Please can you warn your readers to prepare for breaking down in snow?

We live in rural Surrey. It’s not isolated but it can become difficult in the snow. We were just going to bed one night when the snow was very bad indeed and we had a ring on the doorbell. A young woman dressed in a summer coat and wearing sandals stood on our doorstep. She had left her car with two kids in about a mile down the road. To cut a long story short, we took them in, warmed them up and I towed them out with my Land Rover. We got them on to the main road and they went on their way.

I am just appalled that anyone could be so unprepared for what was a dreadful winter's night. The young woman and her kids could have died from hypothermia, it’s that serious. Why do the British act in such a stupid and unprepared way? This woman did not carry a blanket, food or a shovel, and her mobile phone had not been charged. It’s a wonder we did not have more deaths over November and December. Please warn motorists of the dangers they face in the snow. It’s deadly serious.

Asked on 24 December 2010 by SS, Shere, Surrey.

Answered by Honest John
Young drivers who haven't seen snow, like this young woman, are the most likely to become unstuck, or stuck as the case may be. Even though the snow is now well gone, it’s worth raising this now and making regular reminders through the year, just as I did for winter tyres in 2010. A few hundred readers took my advice. The rest were left in the cold, fighting for the last winter tyres in late November.
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