It seems to be the case that no matter how much snow falls it sends out a signal to a great number of drivers to ignore every rule of the road.

The moment it snows, be it a dusting or a few centimetres, all bets are off for normal courtesy at roundabouts, yellow hatchings are ignored, keep clear road signs disregarded and double yellow lines treated with contempt.

Add to that the timing of the snowfall - especially if it coincides with school run time - and the result is chaos.

But of course traffic would have flowed freely and only slight inconvenience been caused had Bradford Council and other highways bodies done their jobs properly and had the gritters out. Is that really a fair comment?

Is it not the case that in these times of high pressure many have forgotten the basic fact that it can snow in winter and we need to prepare for it?

Ask any long serving driver or member of staff at Keighley & District Travel and they will tell you that in their driving experience - 30 years in some cases - they cannot remember a previous occasion where conditions became so bad, so quickly.

Bradford Council, who say the gritters had been out since Monday night, are carrying out an investigation to see what can be done to prevent a repeat of the misery.

Perhaps those who were on the roads during the grid-lock could go through the same personal investigation process in preparation for the next time.

But it wasn't all bad news. There were many examples of kindness, such as the bus driver who found a customer with learning difficulties distressed in the bus station because he couldn't find his way home.

He took him home in his own car. We salute a true knight of the road and the others like him.