WARNING! UK bikers skate on sticky grit

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Tue 13 Feb 2007 14:17
WARNING! UK bikers skate on sticky grit - Hamsafar
UK bikers skate on sticky grit
When rock salt and molasses don't mix
By Lester Haines → www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/13/sticky_grit/
Published Tuesday 13th February 2007 14:00 GMT

UK bikers have launched an online petition aimed at getting the government to rethink its "sticky grit" de-icing strategy.

The Highways Agency first trialled a molasses/grit concoction back in 1994, the BBC records, because common-or-garden grit can easily be swept from the road by wind or rain. Accordingly, it threw some molasses into the mix and gave it a try on the M4 near Bristol and Bath.

A Highways Agency spokesman explained: "There is nothing wrong with the traditional variety of rock salt, it works very effectively down to low temperatures. We are happy with the rock salt, but we are just seeing if this development in technology works any better."

Apparently not, according to acifionados of two wheels. While you might think that molasses would prove an excellent adhesive for keeping you on the straight and narrow, the bikers' petition states: "It seems that once the cold snap is over the resulting mollases based product causes a slippery sheen to form on the road surface."

As a result, "the two wheeled community of motorcyclist and cyclist have been reporting more and more accidents". ®
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Tue 13 Feb 2007 15:32
WARNING! UK bikers skate on sticky grit - bathtub tom
That explains a lot! I was on four wheels at the time.
Heaven help the other half (pun intended).
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