Anatomy Of Being Stuck In Snow

I’d just finished a telephone call to my mother, stating that, due to my careful driving and relentless efforts to keep my driveway free of snow and ice, I have never been stuck in snow in my current vehicle. So, I jumped in my car, ready for another treacherous (but necessary) journey to the local superstore to pick up some shopping. Everything went fine. Until I reached the top of the street that is.

I was just by the junction which would allow me to pull onto the main road when the front tyres began to spin, providing no traction. ‘Oh cock’ as James May might have said, had he been the driver rather than me. Yet, joy of joys, the wheels found purchase. Until another metre up the road when I was savagely pulled to the right, toward the kerb. Unfortunately, not only did this wedge me against the kerb, but it also put me on the wrong side of the road, side by side another vehicle which, despite having a driver sitting there, patently refused to move.

I was, as I had so cockily stated had never happened before, stuck in the snow. Much shouty sweary madness ensued. When I had calmed down enough, I began levering the wheel left and right to try to remove any excess snow from the patch that the tyres were currently in. This had some effect and I could pull about half a foot. But that’s all. More shouty sweariness. Reversing seemed to help to a point, but then my front wheels once again began to spin. I was utterly stuck.

A helpful female passerby (yes, thanks for stating the obvious about my car being stuck) stated I should try removing the snow from the front driver’s side wheel. I did so, but there was hardly any of it there anyway. At this point, I was tempted to use the steam that was no doubt emitting from my ears as I was extremely frustrated. I only, after all, wanted to get to the shops to buy some spicy chicken (frankly, when I did get it, it wasn’t worth the wait or the effort but then I’m notoriously hard to please).

More wheel spinning, teeth-gnashing and light flashing began as I was still stuck. Yet, I felt there was a glimmer of hope as the car did move. Finally, two extremely helpful gents got behind my vehicle and with an almighty heave got me on the go. Then I stopped again. A few wheel-turns-and-straightens later and I was moving down the road like a very, well, slow moving vehicle in extremely dangerous conditions.

Moral of the story? If you’ve never been stuck, well done, congratulations. But don’t gloat about it. Anything can and will happen to people out on the roads, especially in the current conditions we face.

In terms of the mechanics behind the thing – well that’s quite simple. My car is front wheel drive, which means it has the benefit of the engine at the front end giving it weight over the driving wheels. However, if the wheels simply cannot find purchase on the ground that you’re on, then you won’t be going anywhere. My top tip for these conditions is to make sure your fridge and freezer is full and don’t drive at all if you can help it.