Originally Posted by DemsMaShoes

Isn't it the rule here that if you clear the snow you become responsible if somebody slips and injures themself?

NO. That is a total myth.

The difference is of course, that countries that are prone to heavy snowfall deal with the problem on a much larger scale, on a much regular basis - and in terms of competency, they deal with it as part of their routine in a way.

Whereas we in this country on the other hand, see a snowflake, break into a mild panic, then after more than 1cm has fallen, break into complete hysteria, saturate the news and media with reports of old people unable to afford their heating, chaos for commuters travelling to work, closure of schools, airports, public transport networks, councils running out of grit, and people being advised not to make journeys unless "absolutely essential" (yes, I often take my car out at £1.39/litre for a laugh).

So should we be fined for not clearing our paths? Absolutely not.

Because after all - who would enforce such a thing? Certainly nobody in authority - as they'll all be at home, convinced after 2cm of snow that their world has just fallen apart.

Originally Posted by sunnoficarus

So the journos would have us believe, but if you clear the snow with good intent, no, you can't be sued., and a quick but cursory Google reveals no examples of a successful case here in the UK against a homeowner.

Even in America, the Land of the Lawyer, it's almost impossible to sue someone if you slip on snow as it's an "open and obvious" hazard.

You will however be fined by the municipality. NYC for example gives you about 4 hours after the snow stops falling to clear your sidewalk or its a $125 fine (and I have seen it given out numerous times while living there over 30 years).

from nyc.gov
Property owners must create a 4 to 5-foot wide path clear of snow and ice on the sidewalk next to their property and clear snow from any bus stops or fire hydrants on those sidewalks. You cannot shovel snow into the traffic lanes of a street.

Property owners must clear snow according to the following rules:

If snowfall ends between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM, you must clear sidewalks within four hours.
If snowfall ends between 5:00 PM and 7:00 AM, you must clear sidewalks before 11:00 AM.
The City may issue you a summons for failure to clear the sidewalks within these timeframes.

There's a number of Polish and other eastern European shops round my way. All of them have pristine cleared pavements outside the width of the shop, all properly salted. The rest of the pavement is a massive ice hazard. It's a shame other shopkeepres don't take the hint.

Originally Posted by Recce19

Clear half the road as well???? What a load of bollocks! We are required to clear and grit the path and access to the property, to a width of 1 mtr only! The Stadt does the rest!

They can fuck off!!!! I live next to the M1.

Originally Posted by DemsMaShoes

Isn't it the rule here that if you clear the snow you become responsible if somebody slips and injures themself?

Even if it was the responsibility of the person who cleared it, how are they going to prove that you did?

Originally Posted by chocolate_frog

Daily Mail report on snow clearing in Germnay etc.

Anyone spot the mistakes in journoism?

Should you be fined if you don't clear the snow off the path outside your house? | Mail Online

I can't see it catching on over here though. 'umin rites guv, cahncil shud do it'.

I did spot the error in "journoism" I also spotted the error contained in your spelling of "Germnay"
Does this help?

When I worked for a Tram system we cleared all of our platform edges back to about 4 foot and all access paths from the public road and pavement where they crossed our property. The funny thing was watching high heel wearing women stuttering along tthe pavement until they reached our tram stop then running until they met the council owned ice at the end!
The only time we failed to run a service in snow was when a bus or lorry would breakdown across the in town tracks allowing a build up of snow by blocking the system. Passage of trams actually clears snow so we would run sleet trams all night for this purpose. this year is the first snow fall where I havent cleared my footpath or drive as no one but me uses it!

Originally Posted by DemsMaShoes

Isn't it the rule here that if you clear the snow you become responsible if somebody slips and injures themself?

It is impossible to be prosecuted for a act of god.

"I got assaulted by the weather" .. now who do i sue? .. This wont wash in my court room laddy!

Originally Posted by Nutstrangler

From page 9 of today's Torygraph...."Railway station staff have been told by their union, (RMT), not to clear snow from platforms because they have not been trained in "Handling Hazardous Materials".

I dare say that activation of the 'weather-related extra manual handling' supplement to their wage packets would make that problem disappear.