From Ian Cuming.
ONCE the current spate of bad weather is over there will no doubt be a post mortem into how various facets of the Island community coped and reacted.

I sincerely hope that there is a public examination of the appalling service (lack of) from Connex. I have found it incomprehensible how they have abandoned the public at the first sign of a snow flake. Through their cancellation of services they have encouraged the schools to close and denied a large proportion of the public the ability to attend work.

To claim that they have cancelled services on safety grounds is quite ridiculous and, if anything, I would suggest that they could have contributed to the possibility of accidents and injury through the withdrawal of their operations.

The cancellation of all services on Friday 8 January and the reduced service on Tuesday 12 January stranded their morning commuters in town and forced many to walk great distances in cold and slippery conditions, or call family and friends out in their cars to collect them, thereby increasing the number of vehicles on the road.

The Transport and Technical Services workers who have been out gritting the roads have done an excellent job and while some of the smaller roads would not be as negotiable as the main roads, there have not been any major concerns.

I do not own a four-by-four or any such car particularly suited to snow and icy conditions, but on every day of the cold weather I have travelled to and from town, up and down hills, without incident.

A bus would be better equipped than most cars and even if it had to drive slowly and stay on the main roads would be better than cancellation. I am sure that the majority of the drivers must be embarrassed about their management’s decision.