Unprepared Ineptitude

[CharlesHarris]

A few inches of snow in Atlanta have led to gridlock, hundreds of accidents, and a baby born on the side of a highway in the past 24 hours.

The City knew the storm was coming, and has a new fleet of snowplows and vehicles to spread sand. So what went wrong?

Atlanta-based designer Thomas Strickland spent eight hours in traffic, and offered up a great explanation of the problem on Metafilter.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/U...0-10-08-47

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-all-a...fic-2014-1

[BeardyMan]

We're inadequate and inept this side of the water too sir.
Even more so.

[Mortblanc]

First, 30 trucks is not an adequate fleet to serve a city the size of Atlanta, that city stretches for 60 miles each direction!

Second, They get snow only once every 10 years and are not used to driving in it. That is why they do not have snow removal equipment, buying it would be an irresponsible waste.

Third, they never get just snow. With their weather pattern they get sleet that melts, then freezes, then snow on top of that, which is why no one was moving. Their entire city was a sheet of black ice. So much of their system is elevated cloverleaves and overpasses that as soon as the temp hits 32 they are slipping and sliding, causing bottlenecks and blockages.

I have been in Atlanta during a snow event and the best thing to do is pull over at the first opportunity and rent a motel room.

They do not do very well in the rain either!

One of the most frightening things one will ever do is drive in Atlanta on a warm, sunshiny, dry, clear day, you do not want to even think about snow!

[CharlesHarris]

And Washington, DC is not very much better!

[Karidian]

I always find it funny (not funny haha) when we have snow here in Scotlands central belt. The amount of people that just dont know how to drive in snow, or any bad weather for that matter, is amazing.
A few years ago we had a severe freeze during which my own gas central heating boiler packed in because the outflow pipe froze. Water pipes were freezing everywhere which caused more problems when they melted. My wife took 8 hours to drive home from work. A journey which normally took 20 + mins. after heavy snow. We now carry a ghb in the boot (trunk for you Americans). Basic, just waterproofs, extra warm clothes, decent boots, water, snacks and a small collapsible shovel.
The councils here have gritter lorries and snow shovels but from speaking to council employees it seems they have a specific amount of grit/salt available so are reluctant to use it in case they run out. What happens is they tend to leave things till the last minute and risk not getting it out at all. Even then they only cover major roads/bus routes. You have a situation where the road round the corner from my house is clear of snow but i cant get my car out my own street to get there.
Add this to the fact that employers expect their employees to turn up at work even when there is advisories out that only essential travel should be attempted. Their definition of essential and mine differ greatly.
I can understand the problems in cities like Atlanta that rarely get snow and are unused to dealing with it. Cities like Glasgow should never have these problems.

[bigpaul]

a few flecks of snow in this country and everything grinds to a halt!

[Mortblanc]

It is very easy to blame driver incompetence for these situations but I was amazed by the fact that so much of Atlanta's problem was compounded by al the jackknifed tractor trailer trucks (transport lorries to you?) that were blocking their off ramps and overpasses.

Those people are professional drivers who operate all over the nation in every weather condition known, and they were not able to negotiate the weather.

I lived in the southern states for most of my life, then moved north, and guess what? Drivers in the north are no better in the snow than the southern drivers!

Until TPTB get the roads cleared and salted for them they are all over the place and sliding off the road at every opportunity too.

Only major difference between the areas is that in the north they use thousands of tons of chemical in the roadways to keep them cleared and often salt and treat the roads in advance of the snowfall and not during or after it.

What happened in Atlanta was almost to the word what HL was describing. TPTB waited to the last minute to make some major decisions and by then it was too late. It is a pattern with local leaders in the U.S. and not just in Atlanta. They hold their positions based on popularity and not ability.