to live in a different and warmer country to live in V. Summer tyres grip levels fall away markedly below 3oC. They cease to be efficient in generating mechanical grip, and have tread patterns and not designed to cut into snow and ice.

The authorities don't bother gritting in Norway or Sweden and people seem to cope.


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## Guy (May 13, 2002)

> "The authorities don't bother gritting in Norway or Sweden and people seem to cope."


Just come back from a week in Norway on the Coastal Express, they do grit across there but do not salt. The grit is a rock ground down to about 1mm. Don't forget the use of tyre studs on virtually every car and chains on larger vehicles.

You may find problems with UK salting (gritting) if the wagon was laden with old damp salt that melts and recrystalises as a larger lump. A wagon can be sat, laden, for a number of days before throwing its lumps out. Likewise a poorly organised L.A. can have a saltpile some 2 - 3 years old that is virtually one solid lump.
It should be ground up finely, that provides for greater and more even coverage.
FYI some L.A.s use GPS and data loggers to show time/location and if their gritter vehicles are spreading as evidence to lower insurance claims.


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