I was aware but did not know you could register. I don't think I have enough experience to volunteer and I would need to have a decent set of winter tyres fitted first. But would be interested in helping out once that has been sorted. Would also need a decent tow rope in the car I guess.

And then we just need some snow. Still none down here...  Robin
2008 Range Rover Sport TDV8
Gone:
Jaguar S-Type V8 4.2 Sport
MGZTT 190 2.5

Would you have to inform your insurer? Whilst it’s not really ‘for hire or award’, I bet there would be implications if you were unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident whilst providing a voluntary service such as this, especially if the passenger was injured in an accident.

I don’t know about the rest of the UK but where I am you have to undergo training and CRB reports before you can start taking up volunteer duties, volunteers are also encouraged to have mobile ham radio fitted to their cars but that isn’t essential and many just use CB radios. My local groups also provide special insurance cover when you are assisting but there is a big emphasis placed on the fact that you are volunteering. I hasten to add that I am not a member of any of the organisations mainly because I cannot give the time needed as I work abroad a lot however I am registered with the local police and have been called out to assist in both winters and summers but not with transporting people, usually with getting medicines or a doctor out to remote hill farms or remote cottages. I have used my RRS to help when speed is of the essence but generally will use my Defender as it has more suitable tyres for bad weather. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Had a good 6-7" of snow over the weekend and the RRS was good as gold. As long as you regularly check what the braking distance is like on each bit of road you use, it's easy really. Snow mode is useful for the throttle control. Saw someone attempt an overtake in a Q7 on a heavily snow covered 30 road and spin out of control when they tried to turn back in. They were OK, it wasn't at high speed, but some people are just stupid. The gym I use is in a tiny village nearby, I was the only one who made it there and back. The rest had to abandon their vehicles in the car park and walk a few miles home.

As more people buy SUVs I do worry that they think that they now have full off road capability and feel can therefore ignore the normal cautions associated with driving in inclement weather. Its a bit like the Volvo effect of a few years ago where the car was advertised as safer than any other car and so some Volvo drivers felt they could drive in a more unsafe way knowing that THEY were safely cocooned.

Most SUVs are not any more capable of driving in snow or ice than your standard car (and I notice that Audi can be included in this as I don't see off road mentioned on their main page as a benefit). Preparing any car for inclement weather is the best defense against bad weather. The posting of the Auto-express test on tyres proves this point. And this forum tells a story - even with our specialist cars we are still reluctant to "go silly", accepting the inevitable that we can't ignore the laws of physics as fkarim (I think) said. Robin
2008 Range Rover Sport TDV8
Gone:
Jaguar S-Type V8 4.2 Sport
MGZTT 190 2.5

Robin, unfortunately this has been a problem since SUV’s came on the scene. If even 10% of owners took a driver trainer course to learn how to handle them when the weather gets nasty the world would be a better place. LR used to offer free Experience course to everyone who was either interested in buying or had purchased one of their vehicles. They withdrew the automatic issuing of the vouchers because so few people used them........... they were for ½ day course but most people I know who went upgraded to the full day which was of much more value and the instructors were able to give decent lessons in how to handle their car in adverse conditions. Yesterday when I was driving up the Lakes section of the M6 there was little traffic but one loony in a Mercedes saloon was driving at in excess of 80mph in the outside lane........ next time I saw the car it was on the hard shoulder with a police car behind it! Absolute madness to drive like that on the lane that is the most likely to have ice on it as everybody else was in the left hand lane which actually mostly had a dry surface on it .... 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Well cars have been going up and down my road (except a BMW Z4) and from what I`ve heard, the main roads are ok....so I`ll be off to work tonight Be interesting to see how the car copes with my hill with a bit less snow on it. Last one though...then 6 off  Steve.

Tim in Scotland wrote:

Robin, unfortunately this has been a problem since SUV’s came on the scene. If even 10% of owners took a driver trainer course to learn how to handle them when the weather gets nasty the world would be a better place.

What gets me is that you cannot buy a 4WD off the show room floor these days with offroad tyres (doesnt matter what make), not even as an option. You think they would at least offer offroad tyres as an expensive option and make more money out of it.
Many years ago I bought a Discovery 2 V8 which came with decent Michelin semi-offroad tyes. 6 years on I could not buy any replacement tyre for the Michelins. You could buy a road based tyre or a serious chunky offroad tyre but nothing inbetween. Nothing has changed since.

Even the last Defenders were sold with road biased tyres and over the last few years whenever one was tested it always came out less well than many other utility vehicles purely because of that - all the other makers sent their vehicles to the group tests on mud terrain tyres but not the Land Rover, they sent their car on All Terrains. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW